BSSEC Archives - CAFOD Blog

Parish energy audit winners: Small changes make a big difference

April 30, 2016

Last year, St Thomas More parish in Coventry won CAFOD’s energy audit competition. This offered one parish the chance to receive a free cost-cutting and carbon-cutting energy audit from energy experts B:SSEC. Six months later, parishioner Kris Pears reports back on what difference the audit has made.

CAFOD St Thomas More energy audit winners — Parishioners from St Thomas More now have a clear idea of the energy-saving changes they can make.

When we heard we’d won the competition, we were delighted. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m not sure the church has had any insulation since it was built in 1968 and the heating system is so ancient and inefficient with air blowers you can’t hear Mass sometimes at all.

I hoped that the audit would give us a clear idea what work needed to be done and the best options for the amount we had to spend. The report came back full of ideas for changes we could make.

At the moment, we can’t afford any big capital outlay, but there are plenty of smaller items in the report. Although these are minor improvements, added together they will make a reasonable difference.

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CAFOD corporate partner: cycling 180 miles for Kitui

January 5, 2016

Paul Bennett is Executive Chairman at CAFOD corporate partner b:ssec. Here he tells us about the huge challenge he and Wayne Ward, Managing Director of b:ssec, are taking on for CAFOD.

Paul and Wayne from b:ssec training for their CAFOD Wessex Way bike ride

For three days in May 2016, Wayne and I will be taking our mountain bikes off road and cycling 180 miles in aid of CAFOD. The ‘Wessex Way’ ride takes us from Westbury in Wiltshire to Beachy Head in East Sussex, across rough terrain and through some really varied landscapes.

It’s a ride that has been on my bucket list for a while. Life is too short not to do what you love! Wayne was mad enough to join me on it – so great. What’s fantastic about this challenge is we will be having fun, reducing the middle age spread and raising money for CAFOD. Any sponsorship that we receive will go towards supporting vulnerable farmers in Kitui, Kenya, to grow enough food, access clean water and engage with the local government on the issues that prevent them from earning a living.

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CAFOD is helping farming families in Kitui to plant seeds and to terrace their farms, re-sculpting the landscape to keep rainwater where it is needed and stop topsoil from being washed away during the rainy season. So that crops flourish, the farmers are being supplied with solar-powered drip irrigation kits and sand dams to collect rainwater. We are proud to be involved in making this important work happen. Continue reading “CAFOD corporate partner: cycling 180 miles for Kitui”