We’re thrilled to announce that St Bartholomew’s has been awarded the Bronze Eco Church Award, recognising the meaningful steps we’ve taken as a community to care for our little corner of creation.

Eco Church is an initiative from A Rocha—which means “The Rock” in Portuguese. A Rocha is a global family of Christian environmental organisations that began in the 1980s to encourage the care of God’s creation. One of their flagship projects is the Eco Church award scheme, designed to help churches respond to the environmental crisis with faith-driven action.

Achieving the Bronze award is just the beginning. We're now working towards the Silver and eventually Gold awards, using the A Rocha framework as our roadmap to a more sustainable, eco-conscious future. There’s still plenty to do—but we’re excited to be on this journey together.

Some of the steps we've taken so far:

• All lighting in our buildings has been upgraded to LED, improving energy efficiency.

• We planted a 50-metre hedgerow in the churchyard, enhancing local biodiversity using native species.

• Building repairs to guttering and structure have helped us conserve energy.

• Thermostats were installed, and we actively monitor heating use. From 2023 to 2024, we halved our CO₂ emissions through better energy management.

• Planting around the church now includes pollinator-friendly species to support birds, bees, and butterflies.

This is truly a whole-church effort, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped make this possible.

If you’d like to learn more or get involved, visit the A Rocha Eco Church website: https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk

Together, let’s continue caring for creation—faithfully and joyfully.