On a busy road leading into Loughborough, the gardens at Emmanuel have long been admired by the church and community. Those travelling past often comment on the year-round bright and beautiful flower beds, with roses, hydrangeas, and helichrysum to name but a few currently in bloom.
John has been worshipping at Emmanuel for more than 43 years, and for at least 30 of those he has volunteered, working in the grounds and gardens.
He says their floral success is down to the deeply dug, manure-layered beds, designed as part of a comprehensive replanting scheme around 12 years ago.
And then there’s the abundance of fruit trees and plants, such as Victoria plum, cherry, pear and rhubarb, often made into jam, or used to create delicious desserts for hospitality in the church kitchen.
The church gardens and grounds have also formed the basis for a wonderful working partnership with The Carpenter’s Arms - a nearby residential addiction recovery centre.
Twice monthly, for the last 20 or so years, volunteers from the centre have come to the church to help the regular gardeners, particularly with heavy labour and jobs such as cutting back and weeding.
“We have a great relationship with the centre and really appreciate those who help out,” explains John. “Many of the residents come into church on a Sunday morning and are part of our worshipping community and, though they often move on from the centre, some have found jobs and settled in Loughborough.”
The biggest, most ecologically beneficial accomplishment of late for the Emmanuel gardening team has been their ‘home-made’ composting scheme.
To the side of the church sit seven conjoined composting bins made of reclaimed pallets - two of which are put aside for leaf mould.
It was a well-researched, sustainable project for the team. There are plenty of “browns” available in the church grounds in the form of twigs and dead foliage without the need to add paper to the bin, and they decided to also create two food digesters which are used for scraps and leftovers from the church kitchen.
Recently, John has successfully harvested eight bags of well-rotted compost which the gardeners have been using in the memorial garden and other beds in the grounds.
Patient and dedicated to the cause, the ‘very nice’ sieved compost took four years to break down, quite literally letting nature take its course, as John and his fellow gardeners moved the vegetation from bin to bin until the process was complete.
A few months ago, the church was visited by Helen Burgess from RHS Community Gardening (East Midlands in Bloom). She met up with the church gardening team, including Alwyn and Vivienne, who explained the composting system.
Their composting success story was shared in the East Midlands in Bloom Spring newsletter and on the RHS Community Gardening Facebook page to celebrate during International Compost Awareness Week in May.
“The great thing is that it cost us nothing, and we’re reaping the benefits now in all sorts of ways,” says John.
It’s no surprise then to hear that Emmanuel is well established in the A Rocha Eco Church scheme, currently working towards the Silver Award.
“What we do, it’s part of our faith,” says John. “And that faith is not just going to church on a Sunday. We care about the environment and keeping our church and town attractive for everyone to enjoy.”
