WELCOME

 Background

As you may be aware, in 2011 the Methodist Church adopted the report Hope in God’s Future: Christian Discipleship in the Context of Climate Change as a Conference statement. This joint report produced by the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union and the United Reformed Church reminded the Methodist Church in Britain that our response to the climate emergency and our care for creation is a central and integral part of our discipleship.

In 2021 the Methodist Conference set an aspirational target for the Methodist Church in Great Britain to become a net zero Church by 2030. The Conference called on all ministers, preachers and church members to take action in response.

In Great Ayton with Easby Methodist Church we have been responding this target over the past few years with a number of actions. For example we have changed lights in the main church to LED, we have changed electricity supplier to ensure we use renewable electricity, we have registered as an ECO Church, we recycle as much as possible and last October church council adopted an Environmental Policy.

We are also aware that in Great Ayton church we have a very ageing, inefficient gas boiler (over 30 years old) for which no spares are readily available and that this needs to be replaced before it finally breaks down beyond repair. We are also blessed to be on a south facing site, with a church roof which is ideal for mounting solar panels to generate renewable energy. Installing solar panels would act as a very visible witness to the community of our commitment to sustainability, as well as helping to reduce our energy bills going forward.

Following a report funded by N Yorkshire council in early 2024, we developed an action plan which we believe will

• Meet the aspirations of becoming net zero
• Solve the issue of the ageing gas boiler by using Air Source Heat Pumps
• Reduce our ongoing energy bills
• Demonstrate our commitment to protecting God’s creation and act as a very visible witness to the wider community.

Project scope

The project will involve improving our insulation, fitting Air Source Heat Pumps, installing solar panels and battery storage and installing additional LED lighting. The total project cost is estimated to be £95k, of which we have already spent approximately £3k on surveys, drawings and planning applications.

Church council has already committed £42.5k from reserves for the project, and we have received a grant from the Benefact Trust of £9.5k. We should also receive £15k via the government Boiler Upgrade scheme. Therefore, to date we have £28k still to raise , though we still have some additional grant applications outstanding which may reduce this.

Aviva matched funding

A very effective way of raising money towards our project is by donating to Aviva’s matched funding campaign. We have had approval from Aviva for this, as our project meets their aspirations for reducing climate impact. In summary, over a six week period, for every £1 that is donated via a dedicated website, they will match the funding £1 for £1, up to a maximum of £250 per person. The donations are also eligible for the church to reclaim Gift Aid, providing the donors provide the required details. Aviva does not charge anything for this, but the Crowdfunder website takes 1.9% + 20p (per pledge) + VAT for money donated using UK/EU cards from individuals (but no fees are paid on the Aviva donations). Please note that Aviva will only match the first donation from each individual – so please do not make more than one donation per person. More details of the general scheme can be found out  at Aviva Community Fund https://www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/. We activated the giving page on the 19^th February 2025 and links will be available on the church website and printed on the weekly newsletters. The fund matching will continue for a period of 6 weeks, i.e. it will close by the 1st April 2025.

Your donation counts

If you would like to make a one off donation for this project, then donating via our dedicated Aviva website project page is a great way of making your contribution even more valuable. See the table below to see how much the church could receive from your donation. Please note that Aviva will only match one donation per person, and anything above £250 will not be matched by Aviva.

If you are unable to make a one off gift, please consider suspending your regular giving for a month, and instead sending the equivalent value of up to £250 to this website, so we can maximise our fund raising. But please remember to reinstate your regular giving again in April!

The treasurer will also gladly accept donations direct to the church bank account or in cash (but please make clear that the funds are for this project.) In this case Aviva will not match your donation. 

In addition to this letter to church members and friends, we will be publicising this fundraising to other regular users of the church buildings, to maximise our fund raising.

 What happens next

 After we have finished this fundraising campaign via Aviva, we will review what total funds we have raised and decide the next steps. We could look to reduce the scope of the project, seek more grants or even run another Aviva crowdfunder (for e.g. heat pumps or LED lighting), since we can run 3 such projects this year. The church council will make the final decision.

Useful links

These links take you to external websites.

The Methodist Church

Stokesley Methodist Circuit

Methodist Church Darlington District.

Methodist Church Great Britain

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