Generous donation helps church become greener

An anonymous donation of £6,000 from a member of the church congregation has allowed the PCC to install solar panels on the roof of the Mission Church in Street. The donation came with the stipulation that the money was used for the panels.

Revd Ana Lawrence says the church community very grateful to the benefactor for the donation and are delighted that the move will not only help reduce energy bills but will also play a big part in plans to make the church more environmentally sustainable.

The benefice as an Eco Team and the solar panels are just one of the environmental steps being undertaken within the benefice. There are also plans to create a community orchard in Walton where the church has an area of land alongside the building in which they plan to plant hedging initially and later some fruit trees.

Together with this, all the churches in the Benefice of Street, Walton and Compton Dundon have left areas to grow wild within their churchyards in order to help promote biodiversity. Members of the Eco Team have joined and been inspired by the rewilding webinars run by the church with Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Revd Ana says, “It is part of our stewardship of the created world. Even the little steps we take locally can make a big difference.

Susan Ripley, eco church coordinator in the benefice, ‘We’ve been given this world to live in and we need to take care of it. It is there for us to take care of not to ride roughshod over. If everyone does a little bit it all mounts up.’