Environmental and Social Justice Newsletter | April - June 2023

Environmental and Social Justice

April - June 2023

St Albans Cathedral, home to Britain’s first saint, is the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain.

Key to the Cathedral’s mission and values is Environmental and Social Justice. Discover what the Cathedral community is doing to stand with St Alban in truth and justice to make our world a better place, and find out how to get involved.

(c) Emma Collins Photography

Message from the Dean

Welcome to the spring edition of St Albans Cathedral’s Social and Environmental Justice Newsletter. As we go to print, our Government is proposing laws that will see those who arrive on our shores across the Channel deported and with no right of recourse to stay, regardless of their situation. As we acknowledge the need for a global response to the horror and devastation experienced by the millions who are fleeing for their safety, the story of Alban and Amphibalus, and the welcome to the stranger on which our Cathedral and Abbey Church is founded, inspires and challenges us towards a better and more humane solution than this blanket ban. From the wonderful and challenging concert here in January, In a Strange Land, which highlighted the reality for refugees and asylum seekers in our world today, we hear the exhortation of the writer to the Hebrews when in chapter 13 he says, ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers for by doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it’. In the pages ahead you will read of our upcoming Community Showcase in June, our continued work on our commitment to environmental sustainability and the call to consider how we can each be involved in our communities. Do not hesitate to speak with one of our team if you would like to be involved in any aspect of our justice work – it is at the heart of the Gospel call and our Cathedral’s mission.

Jo Kelly-Moore, Dean of St Albans

Roles in a Strong Community

Thriving charities are essential for a good life in a free society. They reach the parts the government and businesses do not reach. In our system, a political party gets elected, forms the government, and takes action that it sees as popular. Businesses pursue profits and private interests. If an initiative does not have a commercial value it cannot improve businesses’ bottom line – hence is not seen as a business proposition.

And yet citizens have many needs that do not fit the above scenario. Many years ago some mainly young people saw threats to our environment arising from use of dangerous pesticides and other environmentally unfriendly practices. Styling themselves Friends of the Earth they campaigned ceaselessly and eventually their cause galvanised the public mood. Now all the major political parties in the UK have become standard bearers for the green economy. What was seen as controversial has become mainstream. But it started in the voluntary sector.

Take another example not far from here. Government decides to expand Stansted Airport. A group of local communities who would be seriously affected by noise pollution and increased traffic formed Stop Stansted Expansion (SSE), and succeeded in halting the expansion. This airport expansion initiative would have been beneficial to business, so business would not oppose it. Major political parties supported it. It was local people who rose up, made their feeling known, raised money and ran a campaign to stop the expansion. They succeeded. Following their success SSE mothballed itself but remained ready to spring into action again should the threat re-emerge.

Government cannot deliver everything communities need, so it has to make choices. Inevitably, many needs communities have will fall outside these policy choices. But the needs do not go away. This is where local people organise and deliver services to meet their own needs such that they can enjoy a better life.

When a need has run its course the organisation that championed it can be disbanded. There is flexibility and nimbleness in organising locally.

We are blessed with having so many voluntary organisations in Hertfordshire. Their lifeblood is volunteers and money. They cannot afford to hire large numbers of staff; but large numbers of volunteers suitably led can move mountains. Their time cannot be paid for but is worth its weight in pounds and pence. They change things. They make a big difference to people’s lives. Think of the impact of local youth football teams on the lives of young children. Or day care centres on the lives of older people. Or the local hostel that provides a meal for the homeless. Meeting these needs improves the prospects of the client group. They are real needs which fall to the bottom of public policy choices; and cannot add to the corporate bottom line. So these organisations deserve all the support you and I can give.

Delbert Sandiford

Give more than money

Supporting local charities

The Cathedral has a proud tradition of giving money to a wide range of local, national and international charities. This is now overseen by the Mission Giving Team who are working hard to develop a more strategic approach to this giving, exploring the impact our donations make in terms of turnover, reserves policy and how the charity aligns with the Cathedral’s own strategic aims and priorities. Coupled with giving to three charities from the annual fireworks display and a donation from a portion of our Christmas collections, this will be a sum of just over £70,000 for 2022. This is wonderful and will make a tangible difference to the lives of many through the work of these charities. But it is not the only way that we can support charities and I want to mention three ways, in addition to monetary donations, that can also be valuable.

