Sustainable Church Buildings Project 2017-18
To mark the 500th anniversary of Richard Cloudesley’s legacy in Islington, from July 2017 to December 2018 Cloudesley ran its first Sustainable Church Buildings Project for eligible Church of England churches in Islington.
The 2017-18 Sustainable Church Buildings Project was a Cloudesley initiative run in partnership with the Diocese of London and the Islington Deanery. It included:
- Environmental audits of 24 of Islington’s Church of England churches
- Additional grant funding towards the recommended works identified through the audit process
- A learning programme for Islington churches to improve understanding of environmental issues and how they apply to their buildings.
Through the 2017-18 project, all 24 eligible Islington churches received a small grant. Ten were also awarded a large grant, through a competitive application process for high-impact projects. Churches used their Cloudesley grants for work such as energy-efficient lighting, installing solar panels, improved heating controls, secondary glazing of windows, and insulation. The list of small and large grants awarded can be found below.
At the time, it was anticipated that the funded work would reduce the ‘carbon footprint’ of the churches by 15%. This amounts to nearly 100 tonnes of CO2 being saved per year and will also mean reduced utility bills. The project achieved second place in the Roman Juriga awards from the European Christian Environmental Network and was shortlisted for a Charity Times award for Cross-sector Partnership. The project was also recognised as Islington’s Best Community Environmental Project at the inaugural Camden and Islington Sustainability Awards ceremony in November 2019.
