Going green at Derby Urban Church 

How we secured a national grant to make our well-used but inefficient building more environmentally sustainable - and then completed the improvements to a very tight deadline. By Chandra Morbey

 


Derby Urban Church is a multi-congregational Baptist Church based in one of the poorest parts of the East Midlands – on the edge of Derby’s city centre and the multi-cultural inner city.

Grown out of Osmaston Road Baptist Church which started in 1862, the original church building was rebuilt in 1970 and its striking appearance means it’s a well known local landmark, often called affectionately the ‘Triangle Church’ or even the ‘Toblerone Church’.   

Ozzy Road Baptist changed its name to Derby Urban Church in 2020 as it became a CIO – and moved to a multi-congregational model with many congregations and ministries meeting at different times of the week. See derbyurbanchurch.com for details and a video of the church’s history.

In January 2024, the trustees met to discern and discuss the priorities for the year. As usual there were many – 15 in fact – ranging from seeing if they could start or host a toddler group, to making a plan to cover everything while minister Graham Watkins went on sabbatical in the autumn.   

One point discussed was ‘Journey to Net Zero’ which was put on the list. Finances have always been very tight – the church often says they have everything other than money – so as everything was committed to God in prayer and handed over into his hands, everyone felt that the journey to net zero might be a very long one...
 
In the middle of the year, the church became aware of a grant opportunity to have an energy assessment carried out. It was called the VCSE Energy Efficiency grant for community buildings carrying out ‘front line’ work – and registered charities could apply. The grant was funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and administered by Groundwork UK. It was focused on enabling a reduction in energy bills and a move towards increased environmentally sustainable buildings for community organisations helping those most in need. 

Having looked at the eligibility the church realised that because of the huge amount of community work, including support to homeless and vulnerable people, holding warm spaces through the winter, and support to a very diverse number of groups, especially Eastern European Roma, then an application would be possible.

Great news came through that we were successful in getting an energy assessment from a qualified assessor, so as a first step, the scale of the challenge could be understood. After several visits looking at the energy bills (high) and the insulation levels (low) a report was written setting out a large number of measures and their cost-benefit payback. 

During this time it was realised that there was a stage two of the grant which meant, once the report was submitted, it was possible to apply for up to £150,000 of capital funding based on the finding of the report. This was done, and in late September 2024 an email arrived saying that more than £145,000 had been awarded – larger than the church's annual turnover!

The challenge was that the work all had to be completed by mid February. After a brief period of shock, the deacons set to work mobilising a ‘Green Team’ to get final quotes, let contracts, plan and co-ordinate all the work, dealing with technical issues, finances and liaising with the many groups that meet through the week. Of course, the most important role was the prayer co-ordinator.
 

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DUC's green team | Chandra, Taiwo, Ben, Graham and Bernice... (plus Ruth and Kathryn, not pictured)

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Work started in early December 2024 and soon the carpark was full of vans every day, and the church was full of scaffolding, tools and materials. Gallons of tea and coffee and lots of sugar were consumed by the roofers, electricians, heat pumps installers and window fitters as the work progressed.  

Finally, on the deadline, around lunchtime – the last bit of work – fitting double glazing to the ladies toilets was completed. Everyone was absolutely delighted (and exhausted).

The work done included:

• Fit air to air heat pumps (pictured) and HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) units in the hall, lounge, side rooms and worship area so that gas is no longer needed in the building.

• Replace all the lighting in the side rooms, hall and lounge with LED lighting.
• Fit double glazing in all the siderooms, including toilets and the high level windows in the hall and lounge.
• Fit 100mm insulation on top of the the flat roof and recover with a rubber membrane -  and from the inside fit insulation to the front and back vertical fibre-glass triangles and board over.
• Fit timers to the electric water heating system for the sinks in the kitchen and toilets so it isn’t wasting energy heating up overnight when the building is not in use.

Facts and figures:

• 47 panes of double glazing fitted
• 78 low energy lights installed
• 2 timers on our water heating fitted
• 3 air to air heat pumps and 13 HVAC units piped and wired  and local and a wireless control system commissioned
• About 517 square metres of 100mm insulation fitted and covered  on our roof and walls.

Graham Watkins, our minister, says, 'We are so grateful for this provision, enabling a bright warm space to worship God and serve our community while making the building far more environmentally friendly. 

'All of it seemed completely insurmountable a year ago. 

'The project has brought all the congregations and ministries of DUC together as we all had to co-operate with the building contractors who agreed to work around our seven-day a week programme so that nothing was cancelled. 

'Enabling builders to see what goes on the life of our church, and seeing the number of people from the different groups that make up DUC come together  for a "Love Your Church Day" to tidy, clean and paint in preparation for the celebration service were both beautiful parts of the journey.'
 
 

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Worship area of Derby Urban Church during and after the installation of new insulation. This area is used for services and for community events.

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A celebration of the work done was held on a Sunday service in March, and using the parallels with the rebuilding of the temple walls – project managed by Nehemiah – we remembered each of the steps and thanked everyone: from our energy assessor, our wonderful contractors who were all extremely accommodating and kind to the homeless people who often sleep in our church entrance, to the groups who got used to having to use different rooms and kept children off the scaffolding all through Christmas.

We also thank the Baptist Insurance Company, Tim Chowns, Commercial and Church Support Manager in the Support Services Team, and the East Midlands Baptist Association (EMBA) for all their help and support along the way.

See the video that was shown at the celebration with lots of before and after photos.
 
If your church is considering energy improvements, our Green Team at DUC would be happy to host any visits from anyone who is interested in finding out more – email derbyurbanchurch@gmail.com

The net zero journey continues for DUC and the next step the church would like to do is to fit solar panels and a large battery – this could enable the church to reduce the need for electricity from the grid or as an example of radical giving – perhaps offer free electricity to our neighbours?  Watch this space….
 

Chandra Morbey is the secretary of Derby Urban Church

Images
Top | Work progressing on fitting insulation and a rubber membrane over the top of the existing flat roof