Grants available to help keep churches in good repair during Covid-19 lockdown

Damaged wall at Lancaster Priory

Churches are invited to apply for funding for essential maintenance needed during the coronavirus lockdown from the National Churches Trust.

Catherine Townsend, Head of Church Support for the National Churches Trust said: "Parishes and local communities will want to make sure that church buildings remain safe and in good repair so that they can be re-opened as soon as possible once lockdown restrictions have been eased. But due to the lockdown, routine maintenance tasks may have been halted and small works may be necessary to ensure church buildings can re-open safely. The National Churches Trust funds church buildings of any Christian denomination and our grants can get the UK's churches back into shape for the future."

Grants available from the National Churches Trust include:

Foundation Grants - These provide funding ranging from £500 to £5,000 for urgent and essential maintenance works - applications can be made at any time with decisions normally made within a month.

Preventative Maintenance Micro Grants - These provide funding of up to £500 towards work including rainwater goods maintenance and small masonry repairs when booked via the National Churches Trust's MaintenanceBooker service. Applications can be made at any time with decisions normally made within a month.

Gateway Grants - These can provide funding of £3,000 up to £10,000 for maintenance and small repair projects - the next deadline is 14 May with grants awarded in July 2020.

In 2019, the Trust distributed £1.2 million to help churches and chapels tackle urgent repairs, maintenance work and install modern facilities such as kitchens and toilets.

In 2020, the Trust plans to distribute £1.4 million in grants. Additionally, this year the Trust will administer the distribution of £200,000 of funding through the Wolfson Fabric Repair Grants.

Full details of grants can be found at: www.nationalchurchestrust.org/grants

Grants are available to any Christian place of worship in the UK that is open for regular worship. From repairing a roof to helping to install an accessible toilet - and many other projects - our grants help keep churches open for worship and community activities and allow them to continue to serve people and communities in all sorts of ways.

LINK

www.nationalchurchestrust.org