Come along to St Luke’s, Kew, to hear from a stellar line-up of speakers, who will offer practical advice on the small things we can all do to fight climate change and take care of the environment.
The panel will include:
Anna Hughes, founder of Flight-Free UK, a charity set up to encourage people to travel without flying.
John Rose, who set up Friends of Street Trees, a local charity which aims to increase young tree survival through resident involvement in tree watering and care.
Eve Risbridger, a Director and Cafe Manager for The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP). The project aims to reduce food waste and tackle food poverty in Richmond borough by collecting surplus food from local shops and turning it into delicious meals at its cafes.
Tickets are £5 per person, and include drinks and nibbles after the talk, where there will be a chance to network and engage further with the panelists. Click here to book tickets. Contact Charlotte or Suzie for more details – kewecofair@gmail.com
The Climate Chat series is part of St Luke’s EcoChurch project.
All three churches in Richmond Team Ministry have now received Bronze Eco Award and are working towards silver. They have also produce a quarterly GreenTips newsletter. Click on picture below for the latest issue:
Holy Trinity, Barnes, want to develop the land around their church as a place of sanctuary and hospitality for both local people and nature.
They are working to turn their memorial garden into a welcoming green space, rich in natural biodiversity. They have also created a community garden, where they grow organic vegetables together, using no-dig methods, to supply the local foodbank. In their first season, they have harvested nearly 40kg of veg from their raised beds to date. They work with other growers in the area too, to get their surplus produce to those who need it most.
They also run a microbakery, which operates as a separate social enterprise. The income from sales of bread supports their work supplying the foodbank with fresh loaves each a week and our community garden.
Congratulations to Eco Team at St Luke’s, Kew on winning a Richmond Community Hero Award for last year’s Kew Eco Fair. The Community Heroes Awards aim to highlight and honour those working and living in Richmond upon Thames who go above and beyond to make their community a better place to live, work and learn. Kew Eco Fair galvanised hundreds of locals in learning more about the benefits of sustainable living and making it easy to know how to get involved in climate activity in our borough.
Another Eco Fair is planned for 2025.
Charlotte Baker, Tracey Baker and Suzie O’Brien receiving a Richmond Community Heroes Award for Kew Eco Fair
St Luke’s, Kew held their second ‘Climate Chat’ on Tuesday 19th March, with a fascinating line-up:
Leo Murray director of innovation and co-founder of climate charity Possible talked about an alternative car-free vision for the future of Hammersmith Bridge.
Kevin Martin, head of tree collections at Kew Gardens, gave a fascinating and sobering presentation on the impact climate change is having on Britain’s native trees.
The panel was completed by Lisa McGovern from Mary’s Living and Giving shop in Kew, who spoke about the impact of fast fashion and the crucial role of second-hand clothes.
We are holding quarterly Webinars or Zoom meetings open to everyone in who is interested in caring for God’s creation and especially those who are involved with their Church’s Eco journey. Speakers will be invited and different topics focussed on so that churches in the deanery can benefit from each other’s experiences and learn together.
The first webinar was on Monday 11th September at 6pm. The speakers were Toby Costin from Crew Energy and Jack Edwards, the Diocesan Environmental Officer. The webinar was well attended with 12 churches represented, clearly showing the commitment by this deanery to caring for God’s creation. See below for presentation slides and to listen to Toby’s talk with Q&A.
“Richmond and Barnes Deanery is one of the most active deaneries in terms of the environment in the Diocese. Keep doing what you’re doing and share best practice.” – Jack Edwards
People of all faiths and none were invited to join Christian Climate Action members on a pilgrimage along different sections of the Thames Path.
These London-based pilgrimages were part of a nationwide weekend of walking and prayer that was been organised by CCA. Each one represented and reflected the growing number of people, from all walks of life, who have a passion for justice and peace in their own locality and across the world as together we face the challenge of the climate crisis.
The final leg was on Sunday 10th September from Putney to Richmond
Judith Russenberger writes:
Out of thirteen pilgrimages organised by Christian Climate Action across the country, four took place along the Thames including the one from Putney to Richmond. Our small band of pilgrims were sent off with a blessing and prayers led by John Whitaker, vicar of St Mary’s Putney. As we followed the Thames Path upstream we paused to give thanks for the beauty and benefits of the river and its environment, as well as lament our shortcomings in caring for both its vitality and for our failure to ensure justice for the vulnerable in our local and global communities.
Our recurring refrain was Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream (Amos 5:24) and one of this year’s tag lines for creation-tide. Halfway we benefited from the welcomed hospitality offered by St Mary’s Mortlake as especially with the heat we needed to refill water bottles and enjoy the cool of the church. Exhausted (slightly fewer in number) but exultant we finally reached Richmond Bridge closing with a modern Franciscan blessing:
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy. And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen.
For more information about Christian Climate Action visit https://christianclimateaction.org/ where similar events in the future will be advertised.
This summer, the children of St Anne’s Junior Church have been busy building a bug hotel – “The Roach and Horses”! It was formally opened and blessed at the Harvest Festival service at the end of August. Judges at the Kew Horticultural Show were so impressed that it won first prize in the Group Craft category. Well done, Little Annies!
Click here to listen to the vicar of St Anne’s, Rev Dr Giles Fraser, talk about the bug hotel and the importance of caring for God’s creation.
Heat pumps – are highly efficient use of the energy they consume. Best suited to churches in frequent use. Air to air heat pumps are easier to install, ground to air are more efficient. The hot water for heating runs at a lower temperature compared with a gas/ oil boiler, so adjustments to radiator numbers may be needed. Alternatively works well via an underfloor heating installation. Further reading – https://cofeportsmouth.contentfiles.net/media/assets/file/Heat_Pumps_and_Churches.pdf
Infra-red/ radiant heaters – these heat bodies rather than the air they are in, so there is no need to preheat the space: the heating can be turned on and off with the lights. They can be presented visually in different forms so that they are not intrusive – eg as white panels that blend into the ceiling, or as part of a chandelier light fitting Improvements in design mean the heat is felt as a gentle warmth rather than a burning heat of old models. eg. https://www.herschel-infrared.co.uk/churches/ https://flexel.co.uk/shop/infrared-heating/church-heating/ecofilm-raised-platform/ – shows an interesting approach for installing underfloor heating.