Prayer and Awareness Raising

We seek to pray for the work of charities and we can do that in our own personal prayer, intercessory prayer within our services and we occasionally light up the West End of the Cathedral to highlight a cause. Alongside this, sharing information and advertising events on behalf of local charities through our notice sheets, website and social media posts can really help to get their message known more widely.

Network and providing a forum

The Cathedral can be a place that brings together a wide range of people to raise awareness and promote the work that charities and organisations are doing. Recent concerts for Ukraine, an interfaith event in November and exhibitions in the North Transept are all good examples. On 10 June we will be organising and hosting the first ever St Albans Community Showcase bringing lots of local groups together under one roof to celebrate their work, and our partnerships with them, as we serve our local communities.

Practical skills and help

We are blessed with many people at the Cathedral who have considerable gifts and experience that can also be of great benefit to local charities. After an appeal in the notice sheet, two members of our congregation have offered their time and skills in administration, grant applications and life coaching to benefit Emmaus who work with homeless people in St Albans.

These three examples show that giving to a charity can be about more than just our money.

Will Gibbs

Take action

St Albans Community Showcase

Hold the date! Saturday 10 June, 2023

On this day the Cathedral plans to host a range of charities and other groups all of which contribute to our strong community here in St Albans – and more widely around the country and the world. Many of them we support through our Mission Giving; many of us support them individually as volunteers, trustees or through our personal giving. However, how much do any of us know about the whole range of social justice and environmental activities that are going on in the area? Care for our fellows and care for the environment are at the heart of our Christian life; part of our Cathedral mission is ‘Standing with St Alban for truth and justice’.

The St Albans Community Showcase will help us learn about what people like us are doing locally, standing for truth and justice. There will be stands around the Nave with people on hand to talk about what they do, and hopefully presentations and panel discussions. Not only will this help all of us to learn more, and perhaps become more engaged with issues that we are interested in (or passionate about!) but will also help the charities themselves gain visibility and contacts –and perhaps volunteers or other commitment.

The event is being organised by the Social Justice Group, the Mission Giving Team and the Eco Team. Right now we are in the early stage of planning, and more details will be available soon. If you know of a charity or group who you think should be invited, please email giving@stalbanscathedral.org. What we can promise is a day of real interest and opportunity, and we look forward to seeing you all there.

Chris Lyal

Social Justice

The third mark of mission of the Anglican Communion is ‘to respond to human need by loving service’, and the fourth ‘to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation’. Part of the Cathedral’s Mission Statement is to ‘stand with St Alban for truth and justice’.

The Social Justice Advent Calendar

At the end of last year the Social Justice Group decided to guide the Cathedral community through Advent by creating an Advent Calendar of actions, prayers and meditation – one for each day from 1 - 24 December. Such Advent Calendars have become very popular with church communities and various organisations in the last few years as a means to encourage acts of service during Advent.

The object of the 2022 St Albans Cathedral Advent Calendar was to encourage members of the Cathedral community to take up the opportunity to undertake one or more of the actions on the Calendar and also to use the prayers and meditations in their preparations during the Advent period.

The actions were all acts of service that were either suggested by local charities, organisations or individuals. They ranged from creating a heart Christmas decoration, to be distributed by St Albans’ Anna Chaplain, to visiting someone who was alone, or speaking to a rough sleeper.

The prayers and mediations were specially written for the Calendar by our clergy. We approached a number of organisations to propose actions that would be useful to them, including Centre 33, the Winter Shelters programme, St Albans Lions and the St Albans Child Contact Centre. The theme of the Advent Calendar, whether an action, prayer or meditation, was to encourage people to think of others. This included encouraging people to find a social justice issue to support and take a step towards doing just that.

The Calendar came in digital form on the Cathedral website and hard copies available in the Cathedral. The hard copies were particularly popular.

The feedback we received was generally very positive, the most common responses were, ‘what a great idea’, ‘it’s so helpful to have suggestions – I will definitely do something’, ‘it’s great to have an action instead just donating money’ and ‘thank you, it really made me think in the middle of all the pre-Christmas madness!’.

We would welcome feedback from anyone who used the Calendar last year. It would be great to hear if you found it useful, what you would like retained and what changed. Also, if you have any ideas for this year’s Advent Calendar, please let us know as we are planning to do it again!

