Two local churches in Barnsley, led by Fr Tim Stevens, have been acknowledged for their commitment to environmental stewardship with the Bronze Eco-Church Award. This accolade is part of a nationwide initiative encouraging churches to proactively care for the planet as a form of honouring God's creation.

To achieve this award, the congregations of All Saints’ Church and St John the Evangelist Church embarked on various eco-conscious activities. Among these were initiatives like "twinning" their toilets with facilities in developing countries to improve sanitation globally and inspiring their members to contemplate their own environmental footprints.

Fr Stevens told the Chronicle, “It’s all about working towards looking after God’s creation better.”

He told the news outlet that the journey towards environmental awareness began a year and a half ago when both churches joined the Eco-Church scheme. “Both churches signed up to the scheme a year and a half ago and we’ve been working hard towards these improvements,” Fr Stevens explained.

In collaboration with Darton Primary, All Saints’ Church engaged students in building bat boxes, complementing this effort with bird boxes that will be installed on church grounds. These actions are set to be celebrated next Thursday, marking both churches' dedication to creating safe spaces for wildlife.

“This is just the first step,” Fr Stevens added, highlighting the initiative as the beginning of a broader mission to achieve higher levels of environmental recognition and foster habitats for more animals within church premises. “Getting the bronze award is great but it’s not the end, we’ve got to keep working,” he concluded.