WEBVTT 00:00:06.830 --> 00:00:10.490 This is the Decarbonisation Dialogue, a podcast 00:00:10.490 --> 00:00:13.789 from Salix. Welcome to Delivering on Climate 00:00:13.789 --> 00:00:16.469 Change, our collective challenge. I am Hannah 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.550 Walker and I believe that the best way to communicate 00:00:18.550 --> 00:00:20.969 a message is by being passionate about what you 00:00:20.969 --> 00:00:23.449 are talking about. Through that passion, I believe 00:00:23.449 --> 00:00:26.089 you take people with you and create action using 00:00:26.089 --> 00:00:28.730 your influence to make change and make a difference. 00:00:29.070 --> 00:00:32.810 Our task today is to get all of us to net zero. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.500 Today, I'm delighted to have with us for our 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:41.719 decarbonisation dialogue podcast, we have Giles 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:45.539 Coulter and Gary Dimmock. Giles is head teacher 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:49.299 of St Peter's School, Calfold, Sussex, and Gary 00:00:49.299 --> 00:00:53.259 is the premises manager there. The school was 00:00:53.259 --> 00:00:57.060 recently awarded and successfully completed a 00:00:57.060 --> 00:00:59.979 public sector decarbonisation scheme project. 00:01:00.509 --> 00:01:02.549 being awarded money from the government, which 00:01:02.549 --> 00:01:04.849 has been delivered by our teams at Salix, with 00:01:04.849 --> 00:01:07.090 other funding from the Diocese of Chichester. 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:09.569 And I can't wait to talk about this because I 00:01:09.569 --> 00:01:13.129 visited the project myself and just was so impressed 00:01:13.129 --> 00:01:16.390 by the enthusiasm of not just the team, but of 00:01:16.390 --> 00:01:18.069 all the children and how you've involved the 00:01:18.069 --> 00:01:20.510 children in all of that work at the school. So 00:01:20.510 --> 00:01:23.450 it's fantastic to have Giles and Gary with us 00:01:23.450 --> 00:01:28.049 today. Hi, Hannah. So starting with the top question, 00:01:28.129 --> 00:01:31.109 please. Could you please tell us about your background? 00:01:31.170 --> 00:01:35.670 So Giles, teaching. Why teaching? I actually 00:01:35.670 --> 00:01:39.670 was interested in geography and I did a geography 00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:43.930 degree at King's College in London. And I guess 00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:47.469 that's where. My sort of rudimentary awareness 00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:52.030 of climate change and the importance of making 00:01:52.030 --> 00:01:57.689 sure we make carbon savings comes from. And then, 00:01:57.870 --> 00:02:00.969 in fact, I was going to be a geography teacher, 00:02:01.109 --> 00:02:04.489 but I think being a primary teacher was always 00:02:04.489 --> 00:02:06.609 in my blood because my mum's a primary teacher. 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:10.189 And when it actually came to signing up for the 00:02:10.189 --> 00:02:14.159 PGCE. I switched over and went for primary and 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:18.219 I just loved it. So never really looked back 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:21.120 after that. Yeah. Superb. Can I ask how many 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:25.180 years have you been in teaching now? So I've 00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:29.020 been in teaching about 32 years. Yeah. I started 00:02:29.020 --> 00:02:32.800 teaching in 1992. Yeah. Fantastic. I can't wait 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:34.500 to hear about all of the changes that you must 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:38.360 have seen as well during that period. Gary, tell 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:40.240 us about your background, because you've had 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.699 quite a varied background, haven't you? Certainly, 00:02:44.060 --> 00:02:51.479 I read physics and astrophysics at Queen Elizabeth 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:56.639 College, London, and I attempted to get into 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:01.139 astronomy and astrophysics as a career, but it's 00:03:01.139 --> 00:03:05.360 a fairly specialised and not very many places 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.159 available. So what I ended up doing actually 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:13.120 was getting into computing because astronomy 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.620 and astrophysics actually require a lot of computing 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:19.879 ability. So I did computing courses as a part 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:25.259 of the degree and I ended up becoming employed 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:28.580 across practically every sphere of computing 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:32.979 in my time. and have talked around the world 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:37.139 a number of times as a consequence of that. But 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:42.219 I was made redundant a couple of times through 00:03:42.219 --> 00:03:47.039 my career. And the last time I was looking around 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.340 and thinking, do I really want to get back into 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:51.819 the rat race of full employment, et cetera? And 00:03:51.819 --> 00:03:54.539 I looked for other alternatives, one of which 00:03:54.539 --> 00:03:58.199 was as the premises manager, premises officer 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:03.259 for the school. So that was effectively how I 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:07.159 came to be part and parcel of the community here 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:11.900 and working at St Peter's Primary School. I believe 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:14.599 you've got a personal connection to the school. 