National Churches Trust’s Community Grants Accepting Applications

Funding for projects which introduce facilities to enable increased community use of places of worship in the UK, Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

The National Churches Trust offers funding for projects that are in line with the aims of the Trust which are to:

• Help maintain the UK’s heritage of church buildings and to enhance their ability to serve local communities.
• Promote the benefit to communities of church buildings and to inspire everyone to value and enjoy them.

The Community Grants programme offers grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 towards the cost of capital works (additions and extensions) and the introduction of facilities, such as accessible toilets and catering facilities. Projects must have an estimated cost of at least £25,000 (including VAT and fees) ) and have already raised 50% of the total project cost.

To be eligible, the building must:

• Be a Christian place of worship (but not a Cathedral) in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
• Be owned by the applicant or the applicant must have the right to carry out the work.
• Have been originally built as a place of worship and is open for regular public worship.

The principle denomination that worships in the building must be a member of (or belong to an umbrella body that is a member of) Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

The project must be led by a qualified professional, usually an architect or chartered building surveyor.

Applicants can also be considered for a National Churches Trust Micro-Grant in Partnership with the Cinnamon Network. These are additional £2,000 micro-grants available to successful applicants to set up a Cinnamon Network Recognised Project that meets the needs of local people. The micro-grants allow churches to set up new social action projects such as CAP Money Courses, Make Lunch and Parish Nursing. Successful churches will also be able to access the support and training provided by Cinnamon Network’s regional Advisers and Trainers. It does not fund existing projects.

The deadline for Community Grant applications is 2 July 2018.

Full details…