Three entries submitted into the national Church Times Green Awards from the diocese have been shortlisted as finalists for their work to care for creation.
St Peter’s Quarrendon, Aylesbury, has been shortlisted in the ‘Green health’ category for their community garden. Set up in 2019, the garden focuses on healthy eating and sustainable food-growing, led by a long-time community-development practitioner, Dave Furze.
The garden offers a place for building relationships, connecting with the local community, and is even used by GPs for social prescribing. The young-offenders probation service regularly brings young adults to learn horticultural skills as they reintegrate into society.
Shinfield St Mary’s C of E Junior School in Berkshire has been shortlisted in the ‘Training and education’ category. Creation care is embedded in their whole way of life, from the practical management of the site to the foundations of the curriculum. They have transformed the five acres of land in the school into a mini-farm, featuring dozens of raised beds, greenhouses, a chicken coop, an artificial wildlife stream, and an aquaponics bio-dome where the pupils can farm fish and vegetables together.
The children are taught environmentally friendly gardening methods, and plant trees and willow to use as natural materials in the farm. Extensive tree-growing has also meant the school is a carbon sink, alongside their net zero carbon building.
And in the ‘Green champions’ category, Rosemary Croft and Joanna Laynesmith have been shortlisted for their long-standing dedication to environmental causes. As well as co-leading their Gold Eco Church’s eco-group at St John and St Stephen’s, Reading, they are working with the Global Justice Now advocacy group and founded Reading Green Christians. They are passionate about political advocacy, engaging with local leaders and participating in national campaigns and prayer vigils outside Westminster.
They have worked tirelessly to bring their congregation and local community on a creation care journey, putting theology firmly at the centre.
The winners in each category will be announced at an awards ceremony at St John’s, Waterloo, on Thursday 26 September, and each winner will be awarded a cash prize of £1,000 for their church or school.
Hannah Mann, Environmental Programme Manager for the diocese, congratulated the finalists, saying “We are absolutely delighted that we have three outstanding finalists in this year’s awards, each one a worthy winner. The diversity of their entries and the incredible work they are doing is testament to the array of action for creation care happening across the diocese. They are an inspiration to all of us, and we wish them every success for the final.”
Read inspiring creation care stories from churches and schools across the diocese.