Why Generous Town?  Initially this website was inspired by the Year of Living Generously project at Greenbelt 2004. 

After the Greenbelt Arts' Festival in 2004 I joined a group of approx 100 people all over the UK who decided to try to "live generously" for a year. It was challenging, quite an eye opener, and a struggle at times, but with the support of the rest of the group I have kept going and have not just made a few differences in my habits, but also in the way I think. Becoming better informed and having the support of a group were both very important factors that made the project work for me.

You can read a reflection on the Year of Living Generously project one year on, on the Ekklesia website.

For people living in and around the prosperous town of Godalming, surrounded by beautiful countryside, on the edge of the Surrey hills there is so much to be grateful for and so many reasons to be generous.

Back in the 1970's Ron Sider suggested we should "Live Simply That Others May Simply Live".

With the rapid growth of globalisation and global warming making itself felt, it's time to suggest we live simply and sustainably in a way that ensures the survival of our planet and the whole of creation, not just one that allows the poorest people to live rather than merely exist. However, this is no place for hair shirts and long faces, hence the name, Generous Town. Let us be joyful in our sustainable living and generous in our simplicity.

Living Generously can serously improve our own quality of life and perhaps rstore a sense of community. We just have to want to make it happen and make the necessary changes in our lives, one step at a time.

You count and I count: what we do counts!

If I turn the tap off when I brush myr teeth I only save about 10 litres of water each morning and evening. If you do it too, that's 40 litres a day. If we get our friends and neighbours to turn off their taps that's a lot of water!

If I buy from local farmers and producers when I can that keeps them going for a bit longer and saves a bit on carbon emissions. If you do the same their demise will be prolonged a bit more and we save a few more carbon emissions, but if our friends and neighbours join in perhaps British Agriculture could be revitalised.

If we walk and cycle more and drive less, especially on short journeys, we won't just be saving the planet, we'll be getting fitter and healthier, too!

If we all stopped buying chocolate that wasn't guaranteed fairly traded we could bring an end to child labour and even child slavery in the production of cocoa.

Do you get the picture?

It's about you and me taking small steps towards a bigger goal and about getting as many other people as possible to join in.