National Churches Trust: Small Grants

Overview

This programme offers their Small grants of between £500 and £5,000 (with capacity to award up to £10,000 where the case for investment and need are demonstrated to be very high, and funds are available to award) towards urgent maintenance works and small repairs identified as high priority within a recent Quinquennial Inspection, Building Survey or Condition Report. Also, small investigative works and surveys. Project costs should be up to £20,000 incl. VAT and awards will never exceed 50% of the costs. Decisions are made on a rolling basis.

Project costs should be up to £20,000 incl. VAT and awards will never exceed 50% of the costs. Decisions are made on a rolling basis.

Small Grants for maintenance are made possible in partnership with, and through the generosity of, the Pilgrim Trust, as well as the additional generous support of their donors and Friends, trusts and foundations, and the many places of worship and individuals who support their programmes.

Eligibility criteria

They consider applications from listed and unlisted Christian places of worship, of any denomination, across the UK. They particularly welcome applications from churches in Scotland.

The application process begins with an eligibility quiz. If you cannot answer yes to each question your application will not be successful.

The questions include:

• Is yours a Christian place of worship (but not a cathedral) within the UK, and open for at least six services of public worship each year?
• Do you own the building or have the right to carry out the work? If the church is not part of a major denomination then is the denomination registered with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, or has it got charitable status?
• Was your place of worship built as a place of worship originally and is it more than 30 years old? And are the works to the main building?
• Is the building open to the public for a minimum of 100 days a year beyond worship use?
• Have you already secured at least 50% of the project cost?
• Is the project yet to start (we don't accept applications for projects that have already started)?
• Are required permissions in place?
• Are two quotes in place for each element of the work in this application?

Eligible Expenditure

The funding is for small repair projects to buildings that were originally built as churches.

Eligible projects are:

• Urgent maintenance work.
• Items identified as high priority within a Quinquennial Inspection Report/survey reports/other sort of report.
• Small investigative works/surveys.

Projects can cost up to £20,000 (excluding VAT).

Due to having limited funding available, the Trust prioritises:

• Work to architecturally and historically significant buildings.
• Urgent/essential structural repair projects (as evidenced in a recent QIR or building survey report).
• Places of worship with with regular opening hours
• Places of worship that can demonstrate a suitable maintenance system, including a maintenance plan is in place to protect the investment.
• Places of worship that can demonstrate strong community engagement and sound plans for economic viability.

Examples of projects eligible for funding include:

• Addressing access issues to high level to allow volunteers or professionals to perform regular inspections or maintenance of roofs and rainwater goods.
• Introducing improvements to rainwater systems, such as introducing overflow spouts or installing wider-diameter gutters and downpipes.
• Removing inappropriate vegetation growth from buildings that threaten historic fabric or rainwater management systems.
• Replacing faulty or damaged gutter systems.
• Removing pest infestations and fitting preventative measures
• Repairing flashings, masonry, floor tiles, etc.
• Electrical work to correct faults which present a significant risk to the building

Additionally, small investigative works/surveys could be funded to help plan the way forward for known issues with the church.