Wigan school invited to take part in Eco Church project

Pupils from Shevington Vale Primary School and All Saints Primary School Appley Bridge spent the morning and afternoon engaged in activities focused on Caring For God’s Creation, including sessions on growing fruit and vegetables, making an insect hotel and making a no-plastic bird feeder.

Meanwhile, inside All Saints Church half the children were allocated chairs to sit on and half were allocated a place on the carpet to demonstrate unfair inequalities. It was suggested there are ways to help make life fairer by taking action to care for God’s creation and respect it by reducing waste, recycling and re-using.

Children also made their own label to tape to a paper carrier bag with a message reading soft plastic for recycling – to encourage adults at home to recycle.

One of the young eco-warriors said: “We all learned that soft plastic wrappers from biscuit and crisp packs can be recycled at supermarkets."

Take-home bags were provided for every child containing a kit to make a plastic free bird feeder from an apple decorated with sunflower seeds. The children were encouraged to hang the decorated apples up outside at home or at school for birds to eat in winter, when bird food is scarce.

Parish Priest the Rev Sue Timmins was delighted to welcome the group of youngsters from the two local schools, and said: “When we were applying for support for our Eco-Church project, part of our vision was to encourage young people especially to think about the environment, energy use and the way we use the resources of God’s amazing creation.

“It was wonderful to see so many children in our church building and churchyard, more than 90 from two different schools, engaging in activities that emphasized care for animals and insects, using less energy, growing food at home and school, and understanding more about the environment that will increasingly depend on their future actions for its health and welfare.

“We are beginning to see the benefits of the time and investment in promoting a planet-friendly agenda here in Appley Bridge, and intend to push on and draw in both adults and children alike from our wider community.”

The All Saints team that welcomed the children comprised Rev Timmins, Reader Dr Sara Shackleton, Churchwardens Mike Tyrer and Ian Hunter, Project Manager David Mapple, Youth Leader Cath Rainford and Deputy Churchwarden Mark Ashley.

Mr Mapple, who built the church’s new insect hotel, was impressed by the understanding shown by the children and said: “Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised that this generation seems more in touch with the planet than we were at their age. The thought of killing bugs, even scary spiders, was abhorrent to just about every one of them. It was both refreshing and sobering to listen to a future generation tasked with the challenge of rectifying the mistakes of our past!”

All Saints’ Eco-Project has benefited from considerable and generous financial support from a number of different grant providers, including The Whitemoss Community Fund, The Bernard Sunley Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Beatrice Laing Trust, The Benefact Trust, and the Peter Lathom charity.

Next up for the All Saints Eco-Church experience: pupils from Parbold Douglas CE Academy.