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:19.279 Did your children go to St Peter's? Yes, when 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:24.259 I was at university, I met my wife when she was 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:28.439 16. We were both in sixth form at Maidstone. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.879 And she went to, she did her teacher's certificate 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:36.939 down at Brighton. And one of the places that 00:04:36.939 --> 00:04:39.399 she did her teaching practice was actually Calfold. 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:44.379 We subsequently got married. We lived originally 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:47.199 over in East Sussex. And then I got a job at 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:52.790 Haywood Seath and we moved to Calfold. Then our 00:04:52.790 --> 00:04:57.870 three daughters have both been through St Peter's 00:04:57.870 --> 00:05:00.610 Primary in Calfold. My wife taught there as well 00:05:00.610 --> 00:05:03.350 as other local village schools around the area. 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:06.430 So a very strong connection to St Peter's, which 00:05:06.430 --> 00:05:08.569 is just a beautiful school on a beautiful site. 00:05:08.790 --> 00:05:10.810 And we're going to talk about the technologies 00:05:10.810 --> 00:05:13.689 you've installed because you are very careful 00:05:13.689 --> 00:05:15.589 to take into account your neighbours as well, 00:05:15.689 --> 00:05:17.509 which is very important in that kind of tight 00:05:17.509 --> 00:05:20.740 knit community. So, Giles. Can we go back to 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:23.300 the school and can you please tell us about St 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:26.019 Peter's and the community that you serve there? 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:32.379 Yeah, we are quite a small village primary school 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:37.819 and we predominantly serve Calfold Village. We're 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:40.680 a church school, Church of England school, and 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:43.360 the school was originally founded by the Church 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.339 of England. So it's got that long tradition. 00:05:46.980 --> 00:05:52.459 It was founded in the 1870s and part of the building 00:05:52.459 --> 00:05:54.879 is, you know, still the original Victorian school 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:59.790 building. complex when the project came along 00:05:59.790 --> 00:06:04.449 in terms of insulation and things. And Calfold 00:06:04.449 --> 00:06:09.389 is an interesting village. It's got a real rural 00:06:09.389 --> 00:06:13.069 connection, as you'd expect, being in Sussex. 00:06:15.389 --> 00:06:18.230 quite a few families who are farming families. 00:06:18.490 --> 00:06:21.009 And in fact, the land right next to our school, 00:06:21.250 --> 00:06:26.189 there's a field and it belongs to a family who've 00:06:26.189 --> 00:06:29.170 got two children in the school right now. So 00:06:29.170 --> 00:06:32.250 we've got that tradition. But also being in the 00:06:32.250 --> 00:06:35.389 busy southeast, not far from Gatwick, quite close 00:06:35.389 --> 00:06:41.470 to the A24 and the A23. It's also a commuter 00:06:41.470 --> 00:06:43.550 village, really, Calfold. And a lot of people 00:06:43.550 --> 00:06:48.329 work in London or Crawley or Gatwick and Brighton 00:06:48.329 --> 00:06:54.529 and commute by car. And I would say it's actually 00:06:54.529 --> 00:07:00.339 quite a working village, really, Calfold. affordable 00:07:00.339 --> 00:07:04.300 housing uh uh as well as you know some some large 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:07.720 properties um it's got a good share of social 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:12.459 housing so um we actually it creates a nice diverse 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:16.100 community uh we're quite close -knit community 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:19.139 as well actually not that many villages and places 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:21.699 some places that kind of merge quite closely 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:23.839 into other villages and things but californ does 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:25.600 stand alone so there's I think the village has 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.379 got a real sense of identity and it's got some 00:07:28.379 --> 00:07:32.360 sort of markable buildings and a history. In 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:34.560 fact, there's a Calfold History Society, which 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:36.480 have been involved with the school. We've got 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:38.860 interesting things like St Peter's Church and 00:07:38.860 --> 00:07:41.319 the Village Hall, which is a Victorian building. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:45.660 And those sort of buildings create real hubs 00:07:45.660 --> 00:07:49.230 in the village. um as well as the new almond 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:52.769 center which is a community hub as well um and 00:07:52.769 --> 00:07:55.209 a lot goes on people people do a lot in the village 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:59.029 um around the church and also around their own 00:07:59.029 --> 00:08:01.329 sort of um around the village hall and things 00:08:01.329 --> 00:08:04.810 go on there and i think gary probably can add 00:08:04.810 --> 00:08:06.430 a little bit more about that because he actually 00:08:06.430 --> 00:08:08.170 lives in the village but you know having been 00:08:08.170 --> 00:08:11.110 working here for over 10 years you get a sense 00:08:11.110 --> 00:08:12.790 of identity that you know california is quite 00:08:12.790 --> 00:08:16.379 a close -knit place yeah Thank you. And we are 00:08:16.379 --> 00:08:18.279 going to talk a lot more about the challenges 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:22.939 that you face as well at that school and dealing 00:08:22.939 --> 00:08:26.040 with climate change, because that's really what 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:29.720 we want to get to. But Gary, you've recently 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:33.700 installed. a ground source heat pump at the school. 