Columns (September 2009)
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Green Links
with Janis Irvine
As a child I used to love December because that was when the parcels arrived from Britain. Living as we did in the centre of Tasmania in a village specifically set up by the Hydro Electric Commission - whose intention was the building of a new dam and power station - treats like this were few and far between.
We had one general store that also acted as post office, butcher etc. and stocked a limited range of basic foodstuffs. The store was supplemented by the ‘Watkins Man’ who visited in his little green van two or three times a year and brought flour in cloth sacks, large jars of coffee beans, 7lb tins of honey, etc. plus an assortment of home remedies such as cough linctus and camphor and eucalyptus ointment. For anything other than these staples, a 100-mile trip by bus to the capital, Hobart, was necessary. December’s parcels from ‘the Old Country’ were therefore incredibly special and were treated with great anticipation and respect. After the parcels were opened, the covering brown paper was flattened and folded and the string was neatly rolled up; both were stored away for future use.
That keeping of brown paper and bits of string was necessary then because it wasn’t easy getting hold of ‘extras’ like that. Nowadays, it is a practice we need to revisit because practically everything we buy has required energy for its manufacture or transport. We surely need to look at everything we use and ask some serious questions. Do we really need this or that item or could we re-use the ones we already have, thus cutting down on manufacturing energy usage? Could we buy this product locally so as to cut out transport energy usage? The widespread campaign to cut the use of plastic bags was part of this picture. Re-using cloth bags means cutting out the manufacturing energy and transport energy needed to get those plastic carrier bags to every shop in the country. In addition, oil is required to make the plastic for the carrier bag so even the product itself uses an energy source for its manufacture; a triple whammy and a symbol of our wasteful society.
If we were to cultivate a way of life that gives value to every product we use, irrespective of whether it be something as insignificant as a piece of brown paper, a length of string or the humble carrier bag, then perhaps we would stand a chance of reducing our energy consumption and, by association, our personal liability for carbon dioxide output which is inherent in all energy usage. Try washing by hand the next plastic carrier bag you use or rolling up odd bits of string. Ask yourself what process was involved in making the next product you are thinking of buying. Ask yourself how long it took to grow the fruit and vegetables you buy, much of which is thrown away. Teach your children to eat all of an apple rather than munching at the edges and throwing the rest away. Pretty soon you will probably find yourself questioning all your purchases and actions; you will then be well on your way to a more sustainable way of life. Our children desperately need to learn about the value of everything they and you use because the viability of the future they will inherit will depend upon this awareness.
Restricting our energy usage and our carbon dioxide emissions is something we must all engage in, individually as well as corporately. In December the United Nations Climate Talks will take place in Copenhagen. These meetings are probably the most important in international history because it is possibly the World’s last chance to secure a global agreement to reduce emissions and build a zero carbon economy. Many ordinary people will be campaigning at a rally alongside these meetings in Copenhagen as part of a global day of action where agencies such as Christian Aid and Tearfund will be involved. In addition, there is to be a climate change march in London on December 5, again organized by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition. Between October and December there will be many supporting events taking place all over the country.
If you want to find out more then visit: www.christianaid.org.uk/copenhagen, www.tearfund.org/deal, www.globalclimatecampaign.org or e-mail campaigns@christian-aid.org.
And if you can’t get to the Copenhagen or London rallies then you can at least start saving brown paper and string!
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Rural Affairs
with Dagmar Winter
In connection with my work as Diocesan Officer for Rural Affairs, I have recently become Chaplain to the Northumberland Group of Farm Crisis Network (FCN). So I know first hand what a good thing FCN is.
It is a Christian organisation providing pastoral and practical support to farming people (of any faith or none) during periods of anxiety, stress and problems relating to both the farm household and the farm business.
What's the Crisis?
There are many factors which may cause need or distress to farming people and families: ill health, debt, farm business problems, bereavement, depression, family relationships, farm regulations, retirement, farm tenancy issues... These are often exacerbated by the financial pressures, long working hours and increasing isolation experienced by many in farming. Farm situations are often complex, with home, livelihood, business and family intertwined. In many cases, not only is a job at stake but a home, an identity, a vocation, and possibly a family past and a family future. Sadly, there is a disproportionately high suicide rate among farmers.
How does FCN work?
