Plan to build church from rubbish

A Glasgow congregation wants to use drink cans and car tyres to help build Scotland's first recycled Kirk.

Churchgoers in the north of the city have been given nearly £43,000 to investigate the possibility of creating the building from rubbish and scrap.

Colston Milton Parish Church has been running from its church hall since the main building was sold for development.

But with heating costing up to £10,000 a year, the congregation wants a new custom-built church.

The Scottish Climate Challenge Fund is supporting a feasibility study to build the new church from recycled material.

Rev Christopher Rowe said a whole variety of materials could be used to make a community facility which would include an area of worship.

"There are loads of things which could be used for this project, old drinks cans, earth, wood, old car tyres, rubble from demolished buildings, car windscreens, the list goes on and on," he said.

"A wonderful group of men and women who drink in the woods got inspired by the idea when I was telling them about it, so they started bringing their empty beer cans to the manse to use in the new building."

The original church building was sold for a five-figure sum, which will be re-invested in any new building.

Rev Rowe added: "In a conventional building project all the money goes straight into the pocket of big construction companies.

"I want the money we raise to go to build, not just a building, but the local community.

"By using simple construction methods we hope that local people will actually build the building themselves. It will be built by them, and owned by them, and used by them."

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Colston Milton Parish Church
Climate Challenge Fund
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