Living Gently on the Earth
The Cathedral Eco Group is delighted to invite you to join 'Living Gently on the Earth'... a series of community events, talks and workshops on caring for our planet.
Please click here to be directed to the 'Living Gently on the Earth' page for more information.
Living Gently on the EarthWorcester Cathedral Eco-Group
The cathedral eco-group brings together members of the congregation, volunteers and staff in small working groups around the Eco Church themes. If you'd like to know more or join us please contact Canon Stephen Edwards.
The Eco Group takes forward the Cathedral's Vision that:
In 2025 Worcester Cathedral will be a catalyst for campaigning and awareness on the environment and social justice.
For the environment, this means:
- Creating a prophetic voice for environmental campaigning and awareness.
- Education and awareness-raising of global and local eco-issues.
- Partnering with other local/regional voices.
Working towards Eco-Church Gold Standard award and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
On this page we will share news of our progress as we work towards the Eco-Church awards.
We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded the A Rocha UK Silver Eco Church Award (March 2023). Since its formation, the Cathedral Eco Group has been working towards the Eco Church scheme, and this is the second milestone on our journey to becoming an Eco Cathedral after having been awarded the Bronze award in March 2022.
News & Resources
Worcester Cathedral Peregrines
Watch the peregrines live on our webcam and find out more here.
Worcester Cathedral Landscape Plan
The Chapter recently commissioned the distinguished landscape architect Neil Swanson to prepare a masterplan for the future development of the Cathedral precinct. The Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England requires this of any cathedral before proposals are made for alterations to a precinct. The masterplan is a framework for incremental developments, not a plan of immediate action. Each stage of implementation requires its own consultation, permissions, and funding. However, the Cathedral does now have the prospect of funding from the Towns Deal and other sources for much-needed improvements to College Yard, which is likely to be the first phase of the masterplan to move towards consultation and permission. The masterplan may now be viewed here.
Mamboya Village
The Cathedral supports various eco-projects in our link Diocese of Morogoro, Tanzania. Read more about the projects here. The latest update (May 2022) can be found here.
Friends For The Climate
is the name of a new blog compiled by our former Cathedral shop manager, James Pertwee. Visit it here: https://friends4climate.org
Outdoor Worship 2024
WORSHIP IN THE GARDEN: meeting with God in creation
Starting in January, Worcester Cathedral will be launching a new, monthly service of worship. What makes it a little unusual is that it will not take place inside the cathedral. Instead, we will be outside, come rain or shine. Scroll down to find out more...
SACRED GARDEN: engaging with God in creation through creativity
Sacred Garden is a new monthly event that Worcester Cathedral is launching for people who feel God’s presence when they’re out in nature. Scroll down to find out more...
The vision is to develop a service that focuses on worship of the Creator in creation, with creation, and aware of ourselves as a part of creation. So we will be paying attention to, and respond to, what is happening around us in the garden as the seasons change. The hope is to develop a pattern of creation-attuned worship that brings into focus those many aspects of the Bible and Christian tradition that celebrate the natural rhythms of the world, and the goodness of fields and rives, trees and plants, and all creatures, great and small.
Our service will have a traditional liturgical shape—with prayers and Bible readings, for instance—but will pay special attention to the theme of creation as it connects to all aspects of Christian spirituality. A little more unusually we will give regular space to silence and to hands-on engaging with the space around us (e.g., doing some gardening).
Worship in the Garden will not be for everyone, but if you find that you connect with God when outdoors it might be right up your street. Everyone is welcome.
We will meet at 3pm on the first Sunday of each month in the garden behind 15b (off College Green, entering through the doorway outside the Edgar Tower Gate). Our first meeting will take place on 7 January. If you want to know more or are interested in coming along, please email Revd Dr Robin Parry on revdrovin@gmail.com.
Our goal is to create and cultivate a time and space in which people can engage with the Creator in creation through using their creativity. Each month there will be a particular theme and then the opportunity to explore it in a range of ways. There will always be four different ‘stations’ with guided activities that people can choose from. Those will be:
A silent contemplation zone (which people can stay in for as long or short a time as they wish)
An art activity
A kinesthetic/making activity (e.g., wood chopping and whittling)
A gardening activity of a seasonally relevant kind.
We aim to foster a welcoming and hospitable space for people to explore their own eco-spirituality in a Christian context. People of all faiths and none are most welcome.
