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1st Eco-Congregation Award to St Ninian’s Craigmailen Church

St Ninian’s Craigmailen Church has received their first Eco-Congregation Award. Congratulations!

Principally the award was received for:

  • Their work with the Brownies’ Quiet Garden – which contributed to Linlithgow’s ‘Burgh Beautiful’ portfolio
  • Their work with the church grounds making it a very attractive and peaceful atmosphere
  • Their an annual hosting of children and their teachers from the Chernobyl region
  • Promoting donations to the West Lothian Food Bank and purchase of Fair Trade products
  • Installing extra lagging and insulation in the church’s heating system and wall and loft insulation in the Manse.

craigmailen

Photo borrowed from: http://www.stninianscraigmailen.org.uk/index.html

The Award cermony will take place on Sunday 19th May at 11am at their special Creation Eco-Service. All welcome!

Well done!

Grants available from CSV’s Action Earth 2013 campaign

CSV’s Action Earth 2013 campaign is helping to get people and communities busy outdoors. We have grants up to £500 to give to groups of volunteers who are carrying out environmental projects in Scotland.

Grants of up to £250 are available for practical activities that involve volunteers in improving outdoor spaces or creating habitats for wildlife. Grants can be used to purchase plants, tools and materials or to cover volunteer expenses.
 

If your group is volunteering on a Local Nature Reserve we can give you up to £500 for practical work, wildlife recording or educational activities that encourage more people onto the reserve.
 

The campaign runs from April to December 2013.  For more information or to apply online go to: http://actionearth.csv.org.uk

 

If you have any questions about the campaign or any project ideas please contact Robert Henderson at: actionearth@csv.org.uk or call T: 0131 222 9083 / 0131 622 7766.

 

 

Go For It funding available from Church of Scotland

Go For It fund logo

Are you looking to fund an eco-project in your church and community? Would you like to test out an idea? Go For It funding from the Church of Scotland may be just what you have been looking for. 

The fund aims to encourage creative ways of working which develop the life and mission of the local church and are transformative for both communities and congregations.

The focus is very much on ‘the local’ and any application must be able to demonstrate clearly its association with at least one Church of Scotland congregation. Part of a successful application to Go For It will be the demonstration of a commitment to good partnership working.

 

Here is a link to a printable pdf document advertising the fund: Go For It At a Glance

 

 

There are five criteria for funding and successful applicants will meet at least two of these:

  • meeting identified needs in the community
  • nurturing Christian faith within and beyond the church
  • tackling poverty and/or social injustice
  • developing new ecclesial/Christian communities
  • creating work which is genuinely innovative and shares good practice with others

Full information and application forms are available by

E goforit@cofscotland.org.uk
T 0131 225 5722 (the the Go For It Team, within the Church of Scotland’s Ministries Council)
W www.churchofscotland.org.uk/serve/goforit

One World Shop in Glasgow is looking for a new place to stay

The One World Shop on Great Western Road will move out in the middle of June. They are concentrating on finding new low cost or rent free premises in the West End and in the city centre.

In the short term they are looking for help to find:

1. A rent-free storage space for our fixtures and fittings – do you have a room or storage space that could store our shelving, glass cabinets and other fittings for up to 6 months?
2. A rent free or low cost room or office in the West end – a place where we could work from, supply stalls and hold a small amount of stock for up to 6 months.
3. A low cost retail opportunity – ideally in the West End, could be within a cafe, community centre, church, university or shared premises with an existing business. They are open to all offers!

If you can offer them some ideas or help please contact Rachel on rachel@oneworldshop.co.uk.

Love Life Love Nature – free wildflower seed packs from Scotland’s Nature Festival

Spring is here! Scotland’s Nature Festival takes place from 18th to 26th May. This is an opportunity for your congregation, eco-group or other community group to organise events to bring people in contact with nature. No event is too small to be registered!

Love Life Love Nature

Scottish Natural Heritage have free wildflower seedpacks, three designs of bookmarks and PVC banners to support you if you would like to put together a Nature Festival event. The seedpacks contain corn marigold,  corn poppy, mayweed and cornflower. Why not bring people together and plant some seeds? Please contact Morag Elliott on biodiversity@snh.gov.uk for help and support.

 If you are organising a Nature Festival event we would love to share information about it on our website and our newsletter. Please contact us with details.