Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme

The Home Office is providing a further £1.6 million in funding to support places of worship in England and Wales that have been subjected to or could be vulnerable to hate crime attacks.

For a fourth year in a row, the Home Office is providing funding to help places of worship tackle hate crimes against them through the installation of additional security equipment.

Hate crimes, for the purposes of this fund, are defined as any crimes committed against a person because of their real or perceived religion.

In a change to previous years, applicants are no longer required to show they have already experienced hate crime and will be able to apply if they can show they are vulnerable to hate crime.

The funding is available to churches, gurdwaras, mosques, temples, and associated faith community centres (defined as community centre run by a place of worship or near a place of worship that is faith based, and where regular worship takes place). Synagogues may not apply, as a similar commitment was made to fund Jewish community sites through a grant administered by the Community Security Trust.

The total funding pot for 2019-20 is £1.6 million. Grants of up to £56,000 per place of worship are available.

The funding is to be used for the cost of additional security equipment. Match funding of at least 20% of the total project costs is required. This will need to be paid in advance of the installation of the security measures.

The funding can cover the costs of up to three security measures from the following list:

CCTV
Fencing and/or railings
Gates
Doors
Windows
Alarms
Locks
Access control
Intercom systems
Lighting

The funding only covers the provision and installation of these security measures. It does not cover other associated costs such as licensing and planning permission, or ongoing costs such as charges for annual service, maintenance and monitoring.

The deadline for applications is 31 August 2019 (23:59)

Full details…