Two churches in Durham Diocese will receive funding for net zero projects as part of a national initiative.
St Andrew’s at Sadberge, Darlington, and St Gabriel’s Sunderland are among numerous churches which will receive grants from the £5.2 million Demonstrator Churches scheme.
The initiative is part of the Church of England’s Net Zero Programme, which aims to help churches pay for items such as solar panels, heat pumps, insulation, secondary glazing, LED lighting and infrared heating systems.
The Durham churches were put forward after dioceses were asked to nominate those which met the criteria, which included having a soon-to-fail heating system, an oil boiler, being a top 20% emitter in the diocese, and have a range of locations, sizes and types of Net Zero heating they wanted to try.
They are among 18 churches nationwide which have been offered Stage One Preparatory grants, which include a package of up to £18,000 each in cash, and access to in-kind support in the form of independent technical advice and fundraising consultancy support.
Whilst demonstrator project numbers are currently limited, if you are interested in being a future demonstrator church please let the diocese know by emailing netzero@durham.anglican.org
However, as work progresses, the network of Demonstrator Churches - representing many different types of communities and situations - will share what they have learned more widely with dioceses and parishes so that all Church of England churches can learn from their experiences.
Abi Hiscock, Project and Grants Manager for the Church of England’s Net Zero Demonstrator Churches Project, said: “Ultimately, we want to demonstrate that with the right support and infrastructure, churches from diverse settings and facing a variety of challenges can reach net zero by 2030.
“By the end of this project, we will have over 100 case studies on what to do and when, and what not to do. Along the way, the supported churches are all required to act as champions to other churches in their dioceses or geographically near to them, or simply to other churches working from similar baselines to them, so that the learnings from these projects engage, influence and support this vision.”
It is hoped the project will reduce carbon emissions by 6,615 tonnes by 2030 – targeting some of the highest emitting churches across the UK.