Churches getting ready to open homeless winter shelters; Bishop Wallace Benn to retire; Church support for community energy is vital tool in combatting fuel poverty, says Energy Secretary; Supermarket watchdog must have real powers Traidcraft
Churches getting ready to open homeless winter shelters
Churches across London are uniting for the first time in their efforts to care for the capital’s homeless this winter.
Last year, some 400 churches provided shelter to over 1,400 homeless people, providing hot meals and a warm bed during the harshest months of the year.
Typically, night shelters are hosted at a different church each night of the week from November to March.
In addition to a bed for the night and dinner, guests receive a breakfast the following morning and have access to hot showers.
The guests are referred to the shelters by day centres, voluntary organisations and statutory bodies.
Now the churches are looking to share their experiences and help other churches open up new night shelters. More at:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/3/churches.getting.ready.to.open.homeless.winter.shelters/30829.htm
Bishop Wallace Benn to retire
The Diocese of Chichester has announced today that Wallace Benn, the Bishop of Lewes, will retire on 31 October 2012. The announcement takes the form of this exchange of letters between the Bishops of Chichester and Lewes. The Bishop stated :
“The most recent part of this ministry has fallen during a profoundly disturbing time for the Diocese of Chichester. The publication of the Interim Report of the Archbishop’s Visitation has challenged us all with its uncompromising conclusions and demands for truth, transparency and reform.
“It is vital that we all grapple with the extent and impact of past failures and wrongdoing and the terrible damage that has been done to people’s lives. We are only beginning to appreciate the extent of the safeguarding issues Bishop Wallace faced in East Sussex when he arrived in 1997 together with the systemic weaknesses in Church safeguarding procedures.
“With the rest of us, Bishop Wallace has welcomed and supported the resolve to implement the recommendations in the Interim Report. His retirement challenges us to appoint a successor who will continue the commitment to an improved culture of confidence and competence in the care and safety of our children, young people and vulnerable adults. In response to the announcement the Archbishop of Canterbury has issued this Archbishop’s Chichester Visitation –
http://www.chichester.anglican.org/news/2012/10/18/bishop-lewes-retirement/
Church support for community energy is vital tool in combatting fuel poverty, says Energy Secretary
The Church of England is well placed to support community energy initiatives which will help the fuel poor while supporting energy projects in the developing world, said Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change yesterday.
He was speaking at a roundtable meeting at Church House, Westminster to launch the Community Energy Coalition’s* ‘Manifesto for a community energy revolution’. He added that the Church was good at motivating people to help build a new sense of society.
The coalition is supported by Shrinking the Footprint the Church of England’s national environment campaign along with other organisations including the Co-operative, the National Trust, The National Federation of Women’s Institutes and the Campaign to Protect Rural England.
The Secretary of State spoke of the importance of community energy initiatives and the Government’s commitment to them. He said that the decline in cost of solar power could help poor communities in the UK and internationally gain access to cheaper energy with local ownership. The Church, he said “was particularly well placed to make those links with the poor”.
The Church of England has more than 100 solar installations on churches across the country including a Brighton Energy Co-Operative partnership. Renewable heat is also an area of growth with an increasing number of churches taking advantage of new technology (GSHP & ASHP & Biomass). A national conference run by the Archbishops’ Council’s Cathedral and Church Buildings Division is being held on 3rd December giving practical guidance to churches keen to engage with community energy.
Supermarket watchdog must have real powers – Traidcraft
Traidcraft has joined other charities in calling upon the Government to ensure the new supermarket watchdog “has teeth”.
The fairtrade organisation staged a protest on Wednesday outside the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills alongside ActionAid, Friends of the Earth, SPEAK and War on Want.
The charities are looking for assurances from the Government that the Groceries Code Adjudicator will have the power to fine supermarkets for unfair buying practices that have a negative impact on the working conditions and environmental practices of suppliers and farmers overseas and in the UK.
Traidcraft said that with control of over 75% of the grocery market in the UK , the big four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – were able to dictate terms and conditions to their suppliers, often resulting in lower wages and poorer conditions for workers or reduced environmental standards.
Legislation to bring the Groceries Code Adjudicator into being is currently passing through Parliament. More at:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/3/supermarket.watchdog.must.have.real.powers.traidcraft/30836.htm