The Diocese of Carlisle’s Church House headquarters has gained a silver eco award in recognition of its environmental focus.

A Rocha UK - a Christian charity working to protect and restore the natural world – praised work at the Penrith building around two categories: ‘buildings and energy’ and ‘land and nature’.

In recent months the Diocese has worked with representatives from the Penrith Swift Group to site four new nesting boxes for birds under the building’s eaves. Smart meters have been installed to help improve energy efficiency and work is currently ongoing to site 60 new solar panels on the roof.

Mia Messenger, the Diocese’s Net Zero Carbon Officer, said: “We are thrilled that a continued commitment to our environment has been recognised in this way. Due to its town centre position, there is no associated green space at Church House, but we have come up with ways in which we can use the building itself to provide space for nature.

“That’s why we opted for the bird boxes, and we very much look forward to seeing them used. We also asked staff to send in pictures of their own green spaces at home through which we could demonstrate that people are growing their own vegetables on allotments and colleagues also took part in an annual butterfly survey.”

In November 2023, Church House received a bronze award in recognition of work including the installation of sensor-activated LED lighting, a commitment to minimise printing and the introduction of recycled paper. The silver award continues to build on those commitments.

That led to a further, Diocese-wide bronze eco award in January 2024 for the initial work at Church House and that to encourage parishes across Cumbria to register as Eco Churches. Currently nearly a third of the Diocese’s churches have registered under the Eco Church scheme – a 20 per cent rise in two years – with just over half having gained an award.

Meanwhile the Diocese continues to build on its Net Zero Action plan which was endorsed by its primary governing body in October 2023. That includes an eight-year, £250,000 a year focus on Net Zero Carbon work on vicarages. To date, work has been completed on properties in Natland, Grasmere, Wigton, Plumpton, Maryport and Clifton, improving their energy efficiency, lowering bills and reducing their carbon emissions.

Diocesan Secretary Derek Hurton said: “We are delighted that our work towards Church House silver eco status has been recognised. We know that there is a lot of hard work being undertaken by many of our local churches to protect and honour their environment.

“So as a Diocese we want to do as much as we can, too, to carefully steward our working environment as we look to honour our creator God.”

For more information about A Rocha UK visit: https://arocha.org.uk/

ENDS

For further information contact Dave Roberts, Diocesan Head of Communications, on 07469 153658 or at communications@carlislediocese.org.uk.