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:38.159 Okay, so you receive the school was lucky enough 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.480 to receive funding from the public sector decarbonisation 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:45.679 scheme, which is a huge scheme impacting projects 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.639 across the country. You're a small school, I 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:50.940 think you've got about 100, is it just over 100 00:08:50.940 --> 00:08:54.399 children? It's a relatively small primary school, 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.179 but hugely successful in receiving this funding, 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:01.870 which I think was about 670. Okay, worth the 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:05.269 funding. I'm sure you'll correct me. Can you 00:09:05.269 --> 00:09:08.009 just tell us a little bit about the process of 00:09:08.009 --> 00:09:12.970 that? Because I've seen it, it's a huge project, 00:09:13.070 --> 00:09:16.629 a lot of work. Gary, can you tell us a little 00:09:16.629 --> 00:09:23.149 bit about that process? Yes, quite a scary process, 00:09:23.190 --> 00:09:33.009 to say the least. We had two ancient oil boilers 00:09:33.009 --> 00:09:36.429 that needed to be replaced. They dated back to 00:09:36.429 --> 00:09:40.250 sort of 1960s, pre -Berlin Wall falling down. 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:47.809 And we were looking at what options we had available. 00:09:49.409 --> 00:09:54.090 One of those, obviously, was for the funding 00:09:54.090 --> 00:09:58.620 for the ground source heat pumps. In order to 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:05.059 achieve that, we had to put in a bid through 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:08.879 Salix for the government funding, but that actually 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:13.940 required a lot of technical detail, which ordinarily 00:10:13.940 --> 00:10:19.899 a small school, any school, won't have any of 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:23.840 the knowledge available. So we went out to one 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:29.019 or two consultants initially. give us some information 00:10:29.019 --> 00:10:33.360 whether we should be looking at simple replacement 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.100 oil boilers like for like, whether we should 00:10:35.100 --> 00:10:36.860 be looking at air source heat pumps, ground source 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:38.899 heat pumps, or what alternatives there might 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:42.500 be. We were very keen right from the start to 00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:45.720 really try and put something in that was environmentally 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:50.279 friendly. But it really boiled down to the funding. 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:57.490 At the end of the day, it was touch and go. Applied 00:10:57.490 --> 00:11:00.669 for the government funding, we had to produce, 00:11:00.769 --> 00:11:03.750 as I say, a massive technical document, well, 00:11:03.809 --> 00:11:08.309 several massive technical documents, not least 00:11:08.309 --> 00:11:14.509 of which was the proposed system and its capabilities, 00:11:14.789 --> 00:11:21.049 etc. And we then... waited a little while before 00:11:21.049 --> 00:11:23.950 we were told we had that funding. But even then, 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:27.409 because that application, we're talking about 00:11:27.409 --> 00:11:33.090 a sort of six -month -plus process, and the bid 00:11:33.090 --> 00:11:36.929 that we put in was for funding that we had understood 00:11:36.929 --> 00:11:39.509 the level of cost according to our consultants 00:11:39.509 --> 00:11:41.870 and the manufacturers and everything else like 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:44.590 that. But, of course, by the time we got the 00:11:44.590 --> 00:11:47.250 funding agreed, by the time we were actually... 00:11:47.500 --> 00:11:49.220 We had to then obviously go through the whole 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:54.539 process of going out to tender, getting the organizations, 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:57.720 the companies in to be able to produce that tender 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:00.399 information. We're talking about nine months 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.700 elapsed, by which time everything had gone up 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:10.159 so dramatically in cost that we initially didn't 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:12.179 have enough money to be able to do the ground 00:12:12.179 --> 00:12:15.320 source heat pumps. We were looking at either... 