Friends Award voting form
Choose a church to receive a special grant of £10,000
As part of your Friends membership, you get to decide which church you would like to receive an additional grant of £10,000.
To vote you must be a Friend of the National Churches Trust, there's still time to join.
There are five shortlisted churches this year. Scroll down the page to read about each, and how they would use the additional grant.
You will find the voting form at the bottom of this page. In order to validate your vote we ask for your name, email and postcode. Thank you.
The deadline for voting is 9pm on Monday 1 September
St Mary, Conwy, North Wales
A medieval church at the centre of the beautiful walled town of Conwy, at the mouth of the Conwy river.
Hear from Conwy St Mary:
“St Mary’s Church with its tower stands at the heart of Conwy. It predates the surrounding castle and walls. The tower is in a poor state of repair and needs sensitive conservation. The castle is set within a UNESCO heritage site attracting many visitors. In turn so does the church, with hundreds entering each week. We aim for the tower to still be here long after the castle disappears.
The tower stands on a pedestrian crossroads: a place of decisions, whether to carry on by, take the shortcut or to stop and explore through the tower doorway. We imagine it as a 3-dimensional crossroads, as the tower adds that vertical [link] to heaven. Beauty attracts, yet the additional welcome of our volunteers in the church work together to invite people to stop and consider not only the story of the tower, but the story of faith to which it points.”
St Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh
An important Catholic church, with stained glass by Pugin and the tombs of the family of Sir Walter Scott.
Hear from Edinburgh St Margaret’s Chapel:
“St Margaret’s Chapel is a hidden gem in the heart of Edinburgh. The chapel and former convent, designed by James Gillespie Graham, opened in 1835 with the founding of the first Catholic religious house in Scotland since the Reformation. The chapel has much of historic interest, including stained glass windows by Pugin depicting Malcolm III, husband of St Margaret, and their sons, also kings of Scotland. Several members of Sir Walter Scott’s family are buried in the crypt.
The building urgently needs repair to ensure important historical and architectural features are not lost or further damaged. [The] stone fall is a health and safety issue and is delaying plans to make the chapel more accessible and open more frequently to the public.”
Holy Name Church, Manchester
A magnificent church by acclaimed architects Joseph Hansom and Adrian Gilbert Scott. The church is of vast Cathedral proportions, in the 14th century French Gothic style.
Hear from Manchester Holy Name:
“Restoring the tower at this beautiful Grade I listed church in Manchester is the final phase of decades of restoration work. The Twentieth Century Society notes that this church is ‘amongst the most significant buildings with national importance’ and continues to function with tens of thousands of worshippers and visitors and provides outreach to the elderly, school groups and [people who are] disabled.”
St Grada & Holy Cross, Grade, Cornwall
An iconic church seen for miles around on the isolated plateau of the Lizard peninsula at the end of England.
Hear from Grade St Grada & Holy Cross:
“Another winter of big storms in Cornwall left a hole the size of a large skylight in our exposed roof and damaged the inside plaster, leaving debris in the church. We have repaired the hole as [it was] an emergency, but the inside plaster remains doubtful, so part of the church is unusable. We are mightily concerned about our VAT deficit of £56,000 and if we can’t start until March 2026, it is a huge problem to lose the £25,000 from Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
On a brighter note our new visitor counter is installed and in the first 3 days, 126 people visited. Everybody is relieved that the hole is no longer visible from the outside. Our local community is very supportive, and we would like to off er more for them to enjoy, as well as our growing number of visitors attracted by the church’s splendid isolation and tranquility.”
Hillhall Presbyterian Church, Lisburn, Northern Ireland
An Arts and Crafts church with a fascinating role in Presbyterian history.
Hear from Lisburn Hillhall Presbyterian Church:
“Not only is Hillhall Church [a] historic building of significant architectural interest, it is an important part of the local community, hosting weekly worship and various organisations covering all ages, plus other special events throughout the year. The urgent need to re-render the building came very soon after a major £240k+ heating project that is still being paid off . However, we have had huge support both from our members and the wider community and the grants received to date have provided a vital much needed boost.
We are almost in a position to fully fund this project, to both protect the building and provide a community hub for generations to come, but we do still have a shortfall. With work due to start in the next couple of months it would be amazing to secure a further grant to help get us over the finish line.”
Your vote (choose one church):
Please help us reach more churches with support
Our Friends Award, as well as all of our hundred grants a year, are only possibly thanks to our generous Friends and donors. Whether it's repairs to a roof, new guttering, or even a kitchen or toilet, we rely on the support of individuals. Please donate today and help keep our rich heritage of church buildings protected for years to come.
AlexRamsey