The church was the first in Birmingham to have a solar array installed on its roof in March 2011, with the income from the feed-in tariff going towards funding work with local elders.
The iftar on 26th March brought together Christian pastors, mosque leadership and residents from different backgrounds to share vegan food from Roti Junction, fruit from local shops and Palestinian dates. Ms Jasmine Gardiner, Reader at the United Church of St Paul’s at the Church Centre, gave an introduction. The call to prayer was delivered by Dr Qiyam of nearby Adam Mosque - which with Birmingham interfaith charity Footsteps is developing a project around energy-saving and cutting bills for the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation-funded GrassRoutes initiative.
In a speech describing Retrofit Balsall Heath’s work, chair Navin Sood said: “We have helped get together people who can do double glazing, solar panels, insulation – improving people’s homes. But also we’ve got people riding bikes for the first time, getting to know their neighbours, ‘lifting the slabs’ and getting things planted. Making the place a lot greener”.
Sood, who has had insulation installed on his own property in Court Road, said Retrofit Balsall Heath was “going from strength to strength” and appealed for more residents to get actively involved.
Kamran Shezad, sustainability lead of Muslim educational charity the Bahu Trust and director of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, said that the experience of the fast offered an opportunity for Muslims to reflect on the modern world’s “huge, massive overconsumption crisis”, which is driving climate change and causing pollution and loss of biodiversity.
“Ideally good habits are developed over one month,” Shezad said. “We have to be able to take it beyond that. Because the term ‘retrofit’ isn’t just about retrofitting homes – it’s about retrofitting our minds, retrofitting our heart to start doing things differently. We have to start looking at how we live, how we consume.
“Whether it’s Lent or whether it’s Ramadan, if we can do it for a month, we can do it for the rest of our lives”.
The impact of the bin strike had caused Shezad particular soul-searching, he said, because it has happened in a month when Muslims are meant to be reducing consumption drastically, “but in reality we’re seeing it grow more, more, more… and we’re seeing [rubbish] dumped in other areas”.
Adam Mosque's Dr Qiyam said: “The church community’s warm welcome and generous hospitality created an atmosphere of harmony and mutual respect. The event was a powerful reminder that through dialogue, respect and shared experiences, we can build bridges and create a more cohesive and inclusive society”.
The iftar was followed by a discussion on the verse from the Gospel of St Matthew, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness”, led by Rev Magdalen Smith of St Anne’s and St Mary’s in Moseley, part of a discussion group series on the 'Blessed Are' sayings of Jesus being held during Lent.
During the past month Retrofit Balsall Heath members have taken part in local planting sessions held by Fruit & Nut Village and the National Trust.
In partnership with Saheli Hub, Retrofit Balsall Heath will be holding a Retrofit Spring Fayre on 31st May, also at Balsall Heath Church Centre, to answer the question "What is Retrofit?” with food, stalls, kids’ activities, bhangra dancing, cycling, gardening and an opportunity to climb aboard local energy and financial advice charity MECC Trust’s purple bus.