Anna: church, CEO and cycles

Anna grew up in the Methodist Church and is now CEO at Camcycle, a membership charity based in Cambridge working for strong, healthy, sustainable communities in the region through increased levels of cycling.

I’ve always been drawn to the Methodist tradition of social justice.

My current job reflects my values, which are centred around spreading love and tackling climate change. One of the hymns that's really important to me is Jacqueline G Jones’ Have You Heard God's Voice? I find the line “Will you watch the news with eyes of faith and believe it could be different?” really inspiring because, as people of faith, we have a duty to act and step into the power we have.

People often wait for leaders and decision makers to take action and to change things, but we underestimate our individual power to make change happen, whether that's in our homes, workplaces or schools – all the places we gather. Big challenges, like climate change, seem overwhelming, but together, we can tackle them and make a difference.

My faith means I come to work with love and respect for everybody and bring a thoughtful consideration to what I do. I really value other people's perspectives, even if they’re different to my own, and I try to diffuse arguments and heal divisions.

In this job I get a lot of heat on social media. Having a firm faith and a strong support network of family, friends and church fellowship keeps me going and helps me remember why I'm doing this. My desire to  build a loving and sustainable world is at the heart of it.

Over the years, I've been involved in various roles in the church, including communications and working with young people. I'm on the Church Council and use my professional communication skills to share what we do and what we stand for as Christians.

At church we have a lot of people that cycle in their daily life too, so they’re very interested in my work and what it might be bringing to their community.

We talk at church about some of the different work that can be done around the environment. Castle Street held a climate change conference a few years back and I have worked with other local environmental charities as well as my own. There are lots of people within our congregation who are concerned about climate change and church is a good place to strengthen and inspire each other.

When you see what each individual can contribute to the world to make it a better place for all creatures, I think that's God at work through us.