St Patrick church Armoy

Get Support: Northern Ireland

We want to support you to keep your church, chapel or meeting house open, well maintained and in use. On this page you’ll find links to resources and training to help you do this. 

Get in touch

Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have a dedicated support officer, based in Northern Ireland, who is on hand to help you with advice and training. You can get in touch by emailing nina.mcneary@nationalchurchestrust.org or calling 07922 425089.

St Mark Portadown
P Flannagan

How Treasure Ireland can help you

Treasure Ireland has been set up to help places of worship from all denominations in Northern Ireland to stay open and in good repair. Whether you need help applying for a grant, advice on how to protect the heritage of your church and to attract visitors, or support for the ongoing maintenance of your building, we are here to help.

How we can help you

MonmouthshireABERGAVENNYStMary(explorechurches.org)6

Find out more about our grants

Whether you are looking to repair your roof, install a kitchen or accessible toilets, clear asbestos or simply need help undertaking regular essential maintenance to your building, we offer a range of grants to suit the size and needs of your project. We also have a special Treasure Ireland grant – created especially to help places of worship in Northern Ireland.

SUPPORTNortonJuxtaTwycrossSHolyTrinity(paulinebeePERMISSIONBYEMAIL)1
PaulineBee

Maintenance advice

From how to develop and manage a church building project, to keeping your church in good condition by regular maintenance, you can find out about the key things you need to do to look after your church building.

LincolnshireTATTERSHALLHolyTrinity(explorechurches.org)10
ExploreChurches

Tourism support

Many churches, chapels and meeting houses were built to be at the heart of their communities; to be busy and used by all. There are many ways to ensure that this is still the case. Discover how to create the perfect welcome, tell your story and more.

What's on?

We run regular events throughout the year, to help your place of worship.

Online: Creating the Perfect Welcome

Join us from 2-3pm on Tuesday 18 February. Are you open for visitors? Are you looking for new ways to create a warm welcome, or ways to tell your stories or interpret your heritage? This is the ideal free session for anyone involved in churches and chapels wanting to learn more about tourism or where to start.

Online: Fundraising Fundamentals with Claire Walker and Ben Sims

This free session takes place from 2-3pm on Tuesday 18 March. Whether you are right at the start of your journey, or looking to top up your campaign total, we've got some great advice. Claire has been Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust since 2011 and has a wide range of fundraising experience in the charity sector. Ben is our Head of Fundraising, leading our campaigns.

Online: How to Read Your Church

Join us online from 2-3pm on Tuesday 15 April. All churches, chapels and meeting houses have gone through stages of building and development over time. Discover how to spot these architectural details, and step back in time with us to see how a typical parish church might have looked at various points in its life at this free event.

How we're helping places of worship

CountyDownDOWNPATRICKDownCathedral(tourismnorthernireland©NITB)14
©TourismNorthernIreland

Treasure Ireland

The Treasure Ireland project is an initiative between the National Churches Trust, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Pilgrim Trust and Department for Communities’ Historic Environment Division and was set up in 2020 to offer specialist support to churches of all denominations in Northern Ireland.

A big thank you to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Pilgrim Trust and the Historic Environment Division at the Department for Communities who have helped to make Treasure Ireland possible.

Logos of Treasure Ireland funders

Sign up to our Treasure Ireland email

Our Treasure Ireland quarterly newsletter is the perfect resource for those who work or volunteer in churches, chapels or meetings houses in Northern Ireland. In it, you will find out about the latest information about grants, training and events, as well as helpful advice to help you keep your church open and in use.

I want to sign up