We are delighted to congratulate Jean Carletta, the lead for eco-initiative HeatHack, on winning this year's Church Times Green Champion Award.
The Church Times Green Church Awards recognise the urgent environmental crisis that we are in, and seek to recognise the efforts being made by Christian organisations and communities, churches and church schools to care for creation. There are seven award categories: Green Building, Land and Nature, Congregation and Community Action, Action on a Shoestring, Green Champion, Training and Education and Green Health. For the first time, we sponsored the Green Champion category, which celebrates individuals who have made a significant difference through their environmental efforts.
HeatHack's support for net zero
Green Champion winner Jean is the lead for HeatHack, a programme that aims to make the UK’s community spaces more comfortable on less energy use. Churches, halls, and community centres are essential for the running of many groups, from children's nurseries to dementia care. They are some of the hardest buildings to move towards net zero though because they are usually traditionally built, often listed, and almost never designed to modern heating requirements.
HeatHack gives community groups a way to agree a net zero plan that will suit their circumstances and interest funders. It covers everything from changing the heating controls to moving away from fossil fuels, with the right heat loss measures to match. Speaking of her win, Jean said: "Winning this award is great for us. It tells us that we do know what we're doing. It also gives us an opportunity to talk to lots of people about what support they need in their route to net zero and what we ought to do next."
Highly commended runners up in the category were Joanna Laynesmith and Rosemary Croft, and Helen Bradstock.
Stepping up our efforts for climate care
Sponsoring the Green Champion Award is just one of the ways we have been increasing our commitment to creation care. Also for the first time this year, we achieved Planet Mark accreditation, which reflects our resolve to reduce our carbon footprint year on year. We hope this public commitment will reassure our many donors, church and charity partners that we are doing what we can to reduce our impact on the planet, as well as encourage them to play their part too.
We also support those causes working specifically for the environment by signposting our donors to a special platform of dedicated content and resources that we call Creation Care.
At the prestigious awards ceremony at St John's Church in Waterloo, London, our CEO, Janie Oliver, commented: "As we step up in this critical area, it seemed very fitting to be able to support the Church Times Green Champion Award. As individuals, the scale of the urgent environmental crisis we are facing can feel overwhelming. We ask ourselves: what can I possibly do to make a difference? That is why I feel especially privileged to honour the nominees for this award, all of whom are passionately committed to caring for our planet and are already making a significant difference."
Interview with the Green Champion winner
Watch this short video with Jean Carletta in which she explains more about HeatHack and how you can get involved.
Photo: Stewardship From left to right: Dr Ruth Valerio, Chair of the judging panel for the Green Church Times Award and Global Advocacy and Influencing Director at Tearfund; Jean Carletta, Lead for HeatHack; and Janie Oliver, CEO for Stewardship.
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