Brentwood: first Cathedral in country to win Livesimply award

Brentwood Cathedral has become the first Cathedral to win a Livesimply award, promoted by global aid charity CAFOD. The Cathedral parish is the tenth recipient of the award, which recognises a community’s commitment to living simply, living in solidarity with people in poverty and with creation.

The award was confirmed last weekend, following months of preparation in the parish and a rigorous assessment by the Eco-congregation team, who assess the award on behalf of CAFOD.

The Cathedral parish has followed a Livesimply plan for the last nine months, co- ordinated by a dedicated project team. The plan included encouraging parishioners to walk to Mass, to eat less meat, and even to make people smile. Other events were focused on specific issues such as undertaking an environmental audit of the parish buildings, highlighting areas for future action. The parish also changed all the light bulbs in the Cathedral (of which there are hundreds on the many famous chandeliers) to low energy light bulbs.

In solidarity with the world’s poor people, the parish held a special food bank collection during Advent for festive goods. It also hosted a discussion evening on the plight of the people in the Holy Land which focused on the injustice of the wall separating the communities.

Brenda Underwood, the LiveSimply project co-ordinator at the Cathedral, said: “When I was told we had won the Livesimply award, my first reaction was one of relief - the work we had all put in had paid off! This is a significant moment for our parish, an opportunity to celebrate all we have done, but also to remind ourselves of all that can be done.

“The whole process has been hugely inspirational. From not really knowing where to start, I feel we have come so far and done so much. I’d encourage other parishes just to look and see - you’ll be surprised at how much you can achieve.”

The Dean of the Cathedral, Father Martin Boland, said striving for the award had inspired people to question the way they live the Christian message: "I am delighted that Brentwood Cathedral has become the first Cathedral in the country to be given this Livesimply award. It is an honour.

“Led by our Justice and Peace Group, the whole community has responded to the needs of finding creative, realistic ways of living simply and sustainably. Over these last years, we have done small things that have had along term impact and, above all, attitudes. This has included financial support for our twinned parish, Maria Ratschitz, in South Africa, having vigils of prayer for peace and changing the hundreds of lightbulbs in the Cathedral to low energy bulbs.

“Everything that we have done has been a baby step towards finding ways to build communion in our world and creation, living more fully the life that the Trinity calls us to."

As a fully fledged Livesimply parish, the Cathedral parishioners are now motivated to continue living sustainably. They want to establish an environmental committee to consider the implications of the environmental audit carried out during the Livesimply scheme. They also hope become a Fairtrade parish.

Denise Grierson, CAFOD’s diocesan officer in Brentwood, said: “Congratulations to all at the parish of St Mary and St Helen’s! This is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the transformative power of working together as a community grounded in faith. The parish is an inspiration to all of us who should aim to live more simply in our everyday lives. I hope other parishes see what a huge success we have made of the scheme here in Brentwood and decide to follow suit.”

For more information see: http://cathedral-brentwood.org/blog-2/