In 2021 St Mary’s Church made the decision to take a more proactive role in protecting our environment and as part of this we signed up for the A Rocha Eco Church Awards.

We are pleased to announce that in November 2021 we were awarded the Bronze Eco Church Award!

Eco Church is an environmental award scheme for Churches in England and Wales run by A Rocha, a Christian organisation engaging communities in nature and conservation.

There are three award levels - Bronze, Silver & Gold. Participation in the scheme is actively encouraged by the Church of England.

We wanted to share some of the changes we have made and further changes we are aiming for in the future. Although due to constraints from our Grade I listed building we are unlikely to achieve further awards, it is important to keep making the changes we can! 

Here is a list of the changes we have already made :

Switched to eco-friendly products including toilet rolls, cleaning products and recycled paper 

Using Fair-trade tea, coffee and sugar 

Encouraging wildlife and flowers in the churchyard

Installed rainwater collection to use for watering plants 

Sharing the importance of conservation in services 

Supporting environmental charities, local and international 

Built a Bug-Church & hedgehog home to encourage local wildlife

Use ‘LOAF’ products when able (Local, Organic, Animal Friendly, Fair-trade)

Toilet Twinning 

Have any of these suggestions inspired you? If so further information is available on the links listed on the back of this leaflet.

Other switches you can make at home include:

Switching to ‘Green Energy’ suppliers 

Ethical financial investments 

Growing your own fruit or vegetables in your garden - you could even share or swap these with other people in the village!

Think ‘Reduce, Re-use, Recycle’ with your unwanted items & waste

Communal Christmas or Easter cards

Calculate your carbon footprint and think how to reduce this.