A CHURCH in Worcester has been praised for projects which have made the building more environmentally friendly.

The Eco Church Bronze certificate has been awarded to St John Baptist in Claines.

The Eco Church scheme has been introduced to rate churches and their buildings for environmental performance. It is run by charity A Rocha UK Ltd and is supported by the Church of England, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church and Christian Aid among others.

There are a number of categories to satisfy and these include worship and teaching, buildings, land, community and global resources and lifestyle.

Rev Jo Musson said: “We have had a number of issues at Claines with our buildings because our church is listed as Grade II* and we need to carefully preserve it. This means that we cannot introduce energy saving measures such as double glazing or cavity wall insulation.

"However there are other things we have done to minimise our environmental impact such as careful control of heating, energy efficient lighting, managing land for the encouragement of native wildlife. We also have a heat pump to provide heating and cooling in the parish hall and this is three times more efficient than the old heating system.

“We have been looking carefully at how we use our buildings and their land, how people travel to the premises and how we can all reduce our environmental impact. We want to now work towards the silver and gold awards.

"By working together as a Christian community we can all help to protect God’s precious gift to us - our planet."