St John’s House Bury, the central diocesan office, has been awarded an Eco Church Bronze Award for steps taken to help achieve net zero carbon.
Eco Church Awards are run by A Rocha UK, a Christian environmental charity, and are given to churches and other church buildings that can demonstrate a movement towards greater sustainability and caring for the environment.
As well as providing office space for the diocese, the Mothers’ Union, the Registry and Greater Together Manchester, St John’s House hosts events ranging from conferences, training sessions and all diocesan meetings.
The site has adopted a number of practices to minimise the environmental impact of its operations by integrating sustainable practices such as twinning our toilets, recycling, reducing plastic and disposable items, choosing Fairtrade and eco items, and only serving vegetarian food at events.
During the recent refurbishment of the offices, sustainable practices were integrated into everyday operations, including the installation of motion-sensitive lighting and smart management systems to help reduce water and energy usage.
St John’s House sits on a very small amount of land, but we’ve started the process of using every inch of the space available by making the car park more attractive to wildlife. Bird feeders and houses have been installed, insect houses have been added and wildflowers have been planted.
The team working at St John’s House are increasingly aware of the part they play in reducing the diocese’s impact on the environment. Staff attended Carbon Literacy Training run by Diocesan Environment Officer, the Revd Canon Grace Thomas and committed to making their own changes. A short course ‘Eco Stepping Stones’ offers inspiration to churches looking to make their own steps towards sustainability and Eco Champions support their parishes too. To date Manchester has a good rate of returns for the Energy Footprint Tool which is a key first step in understanding a building’s environmental impact.
Alison Peacock, Head of Serving Communities at the Diocese of Manchester said: “I am delighted that St John’s House has followed the example of so many of our parish churches in taking Creation care seriously. This award is just the beginning as we now work towards a Silver.”