FCN consists of around 300 wonderful, committed volunteers across the UK - drawn from the farming community and rural churches - offering pastoral and practical support to farming people - around 4,000 last year. Most of FCN's work is done quietly but is hugely valuable for the lives of individuals and families. The Helpline number puts people in touch with a local volunteer.
Locally: Here in our Diocese, we are covered by the Northumberland Group which is coordinated by Hugh Logan who lives and farms near Wooler. Hugh has established excellent links with various agencies such as the Rural Payments Agency and Trading Standards, and also with banks. This is a huge help when trying to sort out protracted bureaucratic issues such as the Single Farm Payment not being paid, problems with tagging or debt.
Regionally: Hugh and the Northumberland Group are supported by a Regional Director who looks after a number of groups in the northern counties of England, Richard Betton from Teesdale. Richard is a farmer with a great deal of experience in agricultural and rural policy and support work as well as being a churchwarden of St James the Less, Forest in Frith, the most remote parish in the Dale in Durham Diocese!
Nationally: FCN has a small national office in Northamptonshire and a team of five national staff led by Rev Sarah Brown, FCN's Executive Director. FCN is governed by a Board of Trustees. FCN's Patron is HRH The Prince of Wales and FCN's President is Christopher Jones, the founder of the charity.
How does FCN's work fit in with other farming charities?
FCN is a member of the Farming Help Partnership in which the ARC Addington Fund and RABI complement each other. FCN provides a visiting service and staffs the national helpline for the entire Partnership: 0845 367 9990
FCN past and present
FCN began its work in 1995 as a partnership between the Arthur Rank Centre, the churches' rural resource centre, and the Agricultural Christian Fellowship, as a Christian response to the high suicide level among farmers. FCN really came into its own and was able to support many in the farming community through the East Anglian Swine Fever outbreak in 2000 and the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in 2001. FCN supported over 7,000 households during that time, providing encouragement, advocacy and help with finding financial assistance. In recent years there has been a period of very low farm incomes, and the additional strain of severe flooding and outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease, Bluetongue and Avian Influenza. Last month, FCN published a well-respected report on the impact of bovine TB on farming families, called 'Stress and Loss'. Fortunately, we are less badly affected by bovine TB in Northumberland compared to other parts of the country. The report highlights the difficulties farming families have to face, in some part due to the approach taken by the authorities.
What's it got to do with me?
If you are a member of an urban church, FCN wants you to know that your rural brothers and sisters need and appreciate your support and encouragement. If you are a member of a rural church, you should know that FCN is there to help those in need in your local farming community.
How is FCN funded?
FCN's core funding is from churches, trusts and private individuals. When possible and appropriate, public funding is used for specific parts of the work.
Harvest Thanksgiving
Could you remember Farm Crisis Network in your Harvest giving this year, maybe with the collection at your Harvest Service?
If you would like to sponsor Dagmar's Great North Run on 20th September in aid of FCN, please go to www.justgiving.com/dagmar
PRAYER
Thank you for the work of FCN and for all those who contribute to your mission of care for the troubled farming community.
We pray for your continued blessing and adequate provision over the coming year and ask for strength and courage to persevere when the troubles on farms seem almost unbearable.
We praise you for the fruitfulness of our land, for the livestock that feed us and for those who labour to put food in our bellies.
And we ask for justice and common sense in the governance of farming, now and in the future.
We pray in the Spirit, through Christ the Redeemer.
Amen.
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View from the Lantern
by Canon Sydney Connolly
"I will lift up my eyes..."
Much as I enjoy walking in the lovely countryside that our region has to offer in abundance, I also enjoy walking through towns and cities. In a place like Newcastle, for example, there are always new discoveries to be made during a stroll through our streets and alleyways. I am sure the same is true of many of our towns and villages throughout the diocese.
In Newcastle, it is sometimes distressing to see our lovely city awash with litter and the remains of throwaway food. And how I hate the habit that seems to enjoy great popularity of late, of spitting on the pavements! When it all gets too much, I like to lift up my eyes, as the Psalmist said, and see what lies above the usual shop or office front. There’s such a lot to see and enjoy. For instance, waiting to cross the road outside St Thomas’ Church, in the Haymarket, I noticed that above Blackwell’s Bookshop there is an inscription which says “Grand Hotel”. I wonder of anyone remembers it as such?
