Church raising funds to go green

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St George's Church hopes to attract government grants

A Berkshire parish is hoping to raise up to £900,000 to fund work to make its church carbon neutral.

If it succeeds, St George's, in the parish of Wash Common in Newbury, could be the first church to get all its energy from renewable sources.

Plans for the 1930s building include insulating the stone walls, installing solar panels and drilling bore holes to harness underground heat.

The parish hopes to raise enough funds to achieve its goal by the end of 2010.

Wish list

The campaign is being supported by climate change scientist and Nobel Laureate Sir John Houghton and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, who lives in the parish.

St George's vicar the Reverend Paul Cowan said: "If we went for the full wish list we've got to raise £900,000, which is a big sum of money for a small local church."

The church is applying for government grants and to charitable trusts to help raise the money.

The church is aiming to reduce its carbon footprint, currently 15 tonnes per year, to zero by the end of next year.