St Peter’s, Bournemouth
We caught up with Churchwarden, Jane MacDonald -Styslinger to find out about the amazing transformation of St Peter’s churchyard.
The St Peter’s Grounds Project is all about this and reclaiming the land back for the community and wildlife to use. So far, we’ve planted a cherry tree walk and made a nature trail with £5,000 of wild flowers that we have planted for the butterfly and bee walk and felled trees making a haven for bugs homes. We’re also planning a heritage trail (marking the famous graves of note and well as a wildlife nature trail and we’re continuing the hard work from the past 18months to reclaim the graves from the ground and keeping the brambles and ivy and rhododendrons at bay. With help from AFC Bournemouth (the Cherries), Bournemouth Rotary Club, Dorset Wildlife Trust and a few other donators, we’ve transformed the space and will continue on with our mission. Picnic benches are now constructed and scattered and the public have been using them on a daily basis and the BU students are using them for focus groups etc.
Watch the video for more information.
Longparish Church of England Primary School
Last week we visited a school near Andover to learn about their prayer garden and how it has welcomed “little beasties” to the school grounds.
Some students from Y4 went on a bug hunt and found bees, butterflies, lady bugs, ants, shield beetles and more (as well as some carefully placed stone creatures). The students were very excited when they found something new and were telling each other insect facts as they searched.
The prayer garden is used for prayer, reading, quite/thinking space and somewhere for students to escape the sun’s heat, or the rain. The angel wings on one of the planters in the garden was made by the students for the prayer garden.
In the wooden hut, the schools’ and christian values are displayed on the ceiling so the children can read them whenever they want to at play time.
Thank you for letting us visit your bugtastic prayer garden! #30DaysWild2021 #30dayswild #buglife #andover #prayergarden The Church of England The Wildlife Trusts
St Mary’s, Tadley – Psalm 23 Garden
The community garden and prayer labyrinth of wildflowers is inspired by Psalm 23. Each section of wildflowers in the garden represent a different part of the Psalm.
Children from the local primary school have contributed to the design and crafting of the tree stump mosaics and planting of the garden.
The garden offers a space for the community to visit, to pray, and a symbol of hope.
https://www.facebook.com/PsalmTwentyThreeGarden
Watch the NEW video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rn0ETZDyHY&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=CofEWinchester
Read the full article here: https://winchester.anglican.org/news/2020/11/1…
Watch the Bible Society video here [2020]:
St Lukes, Sway
Rev Jane Mitchell in Sway: WE live in the beautiful national Park of the New Forest- and have a sense of God’s peace and healing in the grounds around the church. We are developing a sense of the depth of God’s beauty through wild care of our land, flora, fauna and wildlife. We were compelled to think about No Mow May because our usual volunteers had to self-isolate and we simply did not have anyone to cut the grass except the vicar. On a 2 acre site this was too much! One parishioner commented that he had seen wild flowers he had not seen for 25 years since we had no mow May last year.
St John the Baptist, Winchester, Church Rewilding
St John the Baptist in Winchester have created a wildflower turf in their church yard.The project was inspired by the London 2012 Olympics site, the church planted over 2,500 bulbs and four Hampshire variety apple trees.
The area is a space for the whole community to enjoy and relax, and where wildlife can flourish.#rewilding #30dayswild @ARocha @WildlifeTrusts
