Towards the end of May, I got in touch with Rev Nerys Brown, encouraging St Mary’s Dunblane to enter for The Church Times Green Church Awards. The Dunblane Eco Fest seemed to fit the category ‘Congregation and Community Action, sponsored by Green Journey: projects where a church, school, or other group has taken a leading part in environmental action, benefiting the wider community as well as its own’. Rev Nerys says, “It didn’t take us long to decide that we would go for it. After all, the prize money of £1,000 would be useful!”
Rev Nerys goes on to say “We already had plans to set up monthly events to keep conversations initiated at Eco Fest going throughout the year and to extend the festival itself to a fortnight. We had managed on a shoestring for the last three years but it was becoming increasingly apparent to us that some financial backing would be helpful to develop a website and other forms of publicity. It would also be a good thing to show the wider Anglican world that members of the Scottish Episcopal Church are working hard to raise awareness of environmental issues as well as seeking to reach our Net Zero targets.
So, Peter Holmes, Rebecca Curtis and I put our heads together and came up with an application describing the project, outlining the benefits it has had for the environment and including some photos.”
St Mary’s Dunblane were chosen as one of three finalists and were invited to the 2024 Green Church awards ceremony at St John’s Waterloo, London this September. Rev Nerys decided to join the ceremony online, with others from St Mary’s Dunblane, to avoid the carbon footprint of travelling to London. Whilst St Mary’s did not win the prize money, we are so proud of them being selected as finalists, and hope that Eco Fest continues to grow and flourish within the community of Dunblane. Well done St Mary’s!
The article about the 2024 winners of The Church Times Green Church Awards can be read here.
Bethany Nelson, Empowerment Coordinator
