Church Hall Eco-Refurbishment Project

We are delighted to announce that St Mary’s has been awarded a grant of £20,987.92 from the Climate Challenge Fund! The grant is specifically for improving the church hall insulation (both in the walls and ceiling) and installing replacement double-glazing – This should reduce our energy wastage in the hall, both reducing our heating costs and making our existing heating more effective.
This is only part of our overall project though – We have planned a longer-term project to reduce the carbon footprint of our church hall, and to raise awareness of energy use and wastage amongst the hall users and the wider community, resulting in actual changes of behaviour to reduce their own individual carbon footprints.
Over the coming months we will be doing a number of activities to achieve this aim – Some of these are:
• Working with St Mary’s Primary School to monitor energy usage in both our hall and St Blane’s Church Hall
• A survey on transport methods for hall users and church-goers
• Improved recycling facilities in the hall and an awareness campaign
• Campaign to reduce food wastage – Learning from the school’s recent success with this
• Walk To School Week in May will be expanded to encompass hall users and church-goers
This is a big project, but we hope you agree that reducing our impact on the environment and wasting less of its precious resources is part of our Christian mission – And we can perhaps inspire and encourage behaviour change in the wider community too.
In the coming months we have a lot to organize and think about – If you would like to get involved with anything please get in touch with one of us. Let’s continue doing what we’re so good at doing at St Mary’s – working together using our differing skills for a common aim!
Kate, Nerys, Rosemary B, John, & Chris
(On behalf of St Mary’s Eco Congregation Group)