During the last weekend in September, St Margaret’s Church, Newlands, Glasgow organised an eco-festival. The eco-group and social activities group jointly planned the event, with an aim to celebrate the goodness of creation, think about how we can live in balance rather than conflict, and learn more about conserving and nurturing all life on our beautiful earth.
We had a full range of activities and speakers throughout the weekend and provided tea, coffee, home baking and lunchtime soup. Our preparation and publicity was rewarded by many individuals and families attending from the local area and further afield. It was a joy to see the church and gardens so well used and appreciated as a community venue.
Our clothing stall in the choir vestry was festooned with an amazing collection of clothes, bags and shoes and lots of items were taken away by happy recipients. Children enjoyed face-painting and getting creative with natural art materials.
Dr Bike (Danny Craig from Christchurch in Lanark) set up his workshop outside the side door of the church and provided free bike checks and advice. We were also delighted that two Community Police came along to stamp bikes with security codes as well as donating sturdy bike padlocks to anyone who wanted one. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds brought a stall packed with information, games, and kits for making bird feeders.
Delia Henry, a local beekeeper, set up a demonstration of her equipment along with information and provided a wonderful insight into the life of bees. Congregation member Angela Watson constructed an apple press for folks to try out and kept visitors supplied with delicious freshly squeezed apple juice from local apples. There were three presentations in the main church over the course of the weekend:
- On Saturday morning, Carmen Lean (Locohome Retrofit’s co-ordinator) and Michael Wright (a local resident) presented on how we can improve energy efficiency in our homes.
- Our Saturday afternoon presentation was delivered by Alistair McIntosh (an academic and writer), who helped us explore themes around spirituality, environment and faith.
- On Sunday afternoon, Naomi Schogler (a volunteer with Greenpeace) spoke to us about the aims, approach and priorities of Greenpeace.
Other stalls and stands included Olive Tree Scotland, a charity who support communities in the West Bank and Gaza, our Fair-Trade stall, which was laden food and other items, Froglife Scotland, our local Hindu community came along with a wonderful hand-built model of a sustainable community.
Our rector Gordon Fyfe changed out of his cassock into his bee-keeper’s suit in double time after the Sunday service to provide another opportunity for folks to learn all about bees and to show visitors our beehives in the back garden. One of our final activities on Sunday afternoon was provided by Jan MacDonald who treated us all to a fantastic masterclass in composting and managing a wormery – all so relevant for improving our soil and nourishing our gardens.
Fiona Crawford, St Margarets (edited by Bethany Nelson)
