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Operation Noah is pleased to announce that we have received funding to expand our successful Bright Now campaign – which works with UK Churches to divest from fossil fuels and invest in climate solutions – and have hired two new staff members with this funding, Julia Corcoran and Sharon Hall, doubling our Bright Now staff.
Our Bright Now campaign works with Churches across the UK to take money out of fossil fuels, and we have now seen most of the major UK denominations divest, including the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union, the Church in Wales, the Church of Ireland, the Quakers in Britain, the United Reformed Church, the Presbyterian Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church of Wales and the Scottish Catholic Bishops Conference.
This new funding will allow us to expand on this work, with a particular focus on ‘impact investing’, which will involve working with Churches to directly invest their money in climate solutions, such as renewable energy and nature-based solutions.
Julia Corcoran is our new Bright Now Campaign Manager. She is joining us from CAFOD, the Catholic international development charity in England and Wales, where she is currently the Leadership Development Project Coordinator.
Julia said, ‘I’m pleased to be joining the Operation Noah team. I feel that this is a key time for everyone, including churches, to be making decisions that reduce the impact of the climate emergency around the world.’
Julia added, ‘During COP 26, I felt the time was right to work more directly on this issue and I’m delighted to be leading on Operation Noah’s work around climate impact solutions. I’m looking forward to seeing how Churches will respond to our call for them to take action.’
Sharon Hall is our new Bright Now Campaign Officer. Sharon has been volunteering for charities focussed on environmental justice and ocean conservation over the past year. Sharon worked as a Senior Lecturer at Newman University in Birmingham for 10 years, focussing on children, young people and families. She has a background in youth justice and social work.
Sharon said, ‘I’m excited to be joining a team who are working for the big, institutional changes needed to make a real difference to the climate emergency. It feels like a really important time to be using the influence, skills and creativity we have to persuade national churches to make big changes in their investments, aligning with our faith values and influencing others.’
Sharon added: ‘Addressing the climate emergency is important to me because people all round the world, but especially the poorest, are being affected now by our overconsumption and fossil fuel emissions. My faith compels me to act on this and being part of Operation Noah makes me hopeful that I can make a meaningful contribution.’
As part of the staffing changes, our Bright Now Campaign Manager James Buchanan will assume the role of Bright Now Campaign Director, while Bright Now Campaign Officer Bokani Tshidzu will remain in her current role.
