Kennington church celebrates environmental award

A church in Kennington has celebrated winning an award for its environmental initiatives.

St Swithun’s was awarded the bronze Eco Church Award and marked the event with an environmentally conscious bring and share lunch.

Parishioners brought food as well as notes saying where it had been sourced.

The church members contributed home grown potato salad, local meat and home grown fruit puddings, among other items.

Diocese environmental lead, Hannah Mann, presented the award to the eco-church committee.

She said: "Congratulations to the whole church community for achieving this important milestone, and for embedding creation care within their life and worship.

"It's wonderful to see people of every age bringing their invaluable skills, gifts and ideas, and I wish the church every blessing as it continues its creation care journey."

The church's eco-group identified travel and food sourcing as two lifestyle areas to prioritise from an environmental perspective.

Young people helped parishioners calculate their carbon footprint online and a church display gave them the opportunity to share their interests and skills.

The Revd Anne Curtis said: "The lunch was great fun and it is so lovely to feel positive and that we can make a difference by working together on a huge subject which it’s perhaps easy to feel defeated by as individuals."

The eco church scheme was founded by environmental charity A Rocha UK to encourage Christians to care for the environment.