What is Parish Buying? from The National Giving Team on Vimeo.
Parish Buying is a service set up by the Church, for the Church. By uniting buying power, they can negotiate better prices for individual churches. In buying together everyone saves together – releasing more resources for your parish's mission and ministry.
Through the bulk buying power of the Church they negotiate competitive prices with suppliers across a range of different contracts (everything from photocopiers to your gas or electricty bill). All of their suppliers undergo a rigorous selection process, and the contracts have been professionally reviewed. They manage the contracts too, so you're guaranteed ongoing support throughout the buying process.
Energy
Government Energy Relief Scheme
- Caps energy cost at £211 per megawatt hour (MWh) for electricity and £75 per MWh for gas
- Relates to bills for October 2022 to March 2023 (not later)
- Will appear as a discount on bills received
- No action required by customer
- Scheme will not affect Energy Basket customers as pricing is below the government’s energy cap.
For information: www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bill-relief-scheme-help-for-businesses-and-other-non-domestic-customers
Parish Buying Energy Basket
The Energy Basket uses the bulk buying power of the Church to obtain competitive prices for your gas and electricity. By pooling the energy demand of thousands of parishes, we use our bulk buying power to negotiate better rates with energy suppliers. In previous years our members have enjoyed significantly better rates compared to what’s available on the standard market.
Congratulations to all those who have already signed their Letters of Authority (LOA) for the Energy Basket. You are now officially part of the basket for the next two years, benefiting from 100% green electricity (sourced from the Hornsea 1 wind farm in the North Sea) and our competitive hedging strategy. For those who have not yet signed up, we welcome new joiners. Join the Energy Basket today and enjoy the advantages of our collective purchasing power.
Parish Buying held a webinar about the current state of the energy market in relation to its Energy Basket and Fixed Deals in September 2022. The recording can be seen here.
For more information please visit the Parish Buying website:
www.parishbuying.org.uk | Weblink
Find out the carbon footprint of your church
The easy-to-use Energy Footprint Tool, created for all churches, will tell your church your annual 'carbon footprint', based on the energy you use to heat and light your buildings. It is the first step toward net zero and allows you to know where you are starting from and how much progress you are making. The Energy Footprint Tool is located on the Online Parish Returns System and is open until 31 July 2023 for you to record details from your 2022 bills. You can find out more here.
An Energy Action Plan forms part of the Energy Footprint Tool so turn to Parish Buying to arrange an Energy Audit for your church. Once audited, you'll receive a report packed full of advice on energy efficiency measures, renewable energy technologies and recommendations, highlighted areas for improvement and an Action Plan with costings.
We're creating a range of Net Zero solutions available through Parish Buying that you can use to address the recommendations in the report. Keep watching the Parish Buying website for developments.