The Emmanuel Methodist Church (EMC) in Barnsley has used a grant from South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation to further their environmental goals and uphold their facilities.
They developed an increased awareness of sustainability and environmental issues, and are working towards becoming a gold standard Eco Church.
Eco Church is a free, comprehensive framework run by A Rocha UK that helps churches in England and Wales incorporate environmental care into their faith and operations.
They received £3,500 of seedbed funding from SYCF over 42 weeks that went towards the lighting in the building which has gone completely LED, and have put sensor lighting in corridors to conserve energy on building lights left on.
Dr Elizabeth Janine Eldred, Supervisor with the Open University, said: “The funding was very impactful in a community and environmental sense, and in the scale of things it’s a very modest amount of money, but it’s made a huge difference to at least 30 lives.”
The money also went towards a kitchen refurbishment and setting up a gentle exercise group for people with physical and neurological impairments, including a trainer for the group.
Dr Eldred said: “We’ve got the right people, right place, right location and without that money, you can’t try these things out because where would we have got the money to pay the trainer? Well you can’t, because you’ve got to have all the safe things in place.”
EMC hire out their space for a range of activities and events like a baby toddler group, Parkinson’s groups and coffee sessions for people who are vulnerable or just feeling lonely and isolated.
Lots of different groups and organisations, from big concerts like the Barnsley Category Band and music in the ground from Sheffield also come there on a regular basis.
SYCF is the region’s largest grant-giving charity. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Foundation has awarded more than £40 million to grassroots groups across South Yorkshire over the past four decades.
Jess O’Neill, grants and partnerships manager at SYCF, said: “It’s an honour to help a church achieve its sustainability goals and maintain their community.”
Read more about EMC here.