Wednesday 9 May 2018

THE NATIONAL CHURCHES TRUST COMMUNITY GRANTS

The National Churches Trust Community Grants programme offers grants for facilities that will lead to an increased community use of places of worship. This includes capital works such as additions and extensions, and the introduction of facilities, such as accessible toilets and catering facilities.

To be eligible, the building must:
o Be a Christian place of worship (but not a Cathedral) in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands;
o Be owned by the applicant or the applicant must have the right to carry out the work; and
o Have been originally built as a place of worship and is open for regular public worship.
The principle denomination that worships in the building must be a member of (or belong to an umbrella body that is a member of) Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
The project must be led by a qualified professional - ideally an architect or chartered building surveyor.
Projects must be able to demonstrate local consultation, evidence the need for the project and its benefit to the local community.
Grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 are available for projects that have an estimated cost of at least £25,000 including VAT and fees.
Applicants must have raised at least 50% of the total project cost.
The Trust will consider both listed and unlisted churches, chapels and meeting houses of any age, as long as they are open for public worship.
In the case of buildings that have been closed to the public, there must be plans to reopen the building for public worship and a congregation waiting to use the building.
Congregations can be of any denomination that is a member or associated member of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Unitarian buildings may also be considered. Priority will be given to Baptist and Presbyterian/Church of Scotland denominations.
All permissions must be in place at the time that projects apply and work must be able to start within two years of the application.
Funding is not available for:
o Buildings that have been converted into places of worship, such as shops, offices or houses;
o Chapels within hospitals, hospices, schools or prisons or other such institutions;
o Retrospective costs projects that have started before the application was submitted;
o Construction of new places of worship;
o Works to cathedral buildings;
o Works to buildings that were not originally constructed as a place of worship;
o Works to an existing building that is separate from the existing place of worship (even if it is on the same site, a church hall, or owned by the church);
o Construction of new structures separate from the place of worship (even if it is on the same site, a church hall, or owned by the church) – there may be exceptions for highly listed buildings;
o Stained glass restoration (consideration may be given to urgent repairs to window structure);
o Heating, lighting or electrical work;
o General reordering;
o Solar panels;
o Clocks, organs, wall paintings, bells, monuments, fittings and fixtures;
o Works to boundary walls, paths, churchyards or car parks; or o Surveys.
The next deadline for applications is Monday 2 July 2018.
Successful applicants will be notified in November 2018.
Further information about the Community Grants programme and the Trust's other grant schemes, together with an application form, is available to complete online at the Trust's website.
Contact details for the National Churches Trust are:
The National Churches Trust
7 Tufton Street
London
SW1P 3QB
Tel: 020 7222 0605
Email:
 grants@nationalchurchestrust.org

(Source: GRIN)

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