Large grants

We will consider applications from listed and unlisted Christian places of worship, of any denomination, across the UK. 

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?
• If the annual income in the accounts is over £100,000 is the building registered with the Charity Commission, or can you evidence that registration is in process?
• Was your place of worship built as a place of worship originally and is it more than 30 years old? And are the works proposed either directly to the building or attached to it?
• Is the building open to the public for a minimum of 100 days a year beyond worship use, or will it be following project completion?
• Is your total project cost estimated at over £80,000 (including VAT and fees) if the project is for repair work, or over £30,000 if it is for the installation of kitchen and accessible toilet facilities?
• Have you already raised at least 50% of the total project cost?
• Is the project being led by a qualified professional, with conservation accreditation from a recognised institution if it is a listed building? (please review the guidance note for details of recognised institutions)
• Have you got all necessary permissions approved and in place before applying? (e.g. full Faculty approval signed by the Chancellor) This includes those from your governing body and your local planning authority if planning permission and/or listed building consent is also required.
• Is the project yet to start (we don't accept applications for projects that have already started before applying)
• Do you have a safeguarding policy in place?

Before applying - please read the Guidance Note. The Guidance contains important information on the scoring criteria, advice on completing the online application form, a list of supporting documents that will be required from you, and details of the terms and conditions of any grant award made etc.

Our revised form has 2 stages. Stage 1 is a simple form to check that the parameters of your project are suitable for our programme and it is worthwhile your time submitting a longer application. This is managed by our officers. If you pass Stage 2 you will have a more complex form to complete.

Please be sure to note the deadline dates for Stage 1 and 2 above.

Guidance notes

Please read the Guidance Note in full before applying

To apply - you will need to follow the red box on the screen below. 

We have prepared a Word document for you to review the questions and prepare your answers in advance. Please note that applications will only be accepted using the online form.

Application questions (for reference only)

Final Stage 2 decisions on all Large grant applications are made by our Grants Committee, comprised of experts from the church and heritage sectors, which meets three times a year. Stage 2 decisions will not be made between meetings. Deadlines cannot be flexible due to staff resource.

Timings-wise, a Stage 1 application submitted in time for a March deadline, if successfully taken through to Stage 2, would have a final decision in July. A Stage 1 application submitted in time for a July deadline, if successfully taken through to Stage 2, would have a final decision in November. And a Stage 1 application submitted in time for a November deadline, if successfully taken through to Stage 2, would have a final decision in March.

Unfortunately the amount of funding available is limited. Therefore we sadly cannot guarantee your success, and can only offer grants towards a small proportion of the many deserving projects which we are asked to support each round. We strongly encourage you to apply for as many other grants as possible and to start local fundraising as early as you can.

This also means that we can not guarantee that a successful application will be offered a grant at the size requested. In 2022 the average grant size was in the region of £15,000. 

Very few of the largest grant requests will be successful at the level requested. Those seeking one of our largest grants must demonstrate an exceptional case for investment. The largest grant in recent years has been £40,000.