Last Sunday was our second Great Big Green Harvest Festival, with loads happening around themes of nature and climate and sustainability.
We started with our harvest service, which included a collection for Christian Aid and an invitation to share in communion. We also continued our series on 'Stories from the Life of Jesus', with a reflection on the Lord's Prayer as a way of living well in the world. You can catch up with the service here. We were then joined by representatives from a number of fantastic local groups, who set up stalls and helped us transform our building into an eco fair.
Friends of the Earth Leicester told us about the importance of peat free compost and the campaign they are taking part in to encourage freedom of speech in Egypt ahead of the country hosting COP27. Climate Action Leicester and Leicestershire shared one of their petitions and invited us to share social media posts about what climate justice means to us with the hashtag #ClimateJusticeConversation. And Global Justice had information about a number of campaigns including calls to cancel Zambia's debt and encourage rich polluting countries to make 'loss and damage' payments to poor vulnerable countries.
The Leicester Cloth Nappy Library were on hand with information about and examples of resuable nappies, which keep tons of disposables out of landfill. Canal and River Trust taught us about the importance of looking after our waterways and had bags of duck food to give away, because we really shouldn't be giving our feathered friends bread. Leicester City Council were sorry not to join us, but sent information about how and what to recycle in our orange bags. Peace of Green set up some mindful activities using natural materials, and we had great fun stacking stones and making mobiles from twigs and leaves.
We also had stalls offering homemade cakes and gifts, homegrown plants and produce, secondhand books, and Fairtrade items. Plus a display created by our Messy Church, information about our plans for a community garden, crafts and games, a reflection trail, and the return of our awkward recycling stand. All that and a group headed out for a community litter pick, using equipment kindly loaned by a member of South Leicestershire Litter Wombles.We are routinely terrible at taking pictures of what we get up to (any volunteers to do event photography?!) but you'll see a few snapshots below.
We might have packed a lot in, but it was a lovely relaxed atmosphere, so thank you to everyone who made it happen, and everyone who dropped in to visit. Maybe see you at another event in the future? Until then, do follow up some of the links in this blog to learn more about how you can get involved with caring for this beautiful but slightly broken planet we call home.
Comments