St John the Evangelist Church in Newbury one of 100 chosen to be part of net zero pioneer project

A Newbury church is to pioneer a new scheme aimed at reducing carbon emissions across England.

The £5.2m Net Zero Programme has been launched by the Church of England.

It will help 114 churches tap into advice from experts, including fundraisers and project managers.

Among those taking part is St John the Evangelist Church in St John’s Road.

Future grants will be made available to help action the plans, with possible solutions including solar panels, heat pumps, insulation, secondary glazing, LED lighting and infrared heating systems.

In turn, those taking part will become Demonstrator Churches and share their experiences for the benefit of other fellowships.

The chosen churches represent different types of community and situations across the Anglican Church.

St John’s is a post-war building, constructed in 1955.

Brick-built, it will receive a Stage One Preparatory grant, including a package of up to £18,000 in cash and access to in-kind support in the form of independent technical advice and fundraising consultancy support.

The funding will be used to replace a gas boiler with a net zero carbon solution, likely an air source heat pump.

It is expected the church will need to additional funding for the work.

Vicar, the Revd Gary Collins, was delighted to be part of the scheme, saying it was an opportunity to upgrade the building and it would be “a joy and a privilege” to share their experiences on the other side.

“We are not in a good place in terms of carbon efficiency with an outdated – and faulty – boiler,” he said.

“Our insulation and draft proofing also needs improving to modern requirements.

“We have been trying to deal with smaller challenges, LED lighting for example, in our own ways, but recognising that in the end this is going to be a massive infrastructure project.

“We have a Greening Group that has been active in the church for a number of years, trying to find solutions and ways to become carbon efficient.

“The real challenge now is how we heat the space – and then keep it warm.”

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.

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 more than 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.”