If you look up above the Carphone Warehouse shop in Northumberland Street, you will see a set of four figures. I think they used to be highly coloured, but they are now, alas, a sort of whitishgreyish. They depict four people with noteworthy connections to the city: Thomas Bewick, Harry Hotspur, Sir John Marley and Roger Thornton. Have a look up, next time you walk along that much-used thoroughfare. Don’t bother to look above BHS or Primark, though – sheer ugliness! I frequently make my way from Central Station Metro to the Cathedral, along Collingwood Street.
What a fascinating collection of buildings that street has to offer! Right at the end, on the opposite side from the Cathedral, are some former insurance offices – with seven fine balconies, and another two around the corner in Groat Market. The building bears the inscription “Northern Assurance Co. Ltd. Est.1836”. Lovely.
St Nicholas’ Cathedral also provides much to marvel at, once you get inside and lift up your eyes. The roof bosses are certainly worthy of attention. Do, as I did recently, and take a pair of binoculars to enable you to examine them in greater detail. You will see that there is a fine white dove hovering above the font, with golden rays behind it. If you go into the North Transept and look up at the carvings in the roof, you will find a mermaid looking down at you.
There are several stained glass windows and monuments high up that can only be seen in detail through quite strong binoculars – but worth the effort. We hope that all those who enter our lovely Cathedral will indeed look up and see what glories there are above them.
We hope and pray, too, that all who come will lift up their hearts as well as their eyes, to give praise and thanks to almighty God for all those who through the ages have contributed to the making of our Cathedral Church in all its richness and beauty.
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God” (from Psalm 84)
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Christian Aid Column
An overseas holiday with a difference
Christian Aid have set up a partnership with award-winning, North-east based ethical tour operator, Saddle Skedaddle, to offer holidays which combine visiting classic tourist sites and seeing the work of the charity.
After one highly successful trip to Malawi, Christian Aid is now offering the chance to visit India. Christian Aid has been working through partners in India for more than 50 years, and is now offering the opportunity for supporters to see the positive impact their contributions are making. The holiday not only includes trips to field projects in Northern India, but also a visit to World Heritage site the Taj Mahal, a rickshaw tour through Delhi and a boat ride in Udaipur. Mary Fallon, a retired teacher , was among the first group to go on holiday through this collaboration. She travelled to Malawi, and returned to Britain inspired by the projects they have seen run by local charities and churches and funded by Christian Aid.
She said: ‘This trip has shown me how much Christian Aid’s partners empower people to change the things that keep them in poverty. Now I’m back, I’m telling everyone about the wonderful people we met and the work we saw.’
In the village of Euthini, in northern Malawi, Mary saw the benefits of the Kabiya Dam that had been paid for by a Christian Aid partner. ‘As a farmer’s daughter and a keen gardener, I was overjoyed to see how the dam was changing people’s lives,’ she said.
Arriving along dusty, potholed roads, the visitors were given a traditional welcome from villagers including a dance performed by the women of the village. Mary joined in and was partnered by a woman called Jane.
Thanks to the new dam, the villagers are able to grow not only enough food to feed their families, but mothers like Jane can also earn extra money from selling some of their produce to buy school uniforms and other things their family need.
Mary is a long time activist with the charity: a volunteer teacher, Christian Aid collector and general organiser. ‘‘I had not flown since 2005, I needed renewal and Malawi was carbon well spent. The joy of meeting these local people will stay with me and inspire me to continue to help end poverty.’
She makes a contribution to Christian Aid every month by direct debit and so the chance to see how the money was used meant a great deal to her: ‘I’m very grateful that the opportunity was there and that I was able to take advantage of it,’ she said.
The next supporter tour is taking visitors to India from November 22 to December 5. Further details can be found at www.christianaid.org.uk/tours, by emailing christianaid@skedaddle.co.uk or by phoning 0191 265 1110.
Do you need to make or update your Will? In November, you can have a basic Will professionally drawn up by a solicitor who will donate the fee you pay to Will Aid.
Last year Christian Aid received over £120,000 from Will Aid donations, and over 100 people also decided to leave a legacy to support Christian Aid’s work in the future whilst making or re-writing their Wills. If you are interested in using the scheme, find your nearest participating Will Aid solicitor by visiting www.willaid.org.uk, or contact Colin Kemp, Christian Aid’s Legacy Manager, on 0207 523 2173 or e-mail him at ckemp@christian-aid.org
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