A village church has won a gold award for its efforts to become environmentally friendly.

St Mary’s church in Dunsford was awarded the Gold Eco Church Award from Christian charity Arocha UK.

Arocha UK works to protect and restore the natural world and helps Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment.

The Eco Awards aim to encourage churches to connect environmental issues with their faith and mission.

Churches are assessed on how sustainability and environmentally friendly practices are embedded in worship and prayer, buildings, land, advocacy and educating the wider community.

Bishop of Exeter, the Right Reverend Dr Mike Harrison, presented the Gold Eco Church award plaque at a service on Sunday (May 4) that recognised the church’s hard work in achieving the award.

During the service, Bishop Mike blessed a new chair which will sit in the churchyard, and sunflower plant that children had grown.

Bishop Mike spoke about how he has been inspired to make changes in his own garden by sowing a wildflower meadow and how he is exploring creating a tree nursery to fulfil his dream of giving every church a tree to plant.

After the service, Bishop Mike and the church congregation went outside to plant a tree and the children planted the sunflowers they had grown.

St Mary’s Eco Church Award comes two years after the village school, Dunsford Community Academy, achieved its first Eco Schools Green Flag Award. The school launched a dedicated eco-council, reviewed school waste, looked at recycling, conducted litter picks, monitored pond life and learnt about the composting process as part of the award.