Pupils collar bishops to show support

Pupils from St James with the Bishop of Middleton and their array of clerical collars


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Published: 22 July 2008

Pupils from St James CE School have made dog collars for the hundreds of bishops taking part in a walk through central London on Thursday to show their support for the bishops’ call on global leaders to deliver on the Millennium Development Goals.

Hundreds of bishops, including the Bishops of Bolton and Middleton, will join an unprecedented walk of bishops and other faith leaders through central London on Thursday 24 July, to demonstrate their commitment to help end extreme poverty across the globe.

Pupils from St James CE School and Sports College in Farnworth have been involved in many projects over the years to tackle global poverty. This latest idea was encouraged by Head of RE, Karen Owen, who wanted to help the pupils show their support for trade justice and at the same time teach them about what it means to belong to an Anglican school.

Each of the 600 clerical collars is unique, containing a slogan of encouragement and support for the bishops.

The Bishop of Middleton, the Rt Revd Mark Davies, visited the school before heading for the Lambeth Conference. Karen Owen said, "Everyone was delighted when Bishop Mark came to school to see the project. He was such an encouragement to our pupils and has delivered the dog collars to the Lambeth Conference on our behalf."

Mr Bob Atkinson, Headteacher, said, "As an Anglican school this was also a good opportunity to raise awareness of our place in the wider church and to get to know something about our church leaders. All pupils are now very familiar with the faces of the Archbishops!"

The school is involved in a long-term campaign called 'B The Change', aimed at raising awareness of poverty, trade justice and our responsibilities towards the world and one another.

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