Evaluation of Treasure Ireland
Read the summary evaluation report of the Treasure Ireland project, including more about the grants awarded, successes of the project, the challenges moving forward and key learnings.
Treasure Ireland: improving the maintenance and sustainability of places of worship in Northern Ireland
Success of Treasure Ireland: what did it achieve
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£422, 679 in grants
were awarded to 80 places of worship, helping to keep the buildings open and in good repair.
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Over 100 churches
have been reached by the Support Officer with training, support and advice.
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10 tourism experiences
have been developed .
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Around 6 in 10 survey respondents reported improvements
to online information about opening hours and heritage value because of their involvement with the Treasure Ireland project. Nearly half had now provided information within the building for visitors, while fewer had introduced donation facilities, particularly contactless giving.
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38 training sessions
were delivered covering a wide range of themes from maintenance to tourism and heritage themes. An average of 30 people attended each session who were highly satisfied with the training and rating it on average as 4/5.
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12 churches won awards
for tourism, maintenance and volunteering at the National Church Awards. St Macartan (The Forth Chapel) outside Augher, County Tyrone, took home the top prize – Church of the Year – in 2022.
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116 churches
in Northern Ireland are now listed on our ExploreChurches map, which promotes them as wonderful places to visit.
Read more
National Churches Survey: Northern Ireland
The National Churches Survey: Northern Ireland is the largest recent survey on church buildings and provides a detailed analysis of the state of these buildings in Northern Ireland today, as well as the challenges they face and the role they are playing in society. Thank you to Northern Ireland’s Historic Environment Division within the Department for Communities, which made this report possible.
Hear from the churches the impact of the project
Click on the middle photo below to open up the gallery and read about some of the ways Treasure Ireland has supported places of Worship across Northern Ireland to stay open and in use.
More of what the Treasure Ireland project enabled
Treasure Ireland maintenance videos
As part of the Treasure Ireland project, four high-quality videos were created to help volunteers to better manage their building and deal with a range of problems so they can avoid the need for expensive repairs. The videos were on roofs, drainage, wall inspections and windows, doors and metalwork.
Six new heritage trails
As well as 116 churches in Northern Ireland being added to the ‘Explore a Church’ section of the National Churches Trust’s website, encouraging people to visit them, six new trails were created. These routes have enabled more people to find out about the wonderful heritage Northern Ireland has to offer and gives them practical advice for planning their visits. An increase in visitors is beneficial to churches as it can provide an opportunity for donations and engagement.
