by Rachel Westwood.
Look after the soil and help an unsung environmental champion - go on a worm safari. Worms are fantastic burrowing creatures that are the living, breathing engineers of the underworld. They eat and recycle organic matter to keep our soil healthy.
The intricate network of tunnels that earthworms create is extremely important too. In fact, Charles Darwin said: “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures.” Strong praise indeed! You can find out more at https://www.soilassociation.org/causes-campaigns/save-our-soil/meet-the-unsung-heroes-looking-after-our-soil/why-are-worms-important/
The UK’s earthworms need all the help they can get. A 2023 review looked at more than 100 studies spanning over a century and found numbers were falling by around 2% a year - equivalent to losing more than a third of the entire population over 25 years.
That’s worrying because the UK’s 31 earthworm species play such an important role in structuring the soil and helping maintain its fertility.
This time of year is perfect for your own worm safari. All you need is a torch on a wet evening. Head out into a park or garden, and you should spot fat worms reaching out to drag leaves into their burrows.
Gardeners can also help worms by not clearing too many autumn leaves. They’re food for worms, shelter for insects and amphibians - and if you’re lucky, a hibernating hedgehog, which should wake up in spring ready to feast on those worms. (source BBC Future Earth Newsletter - find out more and subscribe at https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsletters/zdsgqyc )
Where are we Now? |
|
We are proud to say that we have achieved the ‘Silver’ award level of the A’Rocha scheme. We intend to build on this and achieve Gold by recycling more, encouraging our church members and other churches to follow environmentally sensitive policies, and looking after our site (the churchyard) to promote ecological diversity and the wellbeing of the natural world. As part of this, we are thrilled to say that we were able to host the YCCN pilgrimage to the Glasgow Climate
Here’s our newly planted native (organic!) Yew hedge and our bee-friendly wildflower area which is showing good results!Summit!
| Recycling: |
|
We have “recycling” boxes in the entrance to the Church and Hall where you can leave old mobile phones, stamps, spectacles and printer cartridges! These can often be sold to raise funds for the needy or passed to charities who can use them. We also can help with the recycling of many other things - contact us if you would like to help our Recycling efforts as we do need a new Coordinator!
We also try to feed the birds, encourage native wildflowers to grow in our grounds, and welcome people to use our space to relax - but please do so responsibly and do not leave litter! That’s what the bins and recycling boxes are for.