Kettering church's gold eco award a first for Northamptonshire and the Peterborough Diocese

All Saints Church in William Street achieved its Gold Eco Church Award making it the 56th place of worship in England and Wales to make the grade.

The award has been given by the Christian conservation charity A Rocha UK, and reflects All Saints Church’s commitment to ‘walk in step with nature’ and put ‘creation care’ at the heart of what they do.

All Saints Church eco team member and church warden Angela Brett said: “The Bishop of Peterborough Debbie Sellin gave a quote from St Francis a few weeks ago saying ‘start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible’. This is exactly what we have achieved with the Gold Eco Church award.”

More than 3,500 Eco Churches have been awarded gold, silver and bronze titles, with All Saints the first church in the Diocese of Peterborough to attain the top award.

All Saints Church, Kettering was a ‘typical’ parish church running clothing and bric-a-brac stalls, collecting stamps for charities and re-using cutdown candles all before they had even heard of Eco Church.

But in 2022 they learned about the Eco Church scheme and registered, swiftly gaining a bronze followed by a silver award.

The team at All Saints were praised for being embedded in the life of the local community, their sense of fun, enthusiasm and ‘can-do’ attitude.

Helen Stephens from A Rocha UK said: “Our huge congratulations to All Saints Church, Kettering on their well-deserved gold Eco Church award.

"All Saints Church were engaged in environmental action long before they were aware of Eco Church and gained their bronze award in early 2023. That award however, spurred them on to take more action for the environment. Becoming a gold Eco Church is not an easy journey and All Saints are an example of the dedication and perseverance that is required to reach this accolade.

"Their stunning William Street Community Garden is a fantastic example of collaboration to create an incredible space at the heart of the community - and their land management plan is held up as an exemplar for other churches.

"By remaining focused on the biblical mandate to care for God’s creation and love your neighbour we hope other churches will join them in taking action to care for this amazing world. We wish All Saints Church all the best as they celebrate their award.”

Rev David Walsh, Priest-in-Charge, added: “This is such good news and speaks volumes about the energy and vision of key people at All Saints as well as our growing links with the local community, All Saints now has a chance to be a beacon in the wider church, pointing the way forward for others. Huge thanks and congratulations to all involved.”

For details on the Eco Church scheme go to https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk.