St Peter’s Church, Bethnal Green – Ceiling Repair, Insulation and Community Garden (007861)

In November 2022, St Peter’s Church suffered the catastrophic collapse of asbestos ceiling tiles due to storms. With more ceiling at risk of falling and the interior fabric and fittings contaminated throughout, the church community had no option but to ‘camp out’ and carry on in a garden marquee. St Peter’s has mounted an emergency project to carry out major decontamination and repair works to enable its return to full community use. However, the organisation want to turn this disaster into something truly positive by targeting the church’s goal to be carbon-neutral by 2030. Rather than replacing asbestos with ‘quick-fix’ plasterboard they will use this opportunity to put in place a long-term energy-reducing solution of new ventilation and insulation. Decontamination equipment and storage will destroy a significant section of the surrounding garden to off set this a volunteer-led planting project will bring greater biodiversity, engagement and enjoyment to the site.