Holy Trinity Skipton have successfully secured funding from the Church of England to help them on their way to net zero carbon.
The church has been given funding for capital works as part of the Church of England’s Demonstrator Churches project, which helps the highest emitting churches across the country pay for items such as solar panels, heat pumps, insulation, secondary glazing, LED lighting and infrared heating systems.
The failure of Holy Trinity’s heating system in the winter of 2022 led to the church’s PCC wanting to install a carbon-reducing heating system.
The church is very keen to reaching net zero carbon well in advance of 2030, so the PCC saw the failure of their heating system as an opportunity.
This new funding will help them do so, by upgrading their heat pipes and installing heat pumps and a new electric boiler.
The Revd Doug Rice-Bowen, Rector of Holy Trinity, said: “We are so pleased and grateful to have received this funding from the Demonstrator Churches project and look forward to working with them.
“As a church, we at Holy Trinity Skipton are committed to working towards becoming net zero carbon by 2030 along with the whole of the Church of England.
“This award will not only enable us to get heating back into our beautiful grade one listed building but also allow us to grow our mission by supporting other churches and organisations across the Diocese of Leeds and the rest of the north of England on their journeys towards carbon zero.
“Skipton is the gateway to the Dales and we are surrounded by the beauty of God's creation.
“This award gives us the opportunity to take a leading role, as Christians, in securing the gift of God's creation for future generations.”
The £5.2m Demonstrator Churches project is part of the Church of England’s 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.
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.
To find out more about for support for churches looking to reduce their carbon footprint, please click here.