00:12:15.710 --> 00:12:17.649 cutting it back and putting in air source heat 00:12:17.649 --> 00:12:20.730 pumps, which are by no means anywhere near as 00:12:20.730 --> 00:12:24.850 efficient, or as we ultimately did, cutting back 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:30.070 on any of the little extras that we were potentially 00:12:30.070 --> 00:12:35.330 hoping to be able to achieve in order to reduce 00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:38.490 that requirement to the level of funding that 00:12:38.490 --> 00:12:41.169 we were actually getting from the government 00:12:41.169 --> 00:12:44.980 and the diocese. So it wasn't until... probably 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:51.100 about April so the we started in about May June 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:55.019 of whatever year it was I've lost track of the 00:12:55.019 --> 00:12:58.019 years now it's 23 wasn't it when we the very 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:02.299 initial start yeah yeah and it wasn't until around 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:08.220 April of 24 that we actually were able to engage 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:13.450 our consultant project manager and the building 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:18.570 companies etc and i i think when i visited the 00:13:18.570 --> 00:13:20.970 school i've seen it you've got it so you you've 00:13:20.970 --> 00:13:22.870 got it you've got the i've seen the channel in 00:13:22.870 --> 00:13:25.809 the ground i've seen the the marks if you like 00:13:25.809 --> 00:13:29.409 um and the you they go it goes straight and through 00:13:29.409 --> 00:13:31.110 the front doesn't the channel goes straight through 00:13:31.110 --> 00:13:33.629 the front door through the reception and then 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:36.330 you showed us the uh cupboard where you have 00:13:36.330 --> 00:13:39.659 all the controls And in terms of learning, then, 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:42.360 what are the kind of biggest learnings that you've 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:44.279 had? Because you did a lot of the work during 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:46.019 the holidays, but the children were very much 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:49.320 aware of it, weren't they? Yes, absolutely. I 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:52.320 mean, it was a massive project. The total funding 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:57.679 was nigh on a million pounds. And that required 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:03.340 digging 15 boreholes into the playing field, 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:07.509 each 100 metres deep. So we had to have pile 00:14:07.509 --> 00:14:12.870 drivers come onto the site, bashing the piles 00:14:12.870 --> 00:14:16.669 down into the ground, as well as obviously digging 00:14:16.669 --> 00:14:22.210 up all the playground, etc. So it was a question 00:14:22.210 --> 00:14:25.750 of what potential impact would that be? Again, 00:14:25.929 --> 00:14:30.889 we are a small community. There are houses around 00:14:30.889 --> 00:14:35.049 the playing field that we have to be very careful. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:40.179 Careful that we don't upset anybody around. We 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:43.080 had to ensure that all of the permissions obviously 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:47.440 were in place because whilst we're a Church of 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:49.279 England school, the church building itself is 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:54.000 owned by the diocese, but the playing field is 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.179 owned by West Sussex County Council. So we had 00:14:56.179 --> 00:15:00.240 to get their agreement to be able to put the 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.019 ground source elements into the playing field 00:15:03.019 --> 00:15:07.100 as well as... assorted other permissions etc 00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:13.179 we had to increase the power uh electricity that 00:15:13.179 --> 00:15:16.379 supply to the school so we had to work with uh 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:22.120 npower to be able to achieve that because again 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:26.879 the ground source heat pump equipment has to 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.299 use electricity to power it in order to be able 00:15:31.299 --> 00:15:34.159 to extract the heat from the ground and convert 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.940 it into the hot water for the central heating 00:15:36.940 --> 00:15:41.539 etc and our power supply to the school was already 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:45.899 if you like at capacity so we had to improve 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:50.840 that and that again there was a additional cost 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:57.179 involved in order to achieve that and then The 00:15:57.179 --> 00:16:00.019 disruption to the school itself, obviously, one 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:05.519 of the things that is a necessity where the heat 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:10.500 pumps are concerned is that you lose as little 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:13.960 heat from the building as possible. So we had 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:20.179 a 19, well, part Victorian, part 1960s, 70s buildings. 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:24.059 not desperately well insulated in any shape or 00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:27.340 form. So we spent as much, if not slightly more, 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:30.860 on improving the insulation across the building 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:36.559 as we did on the heat pumps itself. So it was 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:42.120 a massive approach. Had to have scaffolding around 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:47.279 the entire school. The roof had to be completely 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:52.299 replaced with... lovely thick insulated roofing 00:16:52.299 --> 00:16:56.879 across the entire school and of course all of 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:00.179 which has an impact not only on the wider community 00:17:00.179 --> 00:17:04.059 with all of the building works that are going 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:07.900 on the traffic etc but particularly on the