Social Justice Group Citizens Advice

One of the charities supported through Cathedral Mission Giving is Citizens Advice. But what does it do?

Citizens Advice St Albans District gives free, confidential and impartial advice to clients throughout the St Albans and Harpenden area. Last year we helped over 10,000 people by phone, face to face and by email. We are based in St Albans Civic Centre and also have weekly ‘outreaches’ in Redbourn and Harpenden. We hope to restart outreach services to Wheathampstead and London Colney this year. Our main areas of advice are benefits, debt, housing, employment and family, but in reality there are not many subjects that we will not try to tackle!

Working for Citizens Advice is not always easy. We never know who is going to contact us and some people’s problems can seem overwhelming. Our clients are five times more likely to be on a low income than the population in general and many are on benefits. Many are sick or disabled and with poor mental and/or physical health and some struggle to speak English. We have many older clients, and some of the clients who

contact us are very isolated and are finding it hard to get help from anywhere else. It does not help that our clients are far more likely than the rest of the population to find it difficult to do anything online, with some clients never having used the internet.

Most of our advice is delivered by our large team of over 40 trained volunteers, although we do have some specialist paid advisors, particularly dealing with debt and housing issues. We are always on the lookout for new volunteers with a new group starting training every January. Being a volunteer is a big commitment but also extremely rewarding and some volunteers have been with us for over 20 years.

We know that we make a huge difference to our clients’ lives, with 91% of our clients saying they would recommend us and 70% telling us we have helped them significantly. We have a huge demand for our services, with many people desperate for help to deal with the rising cost of living. We work closely with other local agencies including St Albans City & District Council, various food banks and a number of local charities. They refer people to us for help and we refer people to them.

We are grateful to all our funders since, although we are mainly funded by St Albans City & District Council, additional funding is always needed to expand the range of help we can offer.

Liz Crampton

Loneliness and Isolation

Never have we been more aware of what this means than during the Covid lockdown.

At the Cathedral, lots of us were told of people who might be in difficulty, so we phoned them regularly which we could only hope helped a bit - and anyway, it was lovely having conversations with people we might not have met so regularly in ordinary times and lots of friendships were formed.

The six Lunch Clubs were suspended, but the Hostesses of each would phone frequently, as would I. The Lunch Clubs began quite a time ago by Lesley Bridge, when she ran what is now Abbot’s Kitchen, for people who might otherwise be eating on their own. Originally on every Monday, now there are also two Lunch Clubs on the first and second Tuesdays each month, all for around 12 people. Each Lunch Club has a Hostess who will phone and remind people to come and tell me if there are any anxieties. I will then phone as well and if necessary alert the Clergy. I wish sometimes we could host a weekly Lunch Club like other Churches but that is not possible; however it may be easier to get to know people in smaller groups. I can also give people a lift if necessary!

The Lunch Clubs are not just for people on their own; couples are also welcome to attend. There are many people who, after a long involvement with the shop suddenly find a huge gap and, although lunch once a month isn’t the same, it is a group of people who will always be very pleased to see them, a meal to share and even a glass of wine!

It is very difficult when parents are getting older and decide to come and live nearer their children, having to leave longstanding friends, especially if memories are beginning to go. It can be hard to adapt to a new home especially if the children are working and cannot give the time to their parents that they all might like. In

situations I am always delighted when members of the congregation ask if their Mum or Dad could come and join us.

There are ten Lay Pastoral Assistants who visit people who are ill or cannot get to church, and give Communion in their homes. We all try to be as aware of people who may be missing in church and follow them up as gently as we can. We very much need everyone to be aware and let us know of any anxieties they may have. If you have any concerns about anyone, please get in touch with us.

Cress Rayner

Environmental Round Up

Chapter Environmental Strategy

As many readers will be aware, our Cathedral is currently going through a process which will change both its governance and structures, in response to the Cathedrals Measure 2021. This will also mean that for the first time we will become a registered charity. Following this, there will be a period between Pentecost and Advent when we consult and reflect on our key strategic priorities and set out our vision for 2024 and beyond. Despite these considerable changes, what will not alter is our firm commitment to the Environment and becoming Carbon Net Zero by 2030. This is being overseen by the Environmental Strategy Group, whilst some of the practical steps are being tackled by our Eco Team.

