grants available for repairs to churches

Photo by Sara Korf

In these hard pressed times, and with an unfortunate rise in metal theft, churches in any part of the UK may be interested in grant funding that is available for repairs to their buildings. At the foot of this article, I am also reminding readers of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which aims to reduce the impact of VAT on church repairs.

National Churches Trust Opens its Grants Programmes (UK)

The National Churches Trust, which supports projects at a wide range of places of Christian worship, has announced that it is offering the opportunity to apply for a limited number of grants towards urgent structural repair projects. In 2012 the Trust will concentrate on projects involving urgent repairs to roof and rainwater goods with estimated costs of at least £50,000 (including VAT and fees). In addition, the Trust hopes to be able to provide grants towards installing facilities such as toilets and catering facilities to benefit places of worship and local communities.

Applications can be submitted up to the 1st September 2012.

For more information, visit http://nationalchurchestrust.org/supporting-you/grants/overview.php

Repair Grants

This funding, which is ongoing, comes from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which will be controversial for some. However, for others, it will be seen as acceptable to turn ‘tainted’ funds to Godly use. The programme is designed to help conserve and sustain heritage at risk, through urgent repairs to places of worship. Regardless of where in the UK the church is situated, the following key criteria apply:

• The place of worship must be listed
• The project must be for urgent, high-level repair works

In Northern Ireland and Wales deadlines are either  31 March or 30 September each year. Deadlines for Scotland are 28 February and 31 August. In England deadlines are normally the end of June for Grade I places of worship, and the end of September for Grade II places of worship.

For more information, click here.

Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

This Scheme similarly covers repairs (including non-urgent repairs) to listed places of worship. The original idea of the Scheme was to effectively refund all the VAT cost of qualifying repair work. However, the Scheme Rules have changed a number of times over recent years with changes both to the types of work that qualify and the level of grant which is likely, now, to cover some but not all the VAT involved. To find out more, visit http://www.lpwscheme.org.uk/