school 00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:12.039 and the running of the school because all of 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:15.420 that work could not be achieved in the holiday 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:20.609 times so It was necessary to ensure that what 00:17:20.609 --> 00:17:24.509 work that was being done in the term times was 00:17:24.509 --> 00:17:31.009 as limited and as impactless. Of course, there 00:17:31.009 --> 00:17:33.349 are very specific challenges, aren't there, always 00:17:33.349 --> 00:17:35.309 when working with schools and around the term 00:17:35.309 --> 00:17:37.569 times and the busy schedule. And they've just 00:17:37.569 --> 00:17:39.569 got to get on with learning and you've got to 00:17:39.569 --> 00:17:42.170 get on with teaching. And then you've got contractors 00:17:42.170 --> 00:17:44.470 presumably in and out of the building. And it's 00:17:44.470 --> 00:17:48.190 very interesting to hear how you navigated all 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:49.829 of those relationships, because it really is 00:17:49.829 --> 00:17:51.609 quite complex. It's not just the neighbours, 00:17:51.849 --> 00:17:54.849 as you say, it's talking to power companies. 00:17:55.819 --> 00:17:58.220 contractors, et cetera, and having a playing 00:17:58.220 --> 00:17:59.700 field that was owned by a different authority. 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:03.960 So really interesting. Now, we talk every day 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.259 at Salix. Our work is to try and get organisations, 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:09.599 whether it's public sector, whether it's housing 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:11.299 associations, because we have housing projects 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:15.480 as well, to get everybody to these net zero targets 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:18.569 that we've set. I'm going to go to Giles now. 00:18:19.210 --> 00:18:21.950 We're looking at massive challenges in climate 00:18:21.950 --> 00:18:24.329 change, you know, inequality. We're looking at 00:18:24.329 --> 00:18:26.390 pandemics. We're seeing it on our news every 00:18:26.390 --> 00:18:29.210 day, whether it's flooding, fires, et cetera, 00:18:29.230 --> 00:18:32.930 resource pressures. Do you think we're doing 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:35.890 enough generally? You've done a huge project 00:18:35.890 --> 00:18:38.670 there at St Peter's, but do you think we've done 00:18:38.670 --> 00:18:40.089 enough or do you think people have kind of given 00:18:40.089 --> 00:18:46.009 up? I don't think that people have given up. 00:18:47.040 --> 00:18:49.720 and also it's obviously very hard to generalise 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:53.059 about different people's views. It doesn't seem 00:18:53.059 --> 00:18:56.440 like we're doing enough, does it, really, from 00:18:56.440 --> 00:19:02.480 what we hear. But I think, obviously, it's different 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:07.440 scales where you look at it. The children, and 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.440 we'll go on to talk about them, you know, they 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:13.259 haven't given up. There's a limitless passion 00:19:13.259 --> 00:19:19.380 there from them. I think governments are the 00:19:19.380 --> 00:19:22.180 key part, aren't they really? And obviously there's 00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:26.339 a huge amount of worry now as Donald Trump has 00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:28.119 come in and said he's going to drill, drill, 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:36.000 drill. If it wasn't for our British government's 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.799 initiative, you know, this public sector works 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:39.759 decarbonisation scheme, we wouldn't be doing 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:42.000 what we're doing and, you know, or have done 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:45.049 what we did. And it's just amazing that. You 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:47.390 know, the government have put that money where 00:19:47.390 --> 00:19:49.309 their mouth is. I was, you know, that was one 00:19:49.309 --> 00:19:52.049 of the things that sort of really infused me. 00:19:52.190 --> 00:19:56.190 And I just hope that continues. We get very sort 00:19:56.190 --> 00:19:59.430 of in our day to day when we're in primary schools. 00:19:59.509 --> 00:20:00.970 And I don't really know much about the government 00:20:00.970 --> 00:20:03.930 strategy and that side of things. But, you know, 00:20:03.950 --> 00:20:07.710 I had a sense a bit that Rishi Sunak was backing 00:20:07.710 --> 00:20:10.250 off a bit on some of the promises. But hopefully 00:20:10.250 --> 00:20:13.829 now. with a new government that, you know, the 00:20:13.829 --> 00:20:16.470 work of this public sector works will expand 00:20:16.470 --> 00:20:20.549 rather than decrease. But it was, you know, just 00:20:20.549 --> 00:20:24.049 an amazing thing. And so we are doing things 00:20:24.049 --> 00:20:27.349 and people do care. And obviously, you know, 00:20:27.349 --> 00:20:32.900 there's people like you, Hannah, working. this 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:36.279 way and and and and salix and everything it's 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:39.779 doing so um so there is hope and and and and 00:20:39.779 --> 00:20:44.960 we are doing things um i think people you know 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.900 working people are they have busy lives and it's 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:51.140 very hard to sort of balance you know i even 00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:53.279 think of my own life and i wish actually that 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.119 i could uh i keep thinking about it but perhaps 00:20:56.119 --> 00:20:59.349 get an electric car