ST MARY THE VIRGIN CHURCH IS PROVING THAT GARDENING REALLY IS GOOD FOR YOU
The garden of St Mary The Virgin in Lewisham is one of ten projects countrywide to be shortlisted for the first ever Green Health Awards which show how church space can be used to provide therapeutic gardening opportunities for members of their local communities.
St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Lewisham has a therapeutic garden created in a previously underused area of the churchyard. The garden is on a busy, polluted high street in an area which has some of the worst inequality indicators in the country especially for black and minority ethnic groups. St Mary’s has a vision for reaching out and supporting people in poor mental health combined with creating a place of natural beauty and peace for the whole community.
“Using church space for therapeutic gardening makes really good sense,” says Rt Rev James Newcome the Church of England’s lead bishop for health and social care.
“Spirituality does not need to stop at the church door, and through these awards we have discovered many churches which are using the space around them for healing and well-being.”
The Green Health Awards, which will be presented at the first Green Health Live Conference at Lambeth Palace on 2 October, were launched to discover churches using their outdoor spaces to help provide opportunities for members of the local community to experience the benefits gardening can bring.
“Some churches have the only space suitable for community gardening within their parish and so making this available for even the simplest garden project can prove highly beneficial. Where churches have begun to offer gardening opportunities there is a ripple effect such as when local doctors prescribe gardening to their patients,” explains Bishop James.
Mental health problems in local communities are now one of the biggest social issues Church of England clergy encounter. A survey of more than 1,000 senior clergy* found that the proportion reporting that mental health is a ‘major’ or ‘significant’ problem in their local area increased sharply over the past five years.
The Church of England is working with The Church Times, The Guild of Health and St Raphael and The Conservation Foundation in the hope that these awards will help to encourage more churches to see how their space can be used either by members of their own congregations or by community groups and health organisations.
All the shortlisted projects have been invited to send representatives to Green Health Live where speakers from the Royal Horticultural Society, The King’s Fund and other experts will explain the benefits of gardening to physical and mental issues.
The ten shortlisted projects will be presented with a certificate and a set of gardening tools restored in prisons as part of the Conservation Foundation’s Tools Shed Gold project, tulip bulbs donated by Taylors Bulbs and gardening gloves given by the Worshipful Company of Glovers. The Growing Calm Award, presented by the Mind and Soul Foundation, will focus on gardens providing meditation, contemplation and silence and the Allchurches Trust award will be presented to the most exceptional urban church gardening project. The overall winner of the Church Times Award will receive £2,000 and the Gardening Against The Odds trophy** for a year. The awards are also supported by The Mercers’ Company.
* The 2017 Church in Action Survey, conducted by Church Urban Fund and the Church of England
**The Gardening Against The Odds programme, which includes awards and the Unlocking Nature project at HMP Wandsworth, celebrates gardeners whose efforts in the face of physical and mental odds to create beauty and solace and improve their own wellbeing and that of others.
The ten shortlisted projects are:
• ACCEPT, Leicestershire
• Manchester Cathedral’s Volition bee project
• Polwarth Parish Church, Edinburgh
• Sr Pol de Leon Church, Penzance
• St Giles Parish Church, Lincoln
• St John’s Meadow Garden, Croydon
• St John’s Church, Old Trafford
• St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Lewisham
• St Paul’s Church, Camden Square, London
• Wharton and Cleggs Lane Church, Salford
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
The Conservation Foundation has been inspiring, enabling and celebrating practical environmental action for over 35 years. www.conservationfoundation.co.uk
The Guild of Health and St Raphael is an ecumenical, inclusive and prayerful organisation working locally and nationally in the Christian healing ministry. www. gohealth.org.uk/
The Church Times, founded in 1863, is known for informed and independent reporting of Church and world news. www.churchtimes.co.uk
Further press information: Lindsay Swan, [email protected] 07961 181982 or David Shreeve, [email protected] 07831 387745