London to Paris sponsored tandem ride

Harvey Bradley writes that he and his wife Barbara will be riding a tandem from London to Paris in July for the active and practical 'hope' that Christian Aid offers to communities that are already experiencing the effects of Climate Change.

Hope can sound quite a flimsy thing in response to drought, flooding and other climatic changes - but it can inspire inventiveness and creativity where negativity and despair once reigned. Alastair McIntosh in his very readable book, 'Hell and High Water - Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition' (2008), comes to this conclusion and shows how hope has worked on the Isle of Eigg to transform a diminishing community to one of growth and community enterprise.

Christian Aid offers schemes in Bangladesh, India, Africa and South America to help farmers change their farming methods to cope with changing climatic conditions. In Zimbabwe, for instance, £55 provides training for a group of five farmers in conservation farming, meaning their families can increase the food they grow by up to 500%! £11 provides drought-resistant seeds for one family which ensures the next harvest provides them with enough food to last through the year.

One last quote: "creative applications ... [may] thrive in conditions of pluralism and hope, rather than in conditions of universalism and fear." Mike Hulme, 2009.

They aim to raise £3,500 through their 300 mile tandem ride for 'hope'. If you can help, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/HarveyandBarbara-Bradley.

Art in Religious Spaces consultation

Live painted performance piece by David Shillinglaw, painted during the Visionaries exhibition

Works by Adam Neate & Albert Herbert

Works by the Chapman Brothers & Cecil Collins

Henry Shelton with another consultation participant

Henry Shelton & Colin Burns alongside works by Cecil Collins & Unity Spencer

Three Commission For Mission artists - Colin Burns, Jonathan Evens and Henry Shelton - attended a lunchtime get-together organised by the Wallspace Gallery for all those involved in displaying contemporary art in unusual spaces, such as churches or other religious buildings.

Revd Katharine Rumens from St Giles Cripplegate in the Barbican and Paul Bayley of Art+Christianity Enquiry spoke about their experiences of working with artists in city churches. Katherine's experiences ranged from community art workshops in East Ham to temporary art installations at St Giles while Paul described the Insight visual arts stream created for the City of London Festival in 2005. There was an opportunity for all those attending to introduce their projects, meet one another and discuss the issues raised by work in this area. We were also able to see the current Wallspace exhibition, Visionaries, which closes today.

Visionaries was an exhibition of works and performance by artists on the edge – visionary artists whose work is set outside or on the fringes of cultural institutions, often offering a trenchant critique of culture. Visionaries brought together artists working in this honourable and challenging tradition; essentially those who explore with passion the territories of the spiritual, the religious and the human condition. The exhibition included works by Stanley Spencer and Cecil Collins of the twentieth century, mid-twentieth-century paintings by Norman Adams, Albert Herbert and Anthony Goble, later painters such as Peter Howson, Clive Hicks-Jenkins and Brian Whelan, and twenty-first-century artists such as the Chapman brothers, Billy Childish and Adam Neate. Visionaries can be seen at the Greenbelt Arts Festival, at Cheltenham Racecourse, August Bank Holiday weekend, 25 to 31 August.

Wallspace is an exhibition venue in the church of All Hallows on the Wall in the City of London. Its aim is to provide a spiritual home for the visual arts in the capital. The vision for Wallspace has been developed principally by its Director, freelance curator Meryl Doney.