rather than a petrol one 00:20:59.349 --> 00:21:02.289 but um there are challenges there when you're 00:21:02.289 --> 00:21:04.730 a public sector worker like me and the cost of 00:21:04.730 --> 00:21:07.670 that kind of thing um though i'm very sort of 00:21:07.670 --> 00:21:11.529 um reassured by some of the big companies i've 00:21:11.529 --> 00:21:13.750 got friends where i live who've got company cars 00:21:13.750 --> 00:21:15.750 that are electric so things that you know are 00:21:15.750 --> 00:21:19.650 happening um big companies in crawley um like 00:21:19.650 --> 00:21:23.430 variant are doing um electric cars for their 00:21:23.430 --> 00:21:28.779 employees um yeah but In our busy lives, we sometimes 00:21:28.779 --> 00:21:32.160 get caught up, don't we? And day to day things 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.839 take over. So, you know, it's kind of what you're 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.759 doing here, media work, keeping the profile, 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.400 keeping people aware. And one thing I forgot 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:43.480 to say about sort of our local community is that, 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:46.059 in fact, in Calfold, there's an organisation 00:21:46.059 --> 00:21:50.339 called Green in Calfold. And I guess they won't 00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:51.819 mind me saying it's a group of people who perhaps 00:21:51.819 --> 00:21:54.559 had their main working careers and have got a 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.329 bit more time. But they're doing an awful lot 00:21:57.329 --> 00:22:00.549 around the village to try and bring awareness 00:22:00.549 --> 00:22:03.809 and doing various initiatives as well. And they 00:22:03.809 --> 00:22:06.430 were obviously very interested. In fact, one 00:22:06.430 --> 00:22:08.349 of their members came to the opening that you 00:22:08.349 --> 00:22:12.009 came to on the 1st of March last year, Jerry's. 00:22:12.609 --> 00:22:17.619 So, yeah, lots going on. But busy lives and finding 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.640 priorities, isn't it, and challenges. And we'll 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:23.599 probably move on to the children now. And I guess 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:28.000 our role in schools is that the children go into 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.660 those busy lives with an awareness of how important 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:34.619 it is to tackle climate change and that priority, 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:37.339 really, so that in their future working lives, 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:42.220 you know, they can balance things to help. our 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:44.559 futures yeah super yes let's talk about those 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.240 children because when i come up came along to 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:51.460 st peter's that day I was, you know, incredibly 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:53.640 impressed by them. In fact, put the children 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:56.019 in charge because they know exactly where they 00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:57.700 want, where we should be going and what we should 00:22:57.700 --> 00:23:00.940 be doing on climate change. But it's part of 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:03.119 your job to encourage those children to be positive 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:05.819 about the future. And there is a lot of anxiety. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:09.660 Children do suffer. They call it climate anxiety, 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:13.039 don't they? Because they are seeing it on their 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:16.259 news screens every day. What kind of messages? 00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:24.339 Are you hearing jars from the children? At school 00:23:24.339 --> 00:23:28.539 sort of level, they don't tend to express their 00:23:28.539 --> 00:23:33.019 worries to us. Though I'm aware we have to get 00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:36.220 that balance between panicking them and remaining 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:39.519 optimistic. And that's probably conversations 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:43.220 they might be having with parents at home. But 00:23:43.220 --> 00:23:47.420 we always find are children sort of wholly enthusiastic 00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:53.220 about ideas and straight away, you know, wanting 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:59.720 to help. And we tend to sort of go in waves, 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:03.099 really. It's hard to sort of maintain the profile 00:24:03.099 --> 00:24:08.000 all the time. And also, you know, there's other 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.200 things that we sometimes talk to the children 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:14.019 about. of importance as well. And various times 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:16.400 of the year, like Children in Need or Children's 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.259 Society, often in November, December, we're thinking 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:22.500 about other children. But so we tend to sort 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:25.670 of go in waves. Actually, last March when we 00:24:25.670 --> 00:24:29.349 had the opening of the whole project, that was 00:24:29.349 --> 00:24:32.509 a time really as a school where we kept on coming 00:24:32.509 --> 00:24:35.069 back and talking about climate change and what 00:24:35.069 --> 00:24:37.210 was going on and the progress of the project 00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:41.190 and why it was happening and a great deal of 00:24:41.190 --> 00:24:42.769 learning went on and they could all tell you 00:24:42.769 --> 00:24:45.710 about the greenhouse effect and how electricity 00:24:45.710 --> 00:24:47.869 was cleaner than the oil that we were burning. 