Andy Drozdziak
A Catholic Schools’ Partnership is celebrating after being awarded a £2 million grant to support six of its schools to go green.
Kent Catholic Schools’ Partnership was awarded the funding as part of the latest round of Government ‘s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (phase 3), which provides grants for public sector bodies to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.
The Kent Catholic Schools’ Partnership, created in 2012 to support and further develop Catholic education in Kent, told the Universe it is ‘delighted’ to receive the grant.
The Partnership said: “Like all Multi Academy Trusts we are always looking for ways to maintain and improve our estate and, in these increasingly challenging financial times, are delighted to have received these grants.”
The six schools who will receive a share of the grant are: More Park Catholic Primary School, West Malling; Our Lady of Hartley Catholic Primary School, Hartley; St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Aylesham; Stella Maris Catholic Primary School, Folkestone; St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School, Margate, and St Simon Stock Catholic School, Maidstone. The Partnership outlined the ways the funds will be used to help these schools ‘go green.’
The Partnership said: “The £2M of Salix PSDS 3C grant funding, along with our own resources, is enabling us to upgrade the heating systems in 6 of our schools to an energy sustainable solution, thereby enabling us to deliver on our energy usage and emission reduction targets whilst also reducing the running costs for our schools. The projects will take place in 2024 and 2025.”
Having been launched in 2020, the £2.5 billion Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme has now funded over 1,000 projects.
Energy efficient minister Lord Martin Callanan said: “From school corridors to the businesses that power up our economy, we want to make sure buildings of all shapes and sizes are supported to deliver net zero. We are standing steadfast behind our public sector and local businesses, providing the help they need to make the switch to cleaner, homegrown energy.”
Care for the environment and ‘green’ policies have become more prominent in Catholic institutions since Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si.
Other Catholic bodies to receive grants included St Mary’s Primary School, Knaresborough, in the Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust; The Academy of St Francis of Assisi, Liverpool, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi Academy Trust, Nottingham, Birmingham Diocesan Multi Academy Trust and St. Paul’s Catholic College, Sussex, in the Bosco Catholic Education Trust.
Picture: MAZUR