An exciting new partnership between the dioceses of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester is set to give a boost to the region’s push for Net Zero Carbon by 2030.
A team of three Net Zero Carbon Project Managers are being appointed to support the three dioceses on the journey to reduce carbon emissions from clergy homes, church buildings and schools.
The roles are funded by the national Church as part of its efforts to decarbonise. The Anglican Communion’s fifth mark of mission calls us to ‘strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth’ and this team will support that calling.
Lee Wescott is leading on the church buildings arm of the project. Based in the Diocese of Worcester, he will assist people and projects across the three dioceses. Formerly a quantity surveyor, he comes to the team from Dudley Council where he held a project manager role for a grants scheme for repairs and conversions of historic buildings.
He said, "In both my previous roles I looked to make our buildings and assets sustainable and as energy efficient as possible to ensure they will be used by residents, communities and visitors for many years to come. I particularly enjoyed seeing the community engage with their heritage and hope to help churches journey towards net zero carbon so this engagement can continue.
Erica Siddall, based in the Diocese of Gloucester, is leading on the clergy housing arm of the partnership. She will also support people and projects across all three dioceses as we seek to make our clergy homes more energy efficient. She comes to this role from Shell where she provided strategic support in decarbonisation across locations worldwide.
Erica said, "My specialism is clergy housing and it will be essential that decarbonisation efforts don’t come at a cost to clergy families; this is close to my heart as I am a clergy spouse myself.
"Reducing emissions seems very daunting, and simply having all of our information in one place will be a great first step. One aspect of the role that I enjoy is that invariably conversations about net zero make us feel less alone: maybe we can’t fix everything yet, but now we are working on it together, in the hope of Christ."
The final role is the schools role, which will be based in the Diocese of Hereford. It is hoped that this role will be filled by January 2025.
Together, the trio will support the progression of church buildings, clergy housing and schools along the Routemap to Net Zero Carbon.
You can contact Lee on lwestcott@cofe-worcester.org.uk and Erica on esiddall@glosdioc.org.uk
