Peace Garden

The Peace Garden

The church owns a considerable area of land behind the church and down to the river, and it was agreed at Church Council in February that it would like to create a Peace Garden and Prayer Walk. It was decided to approach the Parish Council to see if they would be interested in getting involved as a Community project and open up the area as a quiet garden for the benefit of the community.

At an initial meeting with the Parish Council, Chairman of the Riverside sub-committee, he agreed to present the proposal to the Parish Council. The idea was welcomed with enthusiasm by the Parish Council who would like to work in partnership with us on the project for the benefit of the community and hopefully get members of the community involved.

At the time of writing this report we are awaiting a further meeting to decide on our way forward. Initially we are looking to clear the whole area of scrub and undergrowth and get a better idea of the extent of the plot. We are hoping in the next few weeks to get as many volunteers as possible to assist with this work.

At present we need to  

   1 form a small team from BSMC to work with the PC to manage the work

   2 Organise the clear up       

   3 Obtain advice from Leeds CC Trees Officer on the conditions of the trees

   4 Prepare a design

    5 Identify grants and funding that could be available

   6 Create the Peace Garden

It should be stressed that it is intended that the project should be self-funding and will not rely on Church Funds. Any grants or funds obtained would be solely used for the project

There are no set ideas yet on what we should create, therefore if you do have ideas or experience of such a scheme we are very interested in having your advice. We are also seeking advice from the Quiet Garden Trust which has created several gardens around the world.

In general there appears to be quite a lot of enthusiasm for the scheme and all ready there are several leads for us to get help and funding. We pray that this scheme can really make an impact, not only on this church but also the village and community at large.  We look forward to your support as we move forward with this work.                                                           DLB     5 April 2011