When one of their gas boilers failed 18 months ago, the PCC at Christ Church in Abingdon saw an opportunity to decarbonise part of the site. What they hadn’t envisioned was doing this against the clock!
As an Eco Church, the Parochial Church Council had been discussing the most suitable sustainable option for their church when they realised their project could be eligible for a Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Grant from the government. Despite a tight deadline – turning round the initial application in just 24 hours – the church submitted a successful bid and were granted £144,800 for the project in October 2024. With just one hitch: the money had to be spent by the end of February 2025!
Geoff Palmer, a recently retired project manager and IT architect, volunteered to take on the day-to-day management of the scheme and set to work. The project involved work on The Lounge, The Upper Room, and the Main Hall, in a 1960s extension that forms part of the south-east corner of the Christ Church site.
Geoff said: “The buildings host a foodbank twice a week, an integration café which supports refugees, Pilates classes for the elderly, a music club for children and much more. This space is very much part of the community for the community.”
The church had been awarded the grant to install three heat pumps, 32 solar panels and support battery, replace single glazing with double, install cavity wall insulation, install insulated suspended ceilings, and replace fluorescent tubes with LED lights. Together these measures will decarbonise the buildings, eliminating the use of fossil fuels, as well as improving energy efficiency by reducing heat loss.
Geoff explained: “We were helped by God at every stage. Every issue we faced has been addressed; we have been totally humbled by what he has done. I think of Psalm 118, v23: ‘the Lord has done this, it is marvellous in our eyes’.”
Throughout the project, where there could have been hold-ups or hiccups, the works continued without issues. Planning permission was granted three days early, the building works began on 20 January and were completed one day early before the end of February. In its first week of use, 71% of the power needed for the southeast part of the Christ Church site was generated by the solar panels.
Geoff concluded: “We started by asking the Eco group to become prayer warriors, and joined by the whole church, they did just that. God moved mountains!”
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