00:24:48.609 --> 00:24:50.690 especially as where our electricity comes from 00:24:50.690 --> 00:24:52.970 now, you know, a lot of it's from renewables. 00:24:54.289 --> 00:24:58.390 We're a year on now and it's time to we sort 00:24:58.390 --> 00:25:01.990 of hopefully raise that profile again. And we've 00:25:01.990 --> 00:25:05.130 actually got something coming up. We're working 00:25:05.130 --> 00:25:08.700 with. Carrie Court, the Sussex Green Living Organisation, 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:11.059 slightly different to the Green and Calfold, 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:14.359 but Carrie does a lot right across Sussex. But 00:25:14.359 --> 00:25:16.599 working with Green and Calfold, they're building 00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:21.140 a pollination station just near the school. So 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:23.579 that's another sort of chance to do another initiative. 00:25:24.279 --> 00:25:28.319 So we'll probably elect a new eco -committee 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:30.880 and get involved in that and then talk again 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.730 about... climate change and bring it all back 00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:37.150 into the children's sort of focus again uh over 00:25:37.150 --> 00:25:39.210 the next few months but yeah for us it's just 00:25:39.210 --> 00:25:43.009 to keep on going keep the profile up but not 00:25:43.009 --> 00:25:44.910 you know panicking the children when we talk 00:25:44.910 --> 00:25:48.569 about these things um yeah of course the eco 00:25:48.569 --> 00:25:51.750 committee were very much part of that day weren't 00:25:51.750 --> 00:25:53.589 they back in march they were very much part of 00:25:53.589 --> 00:25:59.079 that a whole celebration of the project um gary 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:02.920 do you feel that you're did you you've got this 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:06.160 background in astrophysics and and physics did 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:09.119 you ever imagine that you would be driving a 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.119 project like this forward for a primary school 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:17.460 in the village that you live in uh it's not something 00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:20.819 that i had ever really contemplated or thought 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:26.549 about at all um i mean i i did I actually joined 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:28.509 Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth back in the 00:26:28.509 --> 00:26:33.950 1970s. I've been passionate about ecology and 00:26:33.950 --> 00:26:39.150 green environmental things practically all my 00:26:39.150 --> 00:26:48.430 life. And through my career, different jobs that 00:26:48.430 --> 00:26:51.529 I've done none of them have been particularly 00:26:51.529 --> 00:26:54.890 focused in that in any of that kind of sphere 00:26:54.890 --> 00:26:59.970 obviously IT and what have you is much more aimed 00:26:59.970 --> 00:27:05.730 at the opposite end of things so when I was able 00:27:05.730 --> 00:27:09.589 to start working with children in the school 00:27:09.589 --> 00:27:17.029 that was a real opportunity And I certainly feel 00:27:17.029 --> 00:27:20.630 that Giles has brought in a really excellent 00:27:20.630 --> 00:27:23.950 ethos across the school. It's a fantastic little 00:27:23.950 --> 00:27:27.230 community school that we have. And the children 00:27:27.230 --> 00:27:29.509 are so exceptional, but they're also very local. 00:27:29.569 --> 00:27:35.109 And I see many of them just walking around, going 00:27:35.109 --> 00:27:38.309 up to the shops. My wife having taught there. 00:27:38.809 --> 00:27:43.509 She is constantly meeting children and adults 00:27:43.509 --> 00:27:46.609 and their children that she's taught over the 00:27:46.609 --> 00:27:53.690 years. And it's so, yeah, no, I never expected 00:27:53.690 --> 00:27:56.269 anything of this nature at all. Fantastic. So 00:27:56.269 --> 00:27:58.710 what an amazing experience that you have had. 00:27:58.730 --> 00:28:03.150 Hannah, can I just add in kind of like, I think 00:28:03.150 --> 00:28:06.799 it was sort of Gary's. roots there as the things 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:08.240 he was talking about that he was passionate about 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:14.119 as a as a young man that kind of fueled um our 00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:18.619 desire to complete the application really um 00:28:18.619 --> 00:28:21.220 and i suppose to a certain extent you know my 00:28:21.220 --> 00:28:25.160 background in geography as well we were quite 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:29.960 two like -minded people and we just looked at 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:34.160 this situation where these oil boilers were defunct 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:37.420 and we and we just really said to ourselves we're 00:28:37.420 --> 00:28:40.259 not putting in oil boilers for the future generation 00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:43.259 you know it would be wrong to put in oil boilers 00:28:43.259 --> 00:28:46.299 for the next 30 years or gas or some sort of 00:28:46.299 --> 00:28:50.140 fossil fuel so um that's where it all began um 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:54.279 but um you know i just have to say that gary 00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:57.119 put in a huge amount of work far beyond you know 00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:01.079 really you'd expect from his role in the school 00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:04.480 just for his own personal passion and also with 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:07.400 his knowledge um you know the physics background 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:10.420 um that enabled us to complete the application 00:29:10.420 --> 00:29:14.359 backed up really by the diocese who did pay for 00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:20.069 some consultants to assist gary um and It feels 00:29:20.069 --> 00:29:22.130 for us as a small school, quite a unique situation 00:29:22.130 --> 00:29:24.549 that we had Gary and he was able to do that application 00:29:24.549 --> 00:29:28.970 for when we had the diocese backing. And it doesn't 00:29:28.970 --> 00:29:30.509 mean other small schools couldn't do it either. 