Environmental Strategy Group update

Following the QODA report in January 2022 giving us a detailed Energy Assessment and Carbon Emissions report, we are now developing a process for a detailed Decarbonisation Strategy for the Cathedral and offices. This report will help us draw up the roadmap and identify the stages towards net zero. As a busy working heritage building, we are going to need to find ways to do this work with sensitivity and in phases, fitting in with other scheduled projects to the fabric. We are delighted to hear that York Minster has been granted permission to install solar panels, as this may well be a test case for us and many other cathedrals. Alongside this will be air source heat pumps, probably situated south of the Chapter House, and part of a landscaping project to ‘hide them’, to work in the first instance in tandem with existing boilers for the remainder of their lifespan. We are also exploring energy improvements to our cathedral housing properties.

Eco Team

The team has dug and now filled a pond behind Cathedral House and has fitted a grid cover to it. This is part of a wider project to encourage biodiversity and some of the garden will grow flowers and plants for use by the Flower Guild for their arrangements, reducing costs, carbon and air miles. The team are also looking at better recycling across the Cathedral. The recent winter clothing event helped reduce clothes waste, as well as supporting the needs of homeless people and asylum seekers. As a result of these and other recent steps we hope to achieve the A Rocha silver award in the next two months.

Will Gibbs

The Churchyard Carbon Survey

A ‘Churchyard Carbon Survey’ has been commissioned by the Church of England from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in association with the conservation charity Caring for God’s Acre. Previous map-based surveys had equated the capacity for churchyards to absorb atmospheric carbon with other urban and suburban open spaces, not taking account of the specific way in which we manage and use our land. The objective of the current exercise is to establish how effective churchyards are as carbon sinks relative to their surrounding environs. This information will be invaluable in helping to plot a pathway towards net zero for both the Church of England itself and the wider community.

Around 170 parishes nationwide expressed interest in participating, but funding was only available for fifty. One of those selected was St Stephen’s Church, and members of the Cathedral’s Eco Team were delighted to accept an invitation to assist with their survey which took place on the (somewhat damp!) morning of Saturday 7 January. The home team concentrated on taking soil samples from carefully plotted locations using a tool called an auger (a scaled-up apple corer!). 25 such samples had to be extracted (carefully avoiding recent burial sites and other sensitive areas) and thoroughly mixed together, from which a representative 200g was sent to the UKCEH in Bangor for analysis.

Meanwhile the Cathedral delegates were assembling data to describe the church’s impressive array of tree species. Pride of place amongst these is the magnificent lime (visible from the King Harry road junction) which towers over fifteen metres above its surroundings. Other typical churchyard varieties observed were cedar, yew, holly and hornbeam, and the records we took of their respective girth, height and maturity will help the scientists estimate the churchyard’s overall carbon capacity above ground as well as below it. Alongside this activity, we were

encouraged to take general notice of interesting flora and fauna we encountered, for which the mobile phone app iNaturalist was particularly recommended. It offers a very user-friendly means of identifying and recording species, and we are inspired to undertake a survey of this kind of our own cathedral grounds when the weather improves.

Anyone interested in learning more about the work of the Eco Team, or volunteering for our occasional working parties, is warmly encouraged to contact us via mail@stalbanscathedral.org

Geoff McMahon

Caring for the environment

The fifth mark of mission of the Anglican Communion is ‘To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth’. At a time when we see increasing threats from climate change, and ecological crises threatening both biodiversity and people, we need to understand how we can make a change both in our own lives and in our society. Two years ago the Cathedral’s Lent theme was the environment, and we learned about some of our responsibilities as Christians. One of the messages was that care for the environment, and concern for environmental justice, is part of our Christian life, not something in addition to it.

So how can care for the environment be a part of our Christian life? One way is of course to become part of the local or national wildlife organizations – just take a look at the links on the Hertfordshire Natural History Society page (www.hnhs.org/links). For a directly Christian approach a helpful set of resources can be found at the Green Christian website (www. greenchristian.org.uk), including ideas for activity, prayer and worship (and sermons, for our clergy readers). Green Christian is a group of ordinary Christians, who we can join, learn from and learn with. It

is not only a national group – there is a St Albans group, Hope in Action (www.hopeinaction.uk/st-albans-hope-inaction).

Another local group is Sustainable St Albans (www. sustainablestalbans.org), again with many opportunities to get involved. This year its sustainability festival ‘SustFest’ is from 10 - 18 June and the Cathedral will, as usual, be involved. Our proposed event, the St Albans Community Showcase, is timed to be at the beginning of SustFest.

