City religious group eyes prize for energy efficiency

Jul 16 2008 By Patrice John

BIRMINGHAM is in line to scoop £20,000 to help combat climate change.

The Faith, Climate Change and Birmingham group is one of 21 national finalists in NESTA’s Big Green Challenge.

The group, which helps faith and religious groups make buildings of worship more energy efficient, beat off almost 100 bidders to get to this stage of the competition.

NESTA’s Jonathan Kestenbaumsaid: “Big Green Challenge was launched to encourage communities to come together to generate new ideas on how to save the planet.

“We had an amazing response from a wide cross-section of groups and these 21 finalists prove that new ideas to tackle climate change can be found within our own communities.

“Too often, people only associate innovation with technology. The Big Green Challenge shows that people-powered, social innovation can make a difference to the big issues of today.”

Faith, Climate Change and Birmingham is based in Allison Street, Digbeth, and advises groups on how best to embrace sustainability issues in their communities.

A Dragons Den-style pitch will be made to a panel awarding the cash.