Hereford Diocese wins Bronze EcoDiocese Award
We are delighted to announce that on 20th August, 2025 Hereford Diocese was awarded the EcoDiocese Bronze Award by the A Rocha UK EcoChurch scheme. This accompanies the silver awards previously garnered by the diocesan office site, Hereford Cathedral and 17 other churches in the diocese, and the 22 of our churches now with bronze awards, a very high proportion of our 403 church sites.
Polly Eaton, EcoDiocese Officer for A Rocha UK said, “This is a great achievement and an important statement on the church's commitment to creation care at a time when leadership on this is needed more than ever….We were especially encouraged to see that 2025 is Hereford Diocese’s Year of Engagement and that care for creation is threaded throughout the events and activities of this exciting year within the diocese. Please pass on our congratulations to everyone involved.”
Rev’d Stephen Hollinghurst, Diocesan Mission Enabler for the Environment, commented today, “We are thrilled the diocese as a whole has now reached this important milestone in our environmental journey together. In this Year of Engagement, we have been particularly pleased to see how care of God’s Creation is a touchpoint around which community relationships can be built, and which motivates people. This award recognises the tremendous work of so many people across the diocese, including our schools, churches, diocesan teams, and our joint NetZero Carbon team shared with Worcester and Gloucester dioceses. The report highlights programmes such as schools programmes ‘Let’s Go Zero’ and ‘Count Your Carbon’, our Repair Cafes, Environment Days, Bordlerlands Rural Chaplaincy, the Golden Valley Pilgrim Route, Bishop’s Teaching Events, and others. It's a great way to kick off the Season of Creationtide which starts next week!"
The report which accompanied the award said, “There is a clear sense of the diocese's vision to care for creation… We noted the strong number of Eco Church registrations and awards for your diocese, this stands you in good stead going forward. The training and development within the diocese was exceptionally strong - with in depth modules, and one off events in 2024/5, offering opportunities for those in training and lay people to deepen their understanding of creation care and the interface with community and mission. Another particular strength of the Diocese of Hereford is the work within the schools and education. Despite the many demands on the education team and information to be conveyed, net zero and the environment are a clear priority within the newsletters. In addition to the cluster working with neighbouring dioceses the collaboration within the diocese is creative and innovative. There is evidence of cross-denominational working as well as interesting projects such as supporting Repair Cafes and engaging with farmers. 2025 is Hereford Diocese’s Year of Engagement and it is tremendous to see care for creation threaded throughout the events and activities of this exciting year within the diocese. We hope you take time to recognise all you have achieved so far and we very much look forward to hearing about the celebrations of your bronze Eco Diocese award.”
Progress with Eco Diocese is part of the brief of the Net Zero Carbon Steering group which meets about 3 times a year and is convened by the Mission-Enabler for the Environment, Rev’d Stephen Hollinghurst, who takes specific responsibility for Eco Church and Eco Diocese.
For further information about EcoChurch and the award scheme, please visit the A Rocha UK website.
ENDS