Members of All Saints Church Wokingham have solved their gardening challenges and raised money for Christian Aid Week 2021 at the same time. They got together on Zoom for a Gardeners’ Question Time social evening to share their gardening experiences, helped by Lorraine Hodgson and Geoff Davies, local professional gardeners, who fielded questions from the group.
Topics ranged from how to get better results growing sweetcorn to gardening as therapy. The evening started with a short video about Christian Aid’s work to support communities being impacted by climate change in Kenya. It features Florence, a widow and single mother, who has been able to make her living through horticulture because of the building of a local dam facility made possible by Christian Aid’s investment.
The evening raised £225 towards Christian Aid Week 2021 which takes place in mid-May. With door-to- door collecting opportunities restricted once again this year as well as last year because of coronavirus All Saints Wokingham and other churches are exploring new ways to raise the funds.
Rector of All Saints, Canon David Hodgson, said: “Noticing how often gardening topics were cropping up in the pre-meeting chat on church Zoom sessions Lorraine and I realised a special gardening session would make for a fun evening and a different way to raise funds for Christian Aid Week during lockdown.”
