One year on from officially becoming a net zero events venue – a feat it achieved an incredible half a decade ahead of target - the iconic Church House Westminster has continued to exceed its own green records in 2025.
The unique events venue in the heart of London has reduced its water use by a phenomenal 41% since attaining net zero status at the end of 2024. Likewise, Church House’s overall carbon footprint has fell by an additional eight per cent, decreasing by more than 66,000kg CO2e in 2025. While the historic venue’s electricity use has gone down by a further seven per cent.
The first Grade II listed venue to use carbon-absorbing paint, and an enthusiastic adopter of spray cork insulation, Church House has always been innovative in its approach to sustainability. 2025 has been no different. The pioneering venue is currently exploring new ways to reduce energy consumption, including making the routes for water and air through the building more direct - a technique which could decrease boiler use by 15%.
Church House is also a proud founding signatory to Greengage’s ‘Swap Plastic for Purpose’ campaign, an initiative to eliminate single-use plastic gifts and packaging. As a Platinum EcoSmart venue, Church House is committed to becoming single-use plastic free and is making steady progress towards this by, amongst much else, ensuring its exhibition giveaways are not made of single-use plastic, asking clients to do the same, and working with partners to find an alternative to clingfilm in the kitchen.
Caring deeply for its local communities, this year Church House has distributed its used coffee granules to customers for use in their compost and allotments. The venue has also added a lavender garden to the two bug hotels in its sunken lightwell, which are managed by refugees, to support the UK’s native bees and insects to flourish. Additionally, Church House has donated clothing to homelessness charity, The Passage, every three months, and raised awareness of the organisation by direct advertising on its reception screens.
All staff at the central London venue are now trained in both carbon literacy and neurodiversity. Indeed, Church House’s Head of Business Development & Marketing, Marina Papadopoulou, is an approved carbon literacy trainer as of 2025, and the venue has dedicated champions for menopause, neurodiversity and hidden disabilities.
It is because of these efforts, and much it already does including low-carbon menus, sending zero waste to landfill and giving all clients the opportunity to measure the carbon impact of their event, that Church House won platinum at the 2025 Greengage Sustainability Awards for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Carbon Reduction & Net Zero Progress’. It was also shortlisted for the ‘Sustainability Award for Venues’ at the London Venue & Catering Awards 2025 and was ‘highly commended’ at the C&IT Impact Awards in the ‘Venue within London’ category.
“Reaching net zero so far ahead of schedule was never the end of the journey for us – it was the beginning. Over the past year, our enterprising team has continued to push boundaries, explore new technologies, and find creative ways to deepen our positive impact. From cutting our water use and carbon footprint even further to championing community initiatives and industry-wide behaviour change, we’re proud of the momentum we’ve built, and we’re committed to leading by example as we look ahead to 2026 and beyond.”
Stephanie Maurel, CEO, Church House Westminster
For more information on Church House’s sustainability journey, please visit: https://churchhouseconf.co.uk/about-us/sustainability/.
