Silver Eco Church Award Milestone Achieved by Bradford Cathedral

Bradford Cathedral has become the sixteenth cathedral to gain silver in the A Rocha Eco church awards.

The news coincides with the start of COP 28, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, amid warnings from the UN weather agency saying that 2023 has been the hottest year on record.

The Eco church awards are an ecumenical scheme helping churches link environmental issues and their Christian faith and respond in practical action. It awards at three levels, Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

All our cathedrals are on the A Rocha Eco Church journey with three already achieving gold, and sixteen silver.

To achieve a silver award, one of the things Bradford Cathedral has done is work in partnership with many organisations, including Bradford Council and ‘Forest for Bradford’, on the Woodland Project.

Established in 2015, this was initially designed to offset the amount of paper used in the Cathedral, but the project soon grew bigger, with over 1800 trees planted to date across two sites. There are plans in fruition to expand this further.

The Revd Canon Ned Lunn, Canon for Intercultural Mission and the Arts and chair of the Cathedral’s EcoGroup, said:

“This award is a long time in coming. Bradford Cathedral was one of the first Eco Congregations and was the first Cathedral to install solar panels back in 2012. 

 “We have never taken our pioneering work for granted and have continued to seek to lead the way amongst cathedrals and the Diocese of Leeds in safeguarding the integrity of Creation.

 “It is the innovation and creativity of our dedicated Eco Group, past and present, that is being celebrated with this award. We look ahead to expanding our work and achieving our goal of becoming Carbon Net Zero by 2030.”

This summer Wakefield Cathedral achieved bronze and St Albans is on its journey to gold after being awarded silver and named winner in the Landscape Institute Design Awards for excellence in the heritage and culture category for the Sumpter Yard Revived project, by Jo Gibbons, which was officially opened in the summer of 2022.

Dean Jo Kelly-Moore said

“Our warmest congratulations to Jo Gibbons and her team for the amazing design that has been brought to life and enjoyed by the people of St Albans and many visitors over the last year. 

“The Cathedral community is committed to environmental sustainability. The greening of Sumpter Yard and its greatly improved biodiversity are a clear demonstration of that commitment”.