HUNDREDS of thousands of discarded candles are ending up in landfill every year. That discovery so troubled John Powell, a worshipper at St Peter’s, Prestbury, in Manchester, that he began to collect the leftover wax from candles at St Peter’s and upcycle them into votives, with a view both to saving money and to helping the environment.
Mr Powell had not foreseen that the project would take off in the way that it did. In December — after 18 months, thousands of upcycled candles, and a Church Candle Challenge initiative — he found himself invited by the Royal Foundation to attend the Together at Christmas Carol Service, hosted by the Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey.
“The Vicar’s waxing lyrical about the Church Candle Challenge”
He describes meeting the Princess and “talking about candle-making with her” as the highlight of his life. Moreover, the Foundation and the Abbey facilitated the collection of no fewer than 891 processional candles after the service. They were loaded into black bin bags and put in Mr Powell’s car, for transporting back to Manchester.
He will be making them into container candles for sale at between £10 and £15. He expects to raise about £1000 for charity. “Churches use a lot of candles,” he said on Monday. “I set up the Church Candle Challenge to encourage congregations to bring their spent candles and containers to church to be upcycled and recycled, supporting the church, donating money to charities, and supporting Eco Church.”
He has produced ten video clips, available on YouTube, to instruct others in doing the process safely and efficiently. A former professional golfer, whose hobby is drumming along to rock bands, he describes himself as being “as far away from being a crafts person as you can imagine”. He makes the candles in his utility room and garage in the winter and his garden in the summer.
The candles that he made for sale at his church’s Christmas fair raised £650 for the Cheshire Without Abuse women’s refuge in Manchester. St Peter’s has not had to buy new votive candles for 18 months; and wedding couples are delighted to receive a candle inscribed with a picture of the church and a text from 1 Corinthians.
“My goal is that churches throughout the world embrace this initiative,” he says of the Church Candle Challenge, whose slogan is Lighting up the World. “It only takes one person one day a year to make enough votive candles to last for a year; so, if we could get a few thousand churches upcycling candles on one day a year, it could make millions of pounds for charity.
“It’s like the Good Samaritan, deeds not words, love in action. There’s even the metaphor of rebirth.”
Mr Powell remains in touch with both the Royal Foundation and Westminster Abbey, with which he hopes to talk further in the future. “Princess Kate is absolutely adorable,” he says. “Whatever she does, she does from the heart.”
He invites interested congregations to email: churchcandlechallenge@gmail.com