Great Expectations

Churches: See them. Save them. Support them.

On Tuesday 21 October 2025, we facilitated an all day event at the Victoria and Albert Museum about the future of historic buildings.

Hosted by the National Churches Trust in partnership with V&A Museum, The King’s Foundation and the Churches Conservation Trust, the event brought together heritage experts, policymakers, craftspeople, volunteers, faith leaders and community voices to explore the challenges and opportunities facing church buildings today. Across the day, contributors examined themes including the heritage crisis, the value of volunteers, the importance of traditional crafts, new models of funding, and the evolving role of churches in communities. These recordings are shared to help spark further conversation, inspire action, and support the ongoing work to safeguard the nation’s sacred spaces.

The event was generously sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance, proudly part of the Benefact Group.

We cannot close the doors now. The story cannot end here.

What if, instead, together we were able to write the next chapter? 

Historic churches, chapels and meeting houses are among our most treasured buildings and our most beautiful heritage. But for how much longer? If you care about church buildings and want to see them open and in use for many years to come, we invite you to join us as we campaign together on three asks that will help to keep churches open and in use.

Great Expectations – why now?

Churches are not passive relics of the past; they are active, living places, powered by volunteers and sustained by communities who depend on them.

But fragile finances, declining congregations, rising repair bills, and ever-expanding expectations of what they can and should provide mean that they face an uncertain future. How do we reconcile great expectations with limited resources? How can these remarkable buildings continue to serve their communities, inspire new generations, and remain part of our shared cultural fabric?

• There are 985 places of worship on Historic England’s 2025 Heritage at Risk Register, an increase of 16 of the total on the 2024 Register.
• An estimated 3,500 churches have closed in the last ten years across the UK
• The Church of Scotland is planning on closing up to 40 percent of its buildings
• In Wales/Cymru, 25 percent of historic chapels and churches have closed in the last decade
• The changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme this year have made funding repairs to listed places of worship up to 20 percent more expensive.

We want to bring you closer to the heart of how these buildings are cared for, so that we can get creative with the solutions needed to save them.  

A call to action: what needs to be done

See them: Government leadership. 

There must be recognition that the future of church buildings is a shared heritage challenge – local communities should not have to struggle by themselves.

We want to see clear policies and strong leadership by the UK Government about how these buildings can be kept open and in use as this will give confidence to local communities. 

Save them: Capital funding

Church buildings are crumbling on our watch – local people cannot shoulder the burden on spiralling repair and renovation costs any longer.

We want to see a dedicated capital funding scheme set up by the UK Government – of £50 million a year – to ensure that these buildings will not fall into disrepair and can continue to be enjoyed by all. 

Support them: Help for volunteers

Almost every local church is looked after by volunteers – but they are in increasingly short supply; churches are doing more than ever in their communities, but with less and less support. 

We want to see existing and new volunteers get the recognition, training, and resources they need from denominations, the local community and the Government, so that these buildings have a sustainable future in their local area.