St John the Baptist Church in Claines has been awarded a Bronze Eco Church award for their care for the environment.
The Eco Church scheme has been introduced torate churches and their buildings for environmental performance. It is run by acharity, A Rocha UK Ltd, and is supported by the Church of England, theMethodist Church, the United Reformed Church and Christian Aid among others.There are a number of categories to satisfy and these include Worship andTeaching, Buildings, Land, Community and Global Resources and Lifestyle.
The Revd Jo Musson said We have had a number of issues at Claines with ourbuildings because our church is listed as Grade II* and we need to carefullypreserve it. This means that we cannot introduce energy saving measures such asdouble glazing or cavity wall insulation. However there are other things wehave done to minimise our environmental impact such as careful control ofheating, energy efficient lighting, managing land for the encouragement ofnative wildlife. We also have a heat pump to provide heating and cooling in theParish Hall and this is three times more efficient than the old heating system.
Wehave been looking carefully at how we use our buildings and their land, howpeople travel to the premises and how we can all reduce our environmentalimpact. We want to now work towards the Silver and Gold awards. By workingtogether as a Christian community we can all help to protect Gods preciousgift to us - our planet.
Find out more about how your church can become an Eco Church and help us in our aim to become an Eco Diocese at: https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk
