Thackley Methodist Church is the only church within the Thackley community. We are blessed to have Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Rangers, Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts meeting on our premises – that’s over 300 young people each week! In addition, we are also home to Sorted, a Church Army project and part of Church of England Diocese of Leeds as a fresh expression of church with a Bishop’s Mission Order. Sorted gives hope, encouragement, inspiration and purpose for young people in Bradford.
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In recent months we have done much to improve sustainability by switching to LED lighting, installing smart switches, and encouraging recycling. Our Brownies recycle old printer cartridges to raise funds for the church, which is very much appreciated. Squirrels go out litter picking to help the community. We want to encourage our young people to look after God’s world.
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We had a very neglected space which the Brownies were keen to use, so we decided to create an educational nature space. In March we received a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKPSF) capital grant of £1,135.00 which enabled us to turn our vision into reality. The space is now ready for our young people to grow wildflowers to attract bees and butterflies, and perhaps vegetables for the local community.
We hope they will build bug hotels, hedgehog houses and bird feeding stations to attract more wildlife. Our aim is to provide a rich environment for our young people to experience nature, learn how to conserve water, protect wildlife, reduce the use of pesticides and hopefully carry environmental responsibility with them into adulthood. This will improve the biodiversity of the immediate area and we’ve asked our groups to conduct regular audits so that we can assess impact.
This has also spurred us on to replace the pebbles to the front of our church with a wildflower garden and some of our groups are investigating also looking after the Thackley Community Garden which is across the road from the church.
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By Ruth Whitfield
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