Click to return to the St Peter’s Eco Church page.
Click here to see the latest Eco Church Notices within St Peter’s notices for this week and here to see St Peter’s online noticeboard.
View the latest wildlife observations from the churchyard on iNaturalist here.
ECO and Conservation Survey
The results of our survey so far reveal that individual members of the congregation already engage with a variety of Environmental and Conservation charities. Most engagement is as a member or donor to a specific charity. Where people volunteered in some capacity for their chosen charity, it was for a local charity. And it was for local charities that others considered possibly volunteering in the future.
The local charity supported by most respondents is Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, closely followed by the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust (Slimbridge). But a couple of other local charities were mentioned, that others might consider working for: Friends of Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common (FOLK).
For practical action FOLK are involved in maintaining local footpaths, or you could join Cotswold Voluntary Wardens.
Nationally, the National Trust and RSPB are favourites, The Council for the Protection of Rural England, the Butterfly Conservation Trust, the Woodland Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society are also mentioned.
World Wildlife Fund and Water Aid feature most in the international category. Others are Practical Action, Christian Aid, Tearfund and Unicef, which you may have heard of. In this category, there was a list of global environmental charities some of which I personally had not heard or thought of, which you
might like to consider supporting: Blue Marine Foundation, Client Earth, Cool Earth Action, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, The Climate Change Organisation, The Climate Movement, Climate Stewards, Green Alliance, Rainforest Foundation, World Land Trust. Perhaps we as a church might like to think about choosing one of these to focus on and raise funds for in the coming year?
The survey threw up a few suggestions of projects that we as a church might become involved with. The Eco-Group has already encouraged us to participate in the Butterfly Conservation Trust’s Big Count and we are liaising with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust about possible joint projects. On the international
front, it has been suggested that: we might join WaterAid’s ‘End Cholera for Good in Zambia’ project.
Bat News
We have signed up to the Bat Conservation Trust.
Call to action regarding the Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB). For further information and an invitation to email your MP, go to:
Click here to read the latest issue of Bat News.
See below the BCT Annual Report
2025 Churchyard Plant Survey shows increase in biodiversity
Ben Gilchrist has completed his annual survey of the plants in the churchyard. Full results can be found on the Churchyard Plant Survey webpage.
Here is the updated plant survey!! I’ve decided to begin a grasses column, which could be useful to see the changing structure of our grassland as the management techniques change.
I didn’t expect a massive increase in species numbers, as we’re probably reaching a sort of plateau. It’s great to see wilder areas of the churchyard, and the species we have listed really reflect that increased wildness leads to increased biodiversity. And it’s not just flowers: I’m pleased to say that in the wilder areas our insects are thriving, and I noticed particularly several promising butterfly species, including Common Skippers and many Gatekeeper butterflies, which are great markers of good grassland.
Ben Gilchrist.
