This Earth Day: Bradford Cathedral gets Gold!

Bradford Cathedral is the latest cathedral to be awarded the Gold Eco Church award by the Christian conservation charity A Rocha UK, reflecting its commitment to caring for God’s earth and addressing climate change.

This Earth Day: Bradford Cathedral gets gold!

The cathedral first achieved silver in November 2023 and since that time has worked hard to upgrade its status.

And to mark Earth Day today,  it has revealed it has joined Salisbury, Chelmsford, Ely, and Chichester cathedrals to become the fifth Church of England Cathedral to achieve this prestigious Gold status.

The Revd Canon Ned Lunn, Bradford Cathedral’s Canon for Intercultural Mission and the Arts and chair of the Cathedral’s EcoGroup, said:

“This award has been given to us for our exemplary work in promoting good stewardship of God’s Creation and particularly our active influence in the wider public conversation on the environment and climate change. 

“It was particularly noted how integrated this priority is in the life of the Cathedral and how much we use our profile to speak about the environmental impact of all that we do. 

“We have been given some areas to focus on ‘Beyond Gold’. This, therefore, does not mark a conclusion but a major milestone on our ongoing work. 

“The Eco Group, without whom we could never have achieved this, remains a small group, and my hope is that this award encouragesothers to join the team and contribute to the ongoing success of our work.”

Bradford Cathedral has adapted the cathedral’s liturgy to incorporate creation care, developed environmentally-focussed intercessions and encouraged preachers to become more aware of creation care.

It has put creation care at the heart of the season of Creationtide with an intercultural harvest, Fairtrade Fortnight and an emphasis on trade justice.

There is a net zero action plan in place with early steps including the recycling of candles, the use of more environmentally-friendly cleaning product and better promotion of the Cathedral’s eco activities through the website, social media and on-site digital screens.

Work in the Cathedral grounds includes re-planting, plans for a pond and an environmental education area for schools and visiting children, surrounded by a live willow screen, and Bradford cathedral is committed to continuing its tree planting projects in the District and  plans to look at carbon sequestration through the planting of living walls and roofs and increased biodiversity.

There is more engagement with the community around creation care, including interfaith and multicultural activities, and the cathedral has started new environmental initiatives such as more solar panels and working towards a partnership between sheep farmers and a Nottingham firm to use the wool for insulation for vicarages across the diocese.

And during 2025, to mark its status as the City of Culture, there is a host of activities including partnerships with climate action organisations, Bradford Ark and the University of Bradford.

Rose Gosling, A Rocha UK Ltd, said:

“Overall, I was impressed with the amount of work undertaken, the passion of the group members and the ambition of their future plans. They are to be congratulated for their work in engaging at a high level with organisations across Bradford around the environmental agenda, and in particular for their innovative multi faith working.

“They deserve to be rewarded for all their hard work with a Gold Award. Reaching gold is a huge achievement and we would like to congratulate the entire team. I have no doubt this will provide a springboard for them to continue their journey.”

You can find out more about the environmental work of Bradford Cathedral here.

Find out more about the Christian charity here.