We will meet from 10am to 12pm on the third Saturday of each month in the garden behind 15b (off College Green, entering through the doorway outside the Edgar Tower Gate). Our first meeting will take place on January 20th. If you want to know more or are interested in coming along, please remail Revd Dr Robin Parry on revdrovin@gmail.com.
Co-op Local Community Fund Rewilding Project
We're thrilled to have been picked as one of Co-op UK's Local Community Fund causes this year.
If you are a Co-op shopper, please choose the Cathedral as your Local Good Cause and help us with our rewilding project.
Dave Whelan, our Head Gardener, said: "This project will provide the Cathedral with a grant to turn an area between the Chapter House and the Guesten into a wildlife habitat, the benefits of which cannot be understated. This wildlife habitat will consist of a wildflower meadow and a large ‘bug hotel’, which will be built by the Cathedral’s carpenter. The hotel will also be built with the intention of attracting hedgehogs and small mammals by incorporating hedgehog boxes into the design and the meadow will increase pollinator numbers, which in turn will provide a food source for birds, which all amount to a strong increase in biodiversity. This area will provide a hot spot for our bug hunts and wildlife auditing process and in doing so an educational resource in just how important areas like this are to a greater and healthier ecosystem, an ecosystem that we all rely upon."
To find out more about our project and to choose us as your cause, please click the button:
Choose us as your Cause
Visitors to College Green will have noticed an exciting new development which includes an amazing bug hotel and hedgehog house. Designed and built by the Cathedral Maintenance Team, the impressive structure sits within a newly rewilded garden. This project is supported by the Co-op Local Community Fund and the kind generosity of Irene Borgardts in loving memory of her sister Anita.
The garden forms part of our eco plans for the Cathedral and contains a diverse selection of wildflowers as well as a space to reflect and enjoy the Cathedral. Dave Whelan, Head Gardener writes, ‘The meadow will increase pollinator numbers, providing a food source for birds – resulting in an increase in biodiversity. Providing the perfect spot for our bug hunts and wildlife audits, this demonstrates just how important areas like this are for a healthier ecosystem.’
In remembering her sister and celebrating her life, Irene writes, ‘It gives me great pleasure to make this donation to Worcester Cathedral’s rewilding project in memory of my sister Anita Borgardts who sadly passed away on 20 July 2022. The beautiful building and the wonderful people associated with the Cathedral offered her great solace during some challenging times for which the family is forever grateful.’
‘Anita moved to Worcestershire in 1982 to join the County’s Sensory Impairment Team where she worked for 30 years, until ill health due to Multiple Sclerosis necessitated her early retirement in 2012. Following her retirement she became very involved with the Cathedral as a Volunteer Welcomer and a supporter of the Cathedral’s many excellent projects. As a teacher of hearing and sight impaired children and a disabled person herself, she loved all aspects of nature and her own sensory garden at home provided a beautiful, fragrant oasis when increasing disability curtailed her activity. She acquired a hedgehog box several years ago and I can still remember her excitement when the first hoglets were born. Care of her ‘babies’ was included in her Care Plan agreed with her personal carers and also into my list of duties!
‘I know that Anita would have loved the rewilding project and all the other exciting proposals outlined in the Cathedral’s Landscape Masterplan. I hope to keep in touch with the Cathedral as the plan progresses and support it as I know she would have done. In the meantime, I would like to wish the team all the very best in this initial wilding project and in the exciting work planned for the future.’
We are delighted by this new garden area and are looking forward to seeing the meadow develop and flourish – and of course watching out for the insects and small mammals finding their new home. Thank you to Irene and all who support the Cathedral so generously in maintaining and developing our green space – an oasis in the heart of the city.
Worcester Cathedral’s Declaration of a Climate and Environmental Emergency.
The Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral publicly recognise that there exists a Climate and Environmental Emergency that affects humanity’s ability to sustain civilisation in its present form. This crisis is principally caused by a failure of human beings to fulfil God’s call to love our neighbours, live justly and steward God’s creation. As a result, we commit to:
- Examining our lives individually and corporately in relation to this crisis, seeking to live faithfully to God’s call.
- Bringing forward during first quarter of 2022 an action plan to:
- Minimise our negative corporate impact on the environment, and help restoration where possible
- Achieve net zero emissions by 2030
- Care for the natural environment and biodiversity in the grounds of our Cathedral.
- Encouraging the Cathedral community to make relevant lifestyle changes appropriate to their circumstances.
- Encouraging action on this emergency in our neighbourhoods, workplaces and other spheres of activity.
- Using our influence to bring about positive actions by local and national government and businesses and other organisations.