04/07/2024
More than 100 of the country’s highest carbon emitting churches will be given funding for net zero projects which others can learn from as part of a new project.
The £5.2m Demonstrator Churches project from the Church of England’s Net Zero Programme aims to help 114 churches in 2024 and 2025 pay for items such as solar panels, heat pumps, insulation, secondary glazing, LED lighting and infrared heating systems.
As work progresses, the network of Demonstrator Churches – representing many different types of community 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.
The Demonstrator Churches project is part of the Church of England’s ambitious Net Zero Carbon Programme which aims to equip, resource and support all parts of the Church to reduce carbon emissions from the energy used in its buildings, schools and through work-related transport by 2030.
St Peter Mancroft Church in Norwich city centre is one of the first churches taking part in the Demonstrator Churches project.
Located in the marketplace in the heart of the medieval city of Norwich, St Peter Mancroft is the largest of the city’s 31 surviving medieval parish churches.
The church has received a Church of England Demonstrator Churches grant of £50,000 with co-funding from the scheme’s partners, Benefact Trust, of £36,00 to transform its carbon footprint and energy use by replacing its entire interior lighting system and installing heat pumps as well as batteries and 48 solar panels.
Through this work, the church expects to see an 84% reduction in emissions by saving 52.26 tonnes of CO2 each year.
In July 2022, General Synod approved a routemap for the Church of England to strive to reach net zero carbon by 2030. The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher is lead bishop for environment for the Church of England.
Bishop Graham said: “I am delighted that the clergy and congregation at St Peter Mancroft have taken the journey to Net Zero Carbon seriously and have worked hard on ambitious plans. As a major historic building in the centre of Norwich, their work will have widespread interest. Their selection as a national demonstrator project also means that their learning will be shared and they will be able to encourage other church communities.”
The roots of this project at St Peter Mancroft began in 2017. It became apparent that the lighting in the Grade 1 listed church needed a complete overhaul to bring it up to date. The current inflexible sodium lights have been burning for decades. As part of this project, new and more energy efficient LED lighting will be installed to replace the old lighting.
The Rev’d Canon Edward Carter, the Vicar of St Peter Mancroft Church, has been instrumental in this project. Soon after he arrived at the church, one of the main gas boilers failed. It was another element which speeded up this major environmental project. Work began on installing solar panels on the southern roof in March 2024, with the installation of the new LED lighting system, heat pumps and batteries to follow.
Canon Edward said: “It’s so satisfying to see this project finally come to fruition. It is a comprehensive project to a Grade 1 listed church at a time when the net zero agenda is one of the Church of England’s top priorities. We are delighted to have been identified by the Diocese of Norwich as a demonstrator church project. The entire installation process is being filmed for use as a resource for other parishes who may want to be doing this themselves.”
The Demonstrator Churches project allows for churches nominated by their Diocesan Advisory Committees (DACs) to apply for two grants from the Church of England’s Net Zero Carbon Programme. The grants are either Stage 1 (preparatory) to help develop a net zero project, along with hands-on fundraising support from expert charity consultants, or Stage 2 (capital works) as projects reach the implementation stage.
£5.2 million has been allocated by the Church of England for the Demonstrator Churches project, with an additional £1.5million grant from the grant-giving charity Benefact Trust which will help churches that apply for Stage 2 Capital Grant funding over the next two years.
The following churches have been offered Stage One Preparatory grants, including 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:
- Great Yarmouth Minster (St Nicholas), Great Yarmouth (Diocese of Norwich)
- St Martin’s Church, Liskeard, Cornwall (Diocese of Truro)
- St Andrew’s Church, Soham, Ely (Diocese of Ely)
- St Peter & St Paul Church, Wadhurst, Sussex (Diocese of Chichester)
- Christ Church, Thornton-le-Fylde, Lancashire (Diocese of Blackburn)
- St Andrew’s Church, Sadberge, Darlington (Diocese of Durham)
- St. John the Baptist’s Church, Broughton, Preston (Diocese of Blackburn)
- St Martin in the Bullring Church, Birmingham (Diocese of Birmingham)
- Easton Christian Family Centre, Bristol (Diocese of Bristol)
- St Mary’s Church, Buckden, Cambridgeshire (Diocese of Ely)
- St Mary with Holy Trinity Church, Ulverston, Cumbria (Diocese of Carlisle)
- Holy Trinity & St Saviour’s Church, Knaphill, Surrey (Diocese of Guildford)
- St John the Evangelist Church, Newbury (Diocese of Oxford)
- St Peter’s Church, Fairfield, Buxton (Diocese of Derby)
- St Gabriel’s Church, Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland (Diocese of Durham)
- Christ Church, Epsom (Diocese of Guildford)
- St Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol (Diocese of Bristol)
- St Bartholomew’s Church, Brighton (Diocese of Chichester)
The following churches have so far been offered Stage 2 Capital Project grants, with more to follow as the year progresses:
- St Peter Mancroft: Norwich (Diocese of Norwich), £50,000 Archbishops’ Council/ £36,000 Benefact Trust co-funding (total £86,000)
- St Germain’s Church, Edgbaston, Birmingham (Diocese of Birmingham), £50,000 Archbishops’ Council/ £23,600 Benefact Trust co-funding (total £73,600)
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