Save your planet. Start with Manchester.

Thousands of people pledged to save the planet over the bank holiday weekend as the 'Manchester is my Planet' campaign launched across the city.

The campaign team were out in force at both Pride and the Manchester City game and managed to gather 4,000 pledges nearly half of the total 10,000 target.

The campaign is set to run until the end of October and the response so far has been overwhelming. It now looks likely that the target of 10,000 pledges will be reached and surpassed during that time.

A host of Mancunian celebrities have already come on board including actor Christopher Eccleston, athlete Diane Modahl, footballer David James, and city council leader Richard Leese. At the Pride celebrations, the 'Manchester is my Planet' campaign team joined the party and attracted 3,000 people to the campaign stand to sign up to saving the planet.

On Saturday, Manchester City Football Club scored a goal for the planet as well as to win their match against Portsmouth. MCFC is fully supporting the campaign; they are even having a wind turbine installed at the City of Manchester stadium next year. Before the match, 500 fans signed up to saving Manchester and many others completed the pledge postcards in the club shop. Cathy Garner, Chief Executive of Manchester: Knowledge Capital, who are leading the campaign, was particularly encouraged by the weekend's achievements.

"The 'Manchester is my Planet' campaign has really captured the imagination of people across Manchester. To get 4,000 people pledging to reduce their energy use in the first weekend of the campaign is an amazing start and one we can definitely build on. When we reach our target of 10,000 pledges by the end of October we will be able to show everyone that people in Manchester are really committed to making a difference to the global challenge of climate change." The Manchester is my Planet (MIMP) campaign is being run across the region. People can sign the pledge by sending in a free pledge postcard, sending a text message or visiting the website - www.manchesterismyplanet.com.

Those wishing to pledge by SMS should text the word 'pledge' and their postcode to 80010. Everyone who pledges receives a pledge pack full of information and ideas to help reduce their energy use and start saving Manchester. Campaigners are urging those who live or work in the city region to take the 'Manchester is my Planet' pledge before a G8 climate change event to be staged in early November. Each individual will be pledging to help the city region reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% before 2010, to help the UK meet its international commitment on climate change.

MIMP is being led by the not-for-profit agency, Manchester: Knowledge Capital, with a group of partners that include regional think-tank, Sustainability Northwest and the ten local authorities. The campaign is being sponsored by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Manchester: Knowledge Capital, Manchester University, Defra and Manchester City Council. Other major campaign supporters include Manchester Enterprises, United Utilities, Manchester Museum and ITV Granada, as well as Bolton, Salford and Manchester Metropolitan Universities. The partnership intends to use the closing G8 climate event, and also the UK's presidency of the EU, to show that there is mass support for climate change action in Manchester and that with the right campaign, it is possible to achieve widespread public commitment to change.