St Peter's Church in Wenhaston is one of the Latest churches to receive their Eco Church Award. They we awarded the silver award on 18.01.2025 for all of their efforts to take care of Gods acre. Here is some information about what Wenhaston has been up to: ​

 

Worship and Teaching:

Regular assemblies at our village primary school have focused on climate justice and global citizenship, using materials from Christian Aid to look at pollution, water use and the impact of climate change in Burundi. Our church is part of a benefice which has hosted two Climate Action Conferences. Each of these have included services for Creation, this year focusing on Land Use and Food. Members of our congregation have been involved in these conferences and attended the services. We have a Creation Service every two months as part of our regular worship. In Lent last year, our branch of the Mothers Union hosted a talk about our link diocese Kagera in Tanzania and raised money for the Bishops' Lent Appeal for communities there.

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Buildings:

Our church building dates back to the 14th & 15th century. It has a small congregation who are mainly in their 70s and 80s. Keeping the building in good condition is a priority and the chancel roof has recently been renewed to prevent the building becoming damp. We have an oil-fired boiler which operates on a timer and is used 2-3 times a month during the winter months. The oil tank is filled up every 18 months to two years which means our carbon footprint varies from 0.3% to 4.2%. We are part of a 14 church team and some of our supplies, like printing paper, are purchased centrally. We are working with the team to move to using recycled paper for printing but this is not something we can decide on our own. We are currently exploring having toilet and kitchen facilities put into the church but this is a major project as it involves moving a medieval Doom painting. if the project goes ahead we will use BREEAM or a similar scheme to ensure the project is as sustainable as possible. A policy has been agreed by our PCC that all new cleaning products will be environmentally friendly. Whilst we are not in a position to generate sustainable energy at the moment, we are working in partnership with Halesworth ASH ( Area Sustainable Hub), which is developing local community energy projects. Halesworth ASH is a joint venture between Halesworth Town Council, Blyth Valley Churches and local environment groups. This means we are keeping up to date with possibilities locally and will participate in any ventures suitable for a small medieval church like ours. Our PCC has agreed to a calendar of environment events this year, including organising a community recycling day in the summer. Given the nature of our small historic church, this is a more practical approach that having recycling facilities in the church itself.

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Land:

We work with local conservation groups in our village on managing our closed churchyard. The grass is cut once a year by the local council. We have recently put in reptile refuges in our churchyard which are being used by slow worms and great crested newts. We hosted a Moth morning during the summer in the churchyard, run by the Wenhaston Commons Group, with moths from different habitats around the village. We are currently in the process of developing a piece of church land which has come back under our control. We are at the stage of planning how to use the land. The plans include using trees from the tree nursery at the village primary school and putting in a wildlife pond which will also alleviate local flooding. We have organised a morning for the older children in the primary school to explore and develop habitats for animals, birds and reptiles in the village. This is a joint venture with three different community environment groups and links in with a wider community initiative Halesworth ASH. As part of our calendar of environment events this year, our annual plant sale will be held at the same time as a wild garden event in the village. The churchyard will be included in a programme of gardens around the village managed for wildlife. Plants on sale will also show those which are insect-friendly. Our first survey for several years of the flora and fauna in the churchyard will take place in June using Caring for God's Acre materials. There will be an invitation to community groups to take part.

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Community and Global Engagement:

Our church belongs to a benefice which hosted a Climate Action Conference for the past two years. Members of our congregation have been involved in this and attended events. This year's conference focused on "Land and Food" and included a panel discussion about food production and land use. Our church raises money for Christian Aid every year and promotes its Climate Justice agenda. The church in our village co-organises a monthly Community meal for elderly and isolated people. Every effort is made to apply LOAF principles as much as possible, whilst keeping costs reasonable.

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Lifestyle:

At its last PCC meeting, a calendar of environmental events was agreed for 2025. This includes a lifestyle audit for the congregation in January, sharing the results of the audit in our church and village magazines and encouraging others to take part, working with other groups in the community to host a recycling day in the summer, including collecting items that can only be recycled at the local recycling centre, and having a stall at the Christmas market selling Fairtrade and sustainable living items. 2. We have a collection of pre-loved school uniform in our church for families to take. This is promoted when the local school comes to church for major festivals, such as harvest. 3. We have a Pause for Thought / Creation Service every month, and living sustainably as part of living out our faith will be a regular part of these services throughout the year. 4. As part of an agreement between our local churches, the town council and local environment groups, plans are underway for working with the village school on energy usage in their homes. This will be linked into the church's lifestyle audit and work done with a local mother on energy saving tips for the home.