A NORTH Yorkshire church group has been shortlisted for a prestigious sustainability award.

Portholme Church in Portholme Road, Selby, is one of several churches across the region involved in the ‘Tea and PV’ scheme – a project that supports the installation of solar panels on church buildings.

Tea and PV (photovoltaic panels) is run by the Yorkshire North and East Methodist District (YNEMD) and is one of just five projects (out of more than 500 applications) that was shortlisted in the People’s Energy (UK) category at the 2024 Ashden Awards.

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So far, the solar panels put up as part of the project have produced enough energy to make more than one million cups of tea - over 10,500kWh of electricity, 400,000 cuppas worth, coming from Portholme directly.

Tim O’Brien, net zero officer for YNEMD, said: “There’s a wide range of understanding about these issues both among out membership and the wider users of our buildings.

“Around a quarter of a million people who are not members of the Methodist Church use our buildings in our district alone.

“That’s an awful lot of people coming through our doors from all walks of life.

York Press: Queen Street Methodist Church in Scarborough (photo by Pure Renewables)Queen Street Methodist Church in Scarborough (photo by Pure Renewables) (Image: Pure Renewables)

“My vision is that in the 21st century we're known for our environmental activism. I think it’s a core mission for all faith groups that they should see this as a matter of justice, in the sense that we are producing carbon and other people are suffering because of it.”

The scheme has also been instrumental in changing the minds of parishioners who were otherwise sceptical about the benefits of sustainable energy with one member ‘unable to see the point’ until he saw the display within the church that showed the energy being produced.

Tim said: “He said, ‘this is amazing’ and was impressed that the church had taken these steps. Suddenly his grandmother saw the point of it and went from being sceptical that we were wasting money to seeing the value.

“It’s lots of little conversations like that, which we don’t often hear, where we can have an impact, and I think that’s why this scheme is up for such a prestigious award.”

York Press: Littlebeck Methodist Church in North Yorkshire (close to Whitby) Littlebeck Methodist Church in North Yorkshire (close to Whitby) (Image: Provided)

Multiple other churches across the region, big and small, have also been involved in the scheme – the smallest of which, Littlebeck Methodist Church (near Whitby), produced 200kWh of electricity which could make 8,300 cups of tea for the community.

The Ashden Awards will be held on Thursday, June 27 and if it wins the People’s Energy (UK) category, YNEMD will be given a £10,000 prize which will be invested back into community schemes.