In 2025 we counted 100 species in our churchyard – plants, trees, birds, insects and one butterfly. Inspired by Rev. Dr Karen Smith’s book “Abbey and Eddie Visit Bugingham Palace” we decided to build a Bug Hotel to support Caring for God’s Acre and Count on Nature week in 2026. Eight households donated materials including pallets, tiles, straw, air bricks, terracotta flower pots, sticks, logs with holes drilled in, carpet, compost, pine cones, wire, bamboo, bark, cardboard tubes, newspaper and egg boxes. After a Family service in church that focused on Creation, 6 of us then worked to fill up the 5 storeys and the attic. It was a fantastic morning and jolly good fun. Below is our finished result, named by the one young person working with us.

Thanks to David Primrose, Vice-Chair of Caring for God’s Acre, we finished our work by reading the following blessing, he prepared at our request because we could not find one anywhere!

Blessing for the Bug Hotel

We bless you Lord for the wonders of your creation, from the towering majesty of trees to the fascinating variety of minibeasts.

We thank you for the opportunity to come together and create in our churchyard a special space for insects to flourish.

May your blessing be on this, our Bug Hotel, so that in their due season, there may be bees, ants, moths and other insects in abundance; that the ecosystem of this churchyard may be strengthened; and that next year, as churches count on nature, we discover even more plants, animals and insects thriving in this place.

Through Jesus Christ Our Lord

Amen