March 2025: Operation Noah, a Christian charity working with the Church to inspire action on the climate crisis, has produced a 5-week course helping us to explore how our money can help tackle climate change. You can download it here - it’s ideal for the current Lent period, but can be followed at any time of year.
January 2025: Wow, what exciting news! We’re joint winners of the Animal Friendly Church of the Year 2024 Award! Read more about it in our Animal Friendly Church page.
April 2025: Here is a summary of the results from our recent Environmental Lifestyle Survey:
“Everyone agreed that an ethical lifestyle is part of following our Christian path, and we live this out in various ways: we all try to reduce, reuse and recycle; most of us buy Fairtrade and Cruelty Free products at least some of the time, and regularly buy local; many of us try to bank and invest ethically, and support animal and environmental charities. The majority of us try to reduce our car use, though most of us do still drive to church, mainly because we cannot physically get here otherwise, or because it simply isn't practical.
Some of us are unsure of the links between food production and climate change, and some don't know if their domestic electricity and gas is renewable energy. Further information will be provided about these areas. Our regular talks will also cover suggestions made by our congregation.”
We will carry out an annual review to see what progress we make each year. We will also let you know about action points we are looking at from this survey and how we achieve them.
A big thank you to all of you who completed the survey, and for your ongoing support of our work - it is much appreciated.
February 2025: Many thanks to Lynne Graham for a very interesting and informative talk about the current situation regarding fox hunting. It was concerning to hear how hunts are circumventing legislation. We’re grateful to those who work hard to protect foxes and other wildlife, and it was good to come away with ideas of practical action we can take to help.
December 2024: We invited our local ward Councillors David Francis and Sue Stonehouse and Rachael Taylor, who is also the founder of South Tyneside Tree Action Group, to mark the occasion of our tree planting with PCC member Anne Edwards. The trees (5 rowan, 5 crab apple and 5 hazel) were donated by a national charity following a successful application by one of our three Eco Champions, Church Warden Liz. We know trees are important to us as humans as they take in pollution from the air around us. They also provide safe habitats for animals like birds and squirrels and all sorts of insect life. Although the trees are very small right now, we hope to see them flourish over the years to come.