We have set up a seperate page on our web site for Creation Time. This will hold resources for this year and links to resources from previous years. Creation Time runs from the 1st of September to 4th of October.
The special short address of the page is:
www.ecocongregationscotland.org/creationtime
The Time for Reflection at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday was on the subject of Climate Change and was led by Jon Cape, of Fair Trade Stirling and Stirling Methodist Church.
St Michael and All Angels has received their first Eco-Congregation Award. Congratulations!
The congregation was particularly commended for the widespread enthusiasm within the congregation for the environment. The assessors also recognised that many members take their environmental concerns home and apply them in their private lives. With such widespread support, it is clear that St Michael’s and All Angels have become an eco-congregation in all senses of the word!
Photo is borrowed from: http://www.stmichaelhelensburgh.org.uk/
Well done!
We would like to welcome Allan Church of Scotland, Bannockburn to Eco-Congregation Scotland.
Photo borrowed from their website: http://www.allanchurch.org.uk/
Please help us make them feel welcome!
A short film about how churches in Tuvalu are responding to climate change:
Applications for Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) grants up to £150,000 per year are invited now and application deadlines for the next three grant panels in 2013 and 2014 are available on the Climate Challenge Fund website.
Additional support to help disadvantaged communities and ethnic minority communities to get their CCF applications off the ground is available through Development grants of £750. Projects led by young people to reduce the carbon footprint of their community are also supported; the Junior Climate Challenge Fund (JCCF) offers young people £750 Development grants to develop a full JCCF grant application where they could secure funding of up to £150,000 per year.
Since 2008 CCF grants have provided over £46 million in funding for 563 projects run by Scottish community groups. These groups have worked with their communities to run projects that have reduced their carbon footprint, helping to tackle climate change as well as making community improvements and creating employment and training opportunities. These projects include:
All groups applying for CCF funding can count on support from a Development Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful who manage the fund on behalf of the Scottish Government.
For further advice and information please contact Keep Scotland Beautiful. Keep Scotland Beautiful is the independent charity which campaigns, acts and educates on a range of local, national and global environmental issues which affect people’s quality of life. It is committed to making Scotland clean and green, today and tomorrow.
During a recent visit of the CTBI Environmental Issues Network to the Greyfriars Community Project in Edinburgh we had the chance to see how our award plaques are made. Greyfriars runs a project called GROW (Greyfriars Recycling of Wood) which turns disused church pews into furniture and other wooden items. The workkshop trains unemployed people in woodworking skills.
Here are some photos of the workshop:
Shop window showing some of the smaller items available to buy.
The workshop.
Display case shopwing some of the smaller work they undertake.
Tommy Steele explaining how the plaques are made.
Some pews are cut down and resold as furniture.
Could this be your award plaque?
Sister Ketherine Brennan of Eco-Congregation ireland with the plaques.
