Great Big Green Week is the UK's largest celebration of community action to combat climate change. Running from 24 September to 4 October, events take place across the country to help protect the natural world.
The Revd Dr Hugh White, Team Vicar in Witney, shares the benefice's pathway so far through the Eco Church scheme and beyond.
The journey so far
The Witney Benefice comprises five churches in and around the market town. In 2021, Witney PCC set up a Benefice Environment Group, which was established to help us consider and improve our overall environmental performance, and through this group we decided to adopt the Eco Church initiative.
Two of our churches so far have got awards (one bronze, one silver) and are reviewing the possibility of going a stage further, and the other churches are hoping to be able to submit award applications soon. The Eco Church framework provides a helpful means of auditing environmental performance and an incentive to do better.
Season of Creation
Last year the Benefice Environment Group arranged a Great Big Green Week event as part of the Season of Creation, which was a really positive occasion. All sorts of ideas, tips and practical actions were shared and discussed at this event, and it led particularly to two actions. The first was group study of the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility’s Money Makes Change course on connecting faith and finance to shape a fairer and greener world. The second was delivery of a petition to our local MP demanding that fossil fuel extraction should stop immediately.
An expression of a widespread discontent, the petition perhaps deserved a more considered response from our MP than the celebration of the government’s achievements we received, and this was one of the factors leading to engagement with a local Watch group, committed to monitoring our MP’s performance in the areas of climate and environment.
Working together
Finally, we also have a Witney Eco Forum, held in St Mary's church once a month. This gathers together speakers and interested parties on a wide range of eco issue. For example, we've invited Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) to share information and ideas about tackling local pollution.
Working together has enormous benefits, and it's brilliant to see commitment across all our churches on tackling environmental issues. We are looking forward to participating in this year's Great Big Green Week and supporting our churches as they progress through the Eco Church Awards.
#GreatBigGreenWeek
This year's Great Big Green Week takes place from 24 September to 4 October. You can find resources, register your events and download media on their website.