George Goes Green Refurbishment

Celebrating a Centenary with a New Community Facility in Wash Common. On its 100 year anniversary St George’s Church, Newbury announced the completion of a major overhaul that sees it fit for purpose as a warm and welcoming new community facility

At the completion of this latest phase of the George Goes Green project, St George’s Church is now completely refurbished. Fully insulated, with under floor heating, a new stone floor, re-modelled chancel and redecorated throughout, it’s an ideal space for concerts, lectures, rehearsals, music lessons/practice and even paper aeroplane competitions.

With a new heating system, glazed thermal entrance lobby, extensive insulation, draught-proofing and solar panels on the church roof generating 24,000kW per/a, the church is warm, welcoming, and a low carbon venue.  A celebratory service was held on Harvest Sunday, 5^th October to mark the completion of this work and the reopening of the church, and to celebrate 100 years since the site was given for the church to be built.

Launched in 2009, the George Goes Green campaign aimed to turn a cold, draughty and underused space at St George’s, Wash Common, into a warm and welcoming community venue.  It also aimed to reduce the church’s carbon footprint from 15 tonnes per year to zero.   With the flooring complete, the church has launched the fundraising for the final element; replacing the conventional heating system with a sustainable solution using ground source heat. Of the 16,000 Anglican churches in this country, St George’s is on its way to becoming one of the greenest.

Vicar, Paul Cowan, explains the vision behind George Goes Green:  ‘Our aim is for St George’s Church to be an active part of community life, heated with renewable energy, extensively used by local residents – and a flagship model for others to learn from and be encouraged by.’

St George’s is a fantastic venue for community events that has played host to a variety of events from concerts to art exhibitions, jazz bands to the Scouts paper aeroplane competitions.  If you are looking for a venue for your community group or event, look no further than St George’s Wash Common.

For more information about St George’s see  http://st-george-newbury.org.uk

 

Photos of the newly refurbished interior attached, with permission of HJK Savvides Photography http://www.heejeongsavvides.com