Traditional Skills at Dorchester Abbey – 23-25 August

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TRADITIONAL SKILLS IN ACTION – THE CRAFTS THAT BUILT THE ABBEY

Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August from 12 – 6pm

Monday 25th August from 10am to 4pm

Traditional Skills will be showcased at Dorchester Abbey, with contemporary craftspeople who are continuing the crafts and skills that would have built Dorchester on Thames’ medieval abbey and sustained the resident monastic community.

Within the Abbey and its Cloister Garden, there will be demonstrations of skills, and opportunity to try some of them for yourself – discovering how much of the medieval tradition continues today.

This year the emphasis is on the crafts and skills that the monastic community would have needed, including demonstrations from:

  • a herbalist,
  • a pole lathe turner,
  • a coracle maker,
  • weavers,
  • spinners and dyers,
  • a calligrapher and illuminator,
  • a basket maker
  • and beekeepers.

The construction and maintenance of the Abbey church will be represented by: stonemasons, a woodcarver, a stained glass artist, a blacksmith and an embroiderer.

Entry to this event is free.
Donations to the maintenance of the Abbey will be much appreciated.

Poster

For further details visit http://www.dorchester-abbey.org.uk/

Oxfordshire Green Open Homes – May 2014

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GOH advert

Oxfordshire Green Open Homes is a great opportunity for people to engage with their local community about climate change. You could open up your own home to the scheme – or visit someones home locally to see what you could do in your own.

  • Find a local Green Open Home

Visit greenopenhomes.net

  • Open up your own Green Home

By opening your home to show Solar PVs or a new boiler you will have an opportunity to inspire visitors to take action to address climate change.  You can also take part to promote any lifestyle changes or low cost improvements, such as turning down the heating, putting foil behind radiators, wearing an extra jumper, or taking the bike instead of the car. The minimum requirement is to be open for just 2 hours.  If you’d like to take part please contact Lois Muddiman at The Low Carbon Hub for further details using the contact form below or call 01865 246099.

Low Carbon Oxford Week – 14-22 June 2014

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bgrtfeccuaekvgj-jpg-largeThe week of 14-22 June will see a wide variety of inspiring events popping up all over Oxford city – from film showings to food fairs; ‘schwopping’ to super-local suppers; cycling to upcycling – there will be something on offer for everyone and the whole of Oxford is invited.

The Diocese of Oxford is a Pathfinder member of Low Carbon Oxford, and is encouraging churches in Oxford are encouraged to get involved in one of the following ways:

  • Register an existing‘green’ event happening during LCO Week – eg weekly farmers market, bike rides, webinars
  • Add a ‘green’ theme to existing events during LCO Week – eg ‘green’ sermons, upcycling activities in schools
  • Work with other organisations to put on a special event for LCO Week – eg film showings, gigs, talks, open days, tours
  • Provide a free venue – eg a shop window for some artwork, a lecture theatre for a talk or a café for a film showing
  • Donate a prize to the LCO Week upcycling competition
  • Promote Low Carbon Oxford Week on Twitter and Facebook

Find out more at the Low Carbon Oxford Week website.

Contact Jenny Carr on 01865 252564 to discuss how you can get involved.

Earth & Faith in Faringdon

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EARTH & FAITH is a new ecumenical project for Churches Together in Faringdon, launching in May 2014.

EARTH & FAITH will be a focus group among the Faringdon churches, to help us develop our understanding and care of the environment.

As a pilot project, we are planning one whole year of monthly events – plenty of opportunities to:

  • celebrate the gifts of God in Creation
  • discover the interdependence of the natural world, including ourselves
  • learn about our human impact on ecological systems
  • resist apathy and despondency about ecological problems
  • find grounds for living in hope for the future of the Earth.

There are of course many interest groups in the neighbourhood that care about the environment, and some church members belong to these already. Our new group will not try to reinvent the wheel, but we do hope to be a channel of information and ideas from other sources to the churches, and a witness to our neighbours of the churches’ concern for these issues.

A small steering committee meets for the first time in April to begin to plan the programme. First events in early summer.

For further details and to get involved please contact Pam de Wit, member of All Saints Faringdon, using the form below:

Fragile Earth Missional Community – 5th Oct

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CHRIST Church Abingdon will be launching its new Fragile Earth Missional Community on October 5th at 7.45pm with a harvest evening.

Sample a selection of delicious homemade desserts, sip on some locally produced apple juice and relax in the company of good friends and music. The highlight of the night is our speaker Ruth Valerio, who manages ‘Living Lightly’ at A Rocha and is author of ‘L is for Lifestyle’. Please reserve your place by emailing the church office on office@cca.uk.net, or do get in touch if you require further information. The event takes place at New Barn, Christ Church Abingdon, OX14 1PL

If you can give a donation on the night to help  cover costs that would be very welcome, please pay what you can, we would just love you to be there. Any profits from the evening will be split between A Rocha (arocha.org) and Earth Trust (earthtrust.org.uk).

Cowley Deanery conservation project

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This article first appeared in The Door July 2013 edition

AN Earthing Faith initiative to help congregations re-connect with nature has been launched in the Cowley deanery.

Andy with a feathered friend. The area, which is already renowned for the eco work done at St Mary and St John Churchyard, on the Cowley Road, is set to become the subject of a survey by A Rocha UK, a Christian environmental agency.

Dr Andy Gosler, (pictured right) a research lecturer in conservation and ornithology and a member of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry, is the man behind the initiative. Andy has enlisted the help of local and national conservation and natural history groups. The scheme includes ringing robins so that children can identify them as individuals in churchyards and breakfast walks – early morning bird watching and wildlife walks in the deanery.

It is looking at a fungus survey in churchyards, looking at fungi and lichens that may have been growing for 800 or 900 years.

The Ashmolean Natural History Society, God’s Acre Foundation, Oxford Urban Wildlife Group and others are involved. “A Rocha wanted to set up an on-line system for recording nature in churchyards and wanted a couple of churches. I have offered them the whole deanery. They are looking at urban hubs, reconnecting urban situations with nature, and Oxford is the perfect place to test this,” said Andy, who is developing international links for the project and says it could spread from Cowley into other areas of the city. There is a lot that makes Cowley extremely suitable. There are significant areas of urban deprivation and problem areas. It’s exciting.”

Oxfordshire Community Woodfuel Programme

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Oxfordshire Community Woodfuel Programme has been started to help those managing woodlands and those wanting to fuel their community.

The programme aims to help local communities connect with their local environment and local energy supply, and understand the productive nature of woodlands, as well as increase supply and demand for woodfuel. As a result the aim is to reduce carbon footprints, improve biodiversity, and reduce ‘fuel miles’.

Find out more, including details of their ‘Logs for Labour’ scheme via the website: Oxfordshire Community Woodfuel Programme.