Eco-Life at St John’s Egham
This is log of what St John’s has been doing on its journey as an eco-church, church and an organisation.
2019: An eco-team was formed within St John’s to champion the environment, biodiversity and sustainability. We joined the network of eco-churches with Arocha and when time permitted in everyone’s busy lifestyles, set about establishing a benchmark for ourselves by filling in the Eco-Church application form. We held our first Eco-Fayre in September over 2 days.
2020: Professor Potty was launched to challenge the congregation to make simple changes to their lives that would also impact the environment.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-wQpmtP08G16zwlXbF7OmtFqu5Y9UfCP&feature=shared
Covid hit and St John’s Eco-Fayre went online delivering Zoom workshops and discussions in September and October. Planted a hedgerow in December and invited Dr Ben Spencer, MP of Runnymede to plant a couple of saplings. We campaigned at Runnymede Borough Council to have a target of Net Zero by 2030.
2021: Professor Potty continues encouraging the congregation to take an action to reduce their impact. We calculate our carbon footprint using 360 Carbon (https://360carbon.org/en-gb/) and use the Creation Care platform to capture our congregation and church carbon footprint (https://creationcare.org.uk/about/). We held another online Eco-Fayre over September and held a simple eco-fayre with social distancing as part of Great Big Green Week; involved in litter picks around the local area. We championed LCWIPs, leading local councillors from all parties and started on Scope 1, before handing this over to Marisa Heath who successfully put forward to Surrey County Council. We campaigned Runnymede Borough Council to declare a climate emergency and to move forward with a goal to actively reduce Carbon Emissions for the entire borough. Members of the eco-team did a field trip to a food waste processing site and a garden waste processing site. One of our members cycled to COP26 with a grandmother and her grandaughter from Runnymede to Glasgow and back, speaking at 13 schools along the way.
2022: We continued campaigning RBC to declare a climate emergency, participated in Great Big Green Week with our Eco-Fayre in September, opened a Community Fridge to reduce food waste in October. Members participated in the development of the LCWIPs.
2023: Our community fridge introduced more regular activities:
- Repair Clinic – run 4 times
- Really Really Free market – run 2 times
- Plant and Seed Swap – run 3 times
- Making Bird Boxes workshop – run 1 time
- Providing food for community events such as the Hope Cafe
We participated in Great Big Green Week in June with a Repair Clinic, a Really Free Market and a litter pick. We continued to hold our Eco-Fayre in September. Members of our team became certified and involved in Carbon Literacy + developed a grounds plan. Installed a well-being garden in late autumn and introduced a soup kitchen in October 2023.
2024: The community fridge continued its activities above + introduced recycling of ink cartridges, stamps, coins and unwanted devices + introduced a foot clinic. We continued to support the Great Big Green Week in June with a Really Really Free Market, a Repair Clinic and a litter pick. We held our Eco-Fayre in September. We also worked on delivering a parkrun to the community to reduce travel to a 5K event and to increase mental well being and physical health. The team installed a small pond in the grounds and increased the frequency of litter picks. 2 key litter picks unblocked a ditch in the Vicarage Crescent foot bypass to Aldi that was blocked with 5 large council bags of mainly bottles and cans; a second was between Quincy Road and the M25 where 100 kg of garden waste and general waste was removed. Both allowed the flow of water to happen!
The eco-team were working on quotes and getting a grant for an air source heat pump to remove the old gas boiler that has now failed in 2025.
2025: The Hear Here clinic became part of the Community Fridge and the day designated a well being day alongside the foot clinic. A parkrun was started in January; a community forest of 400 trees has been planted in March / April under the Genesis Project. Supported a carbon literacy course for congregations at Christ Church and fed the participants. Found grants and sponsorships to fund the installation of an air source heat pump for the church building. The Office Admin now ensure the toilet rolls and other cleaning items used in the Easter Centre are eco-friendly.
