Christ Church was awarded £1650 from the Cheltenham Borough Council’s Cheltenham Zero Community Fund to install bike racks at the site based in Lansdown, Malvern Road.
These have been widely used by the Christ Church community and are at full capacity during Sunday Service. Various clubs and groups utilise the Church Space during the week and have given positive feedback on having somewhere to lock up their bikes.
This has inspired further impactful projects in the Church’s sustainability journey. Encouraging the modal shift towards low carbon transport continues, as assessment is taking place to see the feasibly to install EV charging points. More efficient energy options are also being considered with new LED spot lights being installed, along with replacing an old fuse board. There are already some existing solar panels however Christ Church is considering adding more.
The success at Christ Church was not without challenges. As the Church and Hall is a Grade II listed building, which was built in 1840 and is owned by the Church of England, permission for changes were needed.
One 5 mile journey in an average sized car emits 1.36 kg CO2e and the Church has a total of 600 seating. The advantages of having cycle racks as an option for the Christ Church community are:
- Reducing carbon emissions of people travelling to the Church
- Increasing active travel which improves health and well-being
- Improving local air quality by reducing the number of vehicles on the road
What is the CheltenhamZero Community Fund?
Cheltenham Borough Council’s roadmap to eliminate the borough’s carbon footprint included a climate action fund to help finance the road to zero carbon. In 2021 the borough council made available a pot of funding, worth £50,000, to allocate to local community organisations for funding to support climate emergency activities across Cheltenham.