Retreats are being held at Kew Gardens to deepen people’s connection between faith and nature.

The world-renowned Royal Botanic Gardens in south-west London set up an educational charity, Kew Theology and Gardening (KTG) two years ago to help develop a theology of the environment. It aims to enhance the well-being of Christian and other communities with opportunities to spend time amidst the diversity of the natural world.

The charity is chaired by the vicar of St Anne’s Kew, Canon Giles Fraser who leads retreats and lectures at the site. They range from the practical, therapeutic and educational to the reflective and spiritual. He’s currently piloting Stations of the Trees: A series of spiritual meditations around Kew, which provides a semi-curated tour round the gardens with reflection and prayer linked to 14 locations or 'stations'.

Quoting St Francis of Assisi on its website, “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible”, KTG says its “hope is for everyone we work with to experience more of a sense of their own belonging in the natural world, increased well-being, the desire to care for the rest of biodiversity and growth in practical know-how.”

The Bishop of Kingston, Rt Rev Martin Gainsborough, who is a trustee of KTG, said: “At the heart of the Christian narrative, there’s something about a garden, and that we’ve travelled away from God’s gift and God’s beauty, and through our faith we’re trying to get back there.”