CHURCHES NEED YOUR HELP TO KEEP THE DOORS OPEN THIS SPRING

A gift today will support churches that thought all hope was lost. It will help fund not only urgent repairs but provide volunteers with wrap around support so that they can keep the doors open.

Please donate now

Keeping church buildings open and in use

Our impact in numbers

We want to keep the UK’s wonderful collection of church buildings well maintained, valued and in use. Working on the ground in all four nations, we support churches of all denominations. Our vision is to see open churches thriving at the heart of their communities.

  • Over 2000 churches, chapels, meeting houses and cathedrals

    we've helped keep open, in good repair and supporting local people since 2007.

  • £ 2.6 million awarded in 2025

    to churches and chapels for urgent repairs, new facilities and essential maintenance.

  • 12 churches and chapels

    removed from the Heritage at Risk Register in 2025 with the support of our grants.

Church of the Week

Church of the Week

Inverness, Highland

Inverness Free North Church, our Church of the Week, is being hit hard by the changing climate. A Gothic Revival building dating to 1893, it has been impacted in recent years by stronger winds and heavier rainfall. Emergency repairs were desperately needed after last summer's Storm Floris, which brought down Free North Church’s weathervane and caused over a £100,000 worth of damage to this much-loved community building. Just six months later, the team at the church have accomplished an impressive feat, raising the majority of funds needed for the repairs, including applying for and being awarded a £36,000 grant from the National Churches Trust. This important repair work will not only improve the look of the building but also enable the church to continue the many community groups it runs there. This includes a warm space during the winter and weekly groups supporting recovery from addictions. “A grant from the National Churches Trust helps us to conserve an important part of our city heritage, and frees us to looking after people, and to share hope and compassion with the people of Inverness,” says the minister at the Free North, Rev Angus Macrae.

View Inverness Free North Church

Join us and play your part in safeguarding the UK's amazing heritage

A beautiful Grade I Listed church with a tower on the left hand side and a lovely porch
Clive Haynes

Speak up: churches now need to pay VAT on repairs

Local people now have to raise money not just to repair roofs and towers but to pay a 20% tax to the Government. Museums and galleries offering free admission don’t have to pay VAT on repairs, but in listed churches do. We call on the Government to end this unfairness and not to expect local volunteers to pay these extra taxes.

A photograph of people walking up to a Welsh chapel
Ioan Said

Join us: new vacancies at the charity

We're looking for two new Trustees (deadline this Thursday), as well as a new Finance Manager, to help us keep churches open and thriving at the heart of their communities. Please click through to find out more about what we're looking for, the closing dates and how to apply.

An oak timber panelled early English church photographed on a sunny day
Ralf Tenbrink

Read more: 77 churches saved for the future

Explore our gallery to find out more about the projects happening at these unique places of worship and hear from the churches directly about the impact of the grant and what it will achieve. Enjoy and be encouraged by these brilliant stories from churches across the UK that are being kept open and in use.

Please donate to bring hope to churches this Spring

The time to act is now. We cannot let churches crumble on our watch. Together, we can make a difference.