North Wiltshire Deanery is being recognised for its exceptional progress in the Church of England’s Eco Church scheme, with 77% of its parishes now holding an award, which is a figure well above the national average.
The Deanery, which includes 31 parishes, set an ambitious goal for every parish to achieve at least a Bronze Eco Church award, with a quarter progressing to Silver. While revised targets for the end of 2024 were not fully met, recent national data has put the Deanery’s achievement into perspective. Across England, only 44% of churches registered with Eco Church currently hold any award. By contrast, North Wiltshire Deanery has achieved 19 Bronze awards, accounting for 50 per cent of all Bronze awards across the Diocese. Eco Church representatives have described this level of engagement as “an amazing achievement”.
Revd Steve Wilkinson, who has helped lead the initiative across the Deanery, highlighted the growing culture of collaboration between parishes:
"Churches are increasingly supporting one another, sharing learning and encouragement as they work towards caring for God’s creation in practical and locally relevant ways."
Individual parish awards continue to be recognised by Eco Church, and the Deanery’s progress was noted during a recent Eco Champions conference call. The Deanery hopes its experience will encourage other areas of the Diocese to pursue Eco Church registration and take confident steps towards more sustainable church life.
Find out more about becoming an Eco Church Find an Eco Church in our diocese