Children help their feathered friends at Stamford Bridge Church.

Children from St John's Church in Stamford Bridge are helping their feathered friends.  The children and young people's groups at St John's Stamford Bridge are busy building bird nesting boxes with the help of Stamford Bridge in Bloom.  

They started building their nest boxes last week, and will be finishing them off on the evening of Friday 28th January ready for the RSBP’s Big Garden Birdwatch on Sunday 30th January, when they’ll be putting the nest boxes in the churchyard with the help of Tim Burkinshaw of Stamford Bridge in Bloom and making a count of the birds in their churchyard.

The events are being organised by the vicar of Stamford Bridge, the Revd Fran Wakefield.  She said, “All the churches in the Diocese of York are celebrating 2011 as the Year of the Environment.  As part of this year, all the churches were sent a bird box to put up.  We loved the idea, and thought we’d make some more boxes! 

“We’re working together with Stamford Bridge in Bloom, and members of the congregation are sponsoring the children’s bird boxes.  And after we’ve made the bird boxes, we’ll be taking part in the RSBP’s Big Garden Birdwatch, taking an hour to count the numbers of the different species of different birds that we can see in the churchyard of St John’s.

“I think it’s really important that children and young people learn about the wildlife that lives around them, and how important it is to protect and preserve the biodiversity of an area.  As Christians, we believe that the natural world is a gift from God to enjoy, but we are also called to join with God in sustaining and caring for it.”

Eleanor Course