Our parish St John Fisher & St Thomas More gained CAFOD’s LiveSimply award in July 2022. Details of the work we have carried out can be found below.
June 2026
On Sunday 21st June at the garden party to celebrate the Patronal Feast day of SS John Fisher and Thomas More (22ndJune) Fr Tim Swinglehurst opened our Community Peace Garden.
8 parishioners had met monthly throughout 2025 to design and create a beautiful and accessible sensory Community Peace Garden out of an overgrown banking of shrubbery behind the church and presbytery. In early December 2025 The National Lottery provided a grant for the project, this in addition to grants received from Burley and Menston Parish Councils. Much parish fund raising, together with generous gifts from parishioners, meant the project could proceed.
September 2026
Our parish children visited the new Peace Garden during children’s liturgy. We showed them the new Peace Garden, to appreciate the beautiful colourful flowers, the sounds of the breeze in the bushes and trees, enjoy the smells of the plants and the feel of the grasses which are looking very healthy at the moment. We thought about the message from Pope Francis asking us to look after all of creation including the plants, insects, birds and all animals including ourselves and all other people. The children also planted some seeds in small pots to take home and look after themselves. Then after Mass we had a sharing of the fruits and vegetables parishioners had donated from their own homes and gardens.
