Charities / Environment

World Partners

World Partners is a sub-committee of the PCC which develops links with charities beyond our parish.

Our vision is, in response to God’s love for the world, to:

Promote awareness and engage prayerful support in the church for a range of chosen charities and enable the church, as God’s steward, to alleviate need and support justice in the world beyond St Mary’s, including our environmental responsibilities.

Charities

These are the key charities we support

Bible Society

Bible Society is a charity on a global mission to bring the Bible to life for every man, woman and child. We believe that when people engage with the Bible, lives can change – for good.

We remember Bible Sunday each year towards the end of October.

Fairtrade

Fairtrade is a simple way to make a difference to the lives of the people who grow the things we love. They do this by making trade fair.

Fairtrade fortnight is 21 Feb – 6 Mar 2022.

Christian Aid

Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty.

Christian Aid week is 10-16 May 2022.

Action Through Enterprise

Action Through Enterprise – Creating opportunities for children and adults living in rural Ghana

“We work to reduce poverty in Lawra, rural Ghana, where the majority rely on subsistence farming and food is scarce for months at a time. Our process is to select a rural area based on need, and assign a dedicated ATE Hub Manager to build relationships with the communities and lead on project delivery in the Hub. Our partnership with the local school is our entry point to work with the communities, to support children to complete their basic education, including catalysing school kitchens to feed the hungry children, to identify and support often hidden disabled children, to enable growth of small businesses to increase household income, and introduce other programme developments over time such as dry season farming, apprenticeships and gender equality projects.”

We work closely with this locally based charity and it is usually one of our Christmas Charities.

Environment

Count on Nature

Count on Nature is organised by the Church of England and Wales, A Rocha and Caring for God’s Acre.
We do a wildlife count in the churchyard during Love Your Burial Ground Week.
In 2021 we counted 70 different species of flowers, plants, birds, animals, and insects.

Climate Emergency

In August 2021, the PCC made the following resolution:

On the basis that:

  • The world is facing a severe crisis of environmental degradation and climate change;
  • The main cause of the crisis is human activity;
  • The crisis is inextricably linked to global injustices and inequality;
  • The crisis indicates a failure of human beings to follow God’s mandate to care for the world and to seek justice among its peoples;

We, the PCC of St Mary’s Church, Shaw-cum-Donnington, Newbury want to publicly recognise a Climate and Environmental Emergency, and commit ourselves to:

  • Work within our church to improve our environmental impact and move towards raising our Bronze Level Eco Church Award to Silver;
  • Encourage our members to make relevant lifestyle changes appropriate to their circumstances;
  • Testify to the climate emergency and encourage action in our neighbourhoods, workplaces and other spheres of activity;
  • Use whatever influence we may have to bring about positive actions by local and national government and by corporations;
  • Strive to fulfil our calling to care for God’s creation.