00:29:32.029 --> 00:29:34.069 It's just a question of finding, you know, the 00:29:34.069 --> 00:29:37.529 right support. I mean, it is a truly inspiring 00:29:37.529 --> 00:29:42.190 project. And that's small. Yes, small. But it's 00:29:42.190 --> 00:29:44.769 a great example, isn't it, to a lot of organisations 00:29:44.769 --> 00:29:47.859 to say you, you two with the right passion. Because 00:29:47.859 --> 00:29:49.880 you've taken people with you, haven't you? That 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:52.940 enthusiasm and background that you both have, 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:56.480 you've managed to capture the imagination. Yeah, 00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:58.640 and we had to get the backing of our governors 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:01.460 as well. Yes, you did. And they had to really 00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:07.240 trust us. And we were lucky, you know, to get 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:10.299 their backing and to have quite forward -thinking 00:30:10.299 --> 00:30:15.299 governors who, you know, looked at the risk and... 00:30:15.609 --> 00:30:18.750 still thought it was worth it and weighed things 00:30:18.750 --> 00:30:24.210 up. We've been exceptionally lucky with our governors 00:30:24.210 --> 00:30:27.150 and the governing board. Again, without them, 00:30:27.190 --> 00:30:29.980 none of this would have been achieved. It's a 00:30:29.980 --> 00:30:32.640 great credit to all of you, actually, for both 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:35.619 of you taking the lead. And I suppose, Giles, 00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:39.019 for trusting in Gary and working as a team. It's 00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:42.180 been fantastic. And the children, they really 00:30:42.180 --> 00:30:44.000 have cheered you on along the way, haven't they, 00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:45.799 and been fully engaged? They have. And I mean, 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:48.319 all that disruption that Gary was talking about, 00:30:48.539 --> 00:30:51.210 you know, one day... They'd be going around the 00:30:51.210 --> 00:30:53.789 back to come out and underneath the scaffolding. 00:30:53.829 --> 00:30:56.190 And the next day, no, there's wasps around the 00:30:56.190 --> 00:30:59.710 back. No, there's a delivery coming. You've got 00:30:59.710 --> 00:31:01.750 to go this way. And the children sort of took 00:31:01.750 --> 00:31:03.609 it all in their stride, really. You know, they 00:31:03.609 --> 00:31:06.710 were hemmed in by Paris fencing and couldn't 00:31:06.710 --> 00:31:09.269 go here and couldn't go there. There were people 00:31:09.269 --> 00:31:11.589 on the roof while they were doing their lessons 00:31:11.589 --> 00:31:17.569 with blowtorches and hammering. Yes, actually, 00:31:17.670 --> 00:31:18.930 you're right, Hannah. I'm glad you mentioned 00:31:18.930 --> 00:31:21.490 the children and the teachers. It's truly amazing. 00:31:21.730 --> 00:31:24.670 Everybody went with it and nobody really sort 00:31:24.670 --> 00:31:29.150 of... complained and yeah superb thank you I 00:31:29.150 --> 00:31:31.309 mean I could talk to you for hours and hours 00:31:31.309 --> 00:31:34.069 because it is such a wonderful project and with 00:31:34.069 --> 00:31:37.250 so much learning there and we hope also one day 00:31:37.250 --> 00:31:40.710 we can come back and see it again you know when 00:31:40.710 --> 00:31:42.789 you're even further into the project and also 00:31:42.789 --> 00:31:46.150 watching and listening to your next steps we 00:31:46.150 --> 00:31:48.910 would love to follow that progress so a big thank 00:31:48.910 --> 00:31:51.210 you to both of you today because we've run out 00:31:51.210 --> 00:31:54.289 of a little bit of our time but thank you very 00:31:54.289 --> 00:31:56.849 much to Giles and to Gary from St Peter's to 00:31:56.849 --> 00:31:58.970 talking to us about your amazing project and 00:31:58.970 --> 00:32:01.589 your fantastic children as well as all your stakeholders 00:32:01.589 --> 00:32:04.029 and there can be no doubt that climate change 00:32:04.029 --> 00:32:06.690 is the biggest challenge of our time today we 00:32:06.690 --> 00:32:08.730 must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow 00:32:08.730 --> 00:32:11.250 global warming today we must act for tomorrow 00:32:11.250 --> 00:32:13.589 adjusting our lifestyles to current and future 00:32:13.589 --> 00:32:16.289 impacts of climate change today we must use our 00:32:16.289 --> 00:32:19.009 collective wisdom to deliver on our climate commitments 00:32:19.009 --> 00:32:22.589 today we work for tomorrow's world so don't forget 00:32:22.589 --> 00:32:25.529 to subscribe to our podcast. Send any news and 00:32:25.529 --> 00:32:28.690 views to us at our podcast email address, which 00:32:28.690 --> 00:32:32.670 is podcast at salixfinance .co .uk. But thank 00:32:32.670 --> 00:32:35.990 you very much once again to Giles and to Gary 00:32:35.990 --> 00:32:39.329 from St. Peter's. Thank you. Thanks for having 00:32:39.329 --> 00:32:41.910 us. It was a pleasure. You've been listening 00:32:41.910 --> 00:32:45.549 to the Decarbonisation Dialogue, a podcast from 00:32:45.549 --> 00:32:49.410 Salix. For more information about our work, And 00:32:49.410 --> 00:32:52.730 to find more content, please visit salixfinance 00:32:52.730 --> 00:32:55.490 .co .uk forward slash podcasts.