Action for Hope

Bronze Eco District

We are very excited to announce that we have been awarded the Bronze Eco District Award.
With thanks to everyone who has helped support this journey, especially Rev Richard Sharples. We had to supply a lot of evidence in order to gain the award, and we couldn’t have done it without the involvement in our churches. In 2024 we had 10 new churches registered and 10 churches awarded -an increase on 2023 (registered 6 and awarded 7). The first Gold Eco Church award happened in 2025.
The District are currently funding energy audits for our churches which we hope will provide information to help in the process of working towards Net Zero.

Net Zero

The Methodist Church has set itself the ambitious target of working towards net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The Methodist Church encourages each local church, circuit and district to take concrete action for hope in three areas:

• Faith-consistent use of assets – including investments, purchasing power, buildings and land.
• Wisdom – including theology, liturgies and prayer.
• Lifestyles – including traditions of simple living.

You can find out more at Action for Hope .

Eco Church

Local churches and circuits are encouraged to work for an Eco Church or Eco Circuit award with A Rocha.

Eco Church and Eco Circuits are a series of awards which encourage you in your eco journey in every area of church life. You can find out more at How Eco Church Works and Eco Circuit .

There is also further help on how to become an Eco Circuit on the Methodist Connexion website.

In the Darlington District we currently have 36 churches that have started on their eco journey, with 20 achieving the bronze award, 5 the silver and 1 gold. The full list can be found here.

Good news and events from around the District

Silver Award
Congratulations to Great Ayton with Easby Methodist Church who were awarded the Eco Church Silver status in August 2025.
Their work has resulted in the church buildings being net zero – what an achievement!
Here more about their story here.

Gold award
Congratulations to all those at Willington Open Door Methodist Church. They have been awarded the GOLD Eco Church award.
Their journey started in June 14th 2022 when they attained the Bronze award, by March the following year they had achieved Silver. They were awarded the Eco Gold award by ARocha on 9th May 2025.

All their activities in the building, grounds and allotment are viewed through the eco lens.
To find out more, please see their story here .

News from the Cleveland & Danby Circuit
On Saturday 17th May we celebrated an eco thrift fair at Newcomen Methodist Church. It was a homemade event with homemade cakes and homegrown plants, with minimal single-use plastic. There were craft stalls to enjoy, making and reusing things to make something new. Stalls with second hand products, such as books and jigsaws, baby clothes and bags made from other things. We had an information point and the council ran a recycling activity. We sang with a community choir, a highlight was 'What a wonderful world' and the little ones enjoyed a Rhyme Time session. Donations were given rather than prices charged, £375 was raised, which will be donated to Footprints in the Community (Foodbank) and the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. Lots of people of varying ages had fun and the event was well attended by church and non-church goers.

Trinity Methodist Church in Middlesbrough has recently opened an Eco Shop.
They are collaborating with FareShare to reduce food waste, and then people are able to top up supplies with produce from the church garden. Find out more about this new venture here .

District Environmental Policy

As a District we are working towards the Eco District Bronze award.
As part of our commitment, we have produced an Environmental Policy which can be found here .

District Action for Hope Task Group

The purpose of the task group is to encourage and enable the Darlington District – together with its constituent Circuits and Churches – to engage with Action for Hope: implementing and reviewing District/Circuit policies, sharing information, stories and resources, and organising events.

Eco Tips Calendar from A Rocha

JANUARY
The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch (Friday 23-Sunday 25 January) is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey! Last year, nearly 600,000 people took part and over nine million birds were counted. We’ve lost a staggering 38 million birds from UK skies in the last 60 years. With birds facing so many challenges, it’s more important than ever to get involved in the Birdwatch. To take part, spend one hour counting the birds you see in one location – your garden, balcony or a local park. Submit your findings to the RSPB. You can download a free guide and ID chart to help you identify the birds you spot on the RSPB website.
Find out more at: Big Garden Birdwatch

The full calendar can be found at Easy Eco Tips 2026 Calendar – A Rocha UK