Good Money Week – Investing in our Project

What a process!  Getting planning permission was hard enough, but getting Faculty permission from the Diocese was tortuous!  Nevertheless, we now have both – albeit with a number of conditions to fulfill on Lambeth’s side.  These include providing a very thorough energy and heating strategy before any work is done above ground, and making sure…

It was always our plan to build with load-bearing straw walls. Our design team at Straw Works still believe it would be possible, but our Engineer at Renaissance has said “No.” Apparently, the 10m span across the hall would be too wide to support the upper floor and roof.  Instead, Helen, our engineer has designed…

Thanks to some sacrificial giving and great generosity our Straw Bale fund has now reached over £120,000.  That means we’re nearly a third of the way towards our initial fundraising target of £380,000.The figure includes a grant of £15,000 from the Church & Community Fund, but the rest has been mostly given be members of…

Following the visit of the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) on 28 January, our straw bale project is moving full steam ahead! The DAC spent a morning with Richard, Barbara Jones from Straw Works, a representative from English Heritage and members of the project team. After inspecting the site and asking lots of questions, Stephen Craven…

When we set out on this road to build Europe’s First Straw-Bale Church building – and possibly the largest straw-bale community building – it never really occurred to me what it meant to be a pioneer.  I just thought, this is it, and we’re getting on with it.  Now I know the truth! Hannah Jones…