Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Sunday worship at Gate Church International in Perth Road and participate in the church's 40th Anniversary celebrations.
The church has a growing and hugely vibrant congregation and part of yesterday's celebrations highlighted the church's success in obtaining a new £150 000 Climate Challenge Fund grant that will enable it to keep helping people across the city - see below :
Since October 2013, Gate Church International has been leading a major carbon-saving project in the West End. It has already invested more than £270 000 to help local residents identify how to make their homes more energy efficient and trained drivers on how to cut their carbon footprints. The scheme has also given cooking lessons on how to reduce food waste and provided community placements for job seekers.
The new funding will enable the project to continue and develop - for example, it will be used to launch a series of weekly events for the local community this summer. These will include a community lunch serving soup made with locally grown ingredients, a play group for parents with young children and cooking classes.
All the events will be held in the new community café on Greenfield Place and there will be the chance at each to make use of a free “swap shop”, designed to facilitate the reuse of used items such as toys, household goods and clothing.
The project’s overall aim is to promote behaviour changes that lead to low- carbon lifestyles within the West End community.
Gate Church International also has hopes of becoming Scotland’s “greenest” church and the Climate Challenge Fund money will enable it to add to the extensive programme of energy efficiency measures at the Grade A-listed St Marks Church on Perth Road and at the community centre.
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| With Pastor Gordon Stewart and James Anthony of Gate Church International, who has been leading the church's energy efficiency measures |