Clitheroe’s Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub has struck gold—literally—for its commitment to caring for the environment, just over a year after earning its Silver Eco Church Award.
The prestigious A Rocha Eco Church Gold Award recognises Trinity’s deep-rooted commitment to sustainability and creation care across five key areas: worship and teaching; buildings and energy; land and nature; community and global engagement; and lifestyle.
A Rocha UK assessors Rose Gosling and Philip Taylor visited the church on Friday 23rd May for a day of inspection and conversations with church leaders and volunteers.
The award is a powerful testament to five years of dedicated effort by a passionate group of volunteers, who form the Church’s Eco group. Archie Whymark, Trinity’s Climate Action Champion, founded the group following a visit to Norway’s Briksdal Glacier, where he witnessed first-hand the devastating effects of global warming and wanted to take action.
Action is exactly what followed and Archie now leads the seven-strong team to promote and push forward initiatives to care for the environment in and around the church and hub.
An important part of the project is the Community Garden, developed in a semi derelict area around the Church Hall. Built at the foot of Clitheroe Castle rock as a primary school in 1836, it is now a wonderful place for visitors to Trinity to enjoy.
Now, it’s a vibrant space featuring a living wall (donated by Natural England); colourful raised beds filled with flowers, ferns and vegetables; a nearly complete stumpery; and a tranquil memory garden with war memorials and picnic tables.
The garden’s development was supported by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and ongoing advice from the Ribble Rivers Trust. It’s also become a hub for youth engagement—local Brownies and the “Pizza the Action” youth group have enjoyed working in the garden. Having planted potatoes earlier this year, they are now looking forward to harvesting them!
In awarding the Gold Award, A Rocha praised Trinity’s “creative vision” in transforming an “unpromising area” into a wonderful eco-garden and highlighted the church’s impressive reach: over 80 different community groups regularly meet in its buildings. They also commended Trinity’s long-term support of fair trade through Traidcraft, and a monthly prayer letter focused on creation and environmental concerns.
To celebrate, the Community Garden will open to the public on Saturday 28th June, during Trinity’s monthly Coffee Stop event. The morning will feature special guests including the Mayors of Ribble Valley and Clitheroe.