The Cathedral is working hard to get the Silver Eco Church award (www.ecochurch.arocha.org.uk). This is not just something that the Cathedral does; it is based on what we all do as members of the Cathedral community. Do look at the A Rocha site for ideas, and maybe sign up to their newsletter. The Cathedral is also committed to net zero carbon; this is not a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘have to have’. Around the world people are suffering because of climate change, and what we do to minimise our carbon footprint is part of our commitment to reducing this impact. Take a look at Will Gibbs’ article in this issue for information on what is going on.

We are also active at the Diocesan level, with our Alban Intern Izzy Godwin bringing a youth perspective to the Diocesan Environment Group. This group is intended to support parishes across the Diocese in their environmental work.

Finally, one practical thing you can do is to join our Eco Team. Our plans this year include further development of the Cathedral House Flat Garden as a biodiverse area and learning more about the biodiversity of the Cathedral grounds. We look forward to seeing you!

Chris Lyal

Environmental and Social Justice Calendar

Friday 7 April World Health Day

This year focuses on ‘Health for All’. www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/

Saturday 22 April World Earth Day

The theme this year is ‘Invest In Our Planet’. Visit the site for ideas of how to participate. www.earthday.org/earth-day-2023/

Monday 24 April Fashion Revolution Week

This week was founded in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013. It mobilises citizens, brands and policymakers through research, education and advocacy.

www.fashionrevolution.org/about/

May No Mow May

Do not use your lawnmower this month and let the wild flowers in your lawn bloom.

www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plantsnature/no-mow-may

Monday 1 May Labour Day

Workers around the world remember the heroes of the past, and lift up the dignity and concerns of working people today.

www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/make-may-day-remember

Saturday 13 May World Migratory Bird Day

Raising awareness of the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. The 2023 focus is on water.

www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/

Sunday 14 May Walk to church Sunday

The second Sunday in May each year.

www.stalbans.anglican.org/faith/walk-to-churchsunday/

Saturday 20 May Christian Aid Week

Sunday 14 -

www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/key-appeals/ christian-aid-week

Saturday 20 May World Bee Day

Bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies and bats, are increasingly under threat from human activities.

www.un.org/en/observances/bee-day

Monday 22 May International Day for Biological Diversity

Biodiversity is a global asset which is being significantly reduced by human activities. The 2023 theme is “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity”

www.un.org/en/observances/biologicaldiversity-day

Saturday 3 June World Bicycle Day

Why not cycle today for a simple, affordable, sustainable means of transportation?

www.un.org/en/observances/bicycle-day

Sunday 11 June Love Your Burial Ground Week

Saturday 3 -

Helping us to focus on our churchyards and burial grounds. This year part of it is Churches Count on Nature 2023, when we can focus on seeing just what is living in our Cathedral grounds.

www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk/get-involved/ love-your-burial-ground-week/

Monday 5 June World Environment Day

We have a planetary emergency: the climate is heating up too quickly for people and nature to adapt; habitat loss and other pressures mean an estimated one million species are threatened with extinction; pollution continues to poison our air, land and water. We need to transform our economies and societies to make them inclusive, fair and we must shift from harming the planet to healing it.

www.un.org/en/observances/environment-day

Thursday 8 June World Oceans Day

People around our blue planet celebrate and honor our one global ocean, which connects us all.

www.worldoceanday.org

Saturday 10 June St Albans Community Showcase

Come to the Cathedral and discover the amazing work being done by local charitiesand how you can get more involved.

Sunday 18 June SUSTFEST 2023

Saturday 10 -

The amazing community festival, St Albans Sustainability Festival, inspiring the community to live sustainably and protect the environment.

www.sustfest.org/

Tuesday 20 June World Refugee Day

Honouring refugees around the globe, celebrating the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. World Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognise their resilience in rebuilding their lives.

www.un.org/en/observances/refugee-day

Sunday 25 June Refugee Week

Monday 19 -

This week invites you to explore the theme of ‘Compassion’. Through creativity and conversations, Refugee Week 2023 will be a celebration of community, mutual care, and the human ability to start again.

www.refugeeweek.org.uk/

Thursday 22 June World Rainforest Day

A collaborative effort to encourage action to protect the world’s rainforests.

www.worldrainforestday.org/

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