Volunteer Mentoring Pilot Scheme

Across the country, dedicated volunteers are working hard to care for churches, chapels, and meeting houses. But even the most committed teams sometimes need advice, whether it’s securing funding for repairs, planning a project, or engaging the local community. That’s where you come in.

If you’ve faced similar challenges and found ways through, your experience could be the missing piece that helps others move forward. By becoming a Volunteer Mentor, you can share your story, offer guidance, and help keep our places of worship open and in use. 

What is the National Churches Trust's mentoring scheme and how can I take part?

The Volunteer Mentoring Scheme is being piloted by the National Churches Trust's Cherish project, in order to trial new ways of supporting churches, chapels and meeting houses to stay open and in good repair. 

We are looking for mentors – and mentees – in Wales/Cymru, Scotland and North West England (Cumbria, Lancashire and Greater Manchester) only to take part. The pilot will run until November 2026.

Scroll down the page to sign up, or read on to find out more information about the scheme.

Benefits of the scheme: why get involved?

For mentors 

• It is rewarding: you get to share your skills and experience to make a real difference
• It is flexible: you can choose how you offer support, whether that's online, in person or a mix of both. The National Churches Trust will reimburse travel costs to reduce any financial burden
• It will upskill you: you will receive training and help from our Support Officers to help you share your story effectively

For mentees 

• It can help share the burden: you will have a listening ear and someone who you can share openly with
• It is targeted: the support offered is bespoke to the challenges that your church, chapel or meeting house is facing
• It is solutions-focused: by connecting with someone who has gone through and overcome similar struggles, you will get ideas, advice and helpful tips to help you navigate the way forward

How does the Pilot Scheme work?

The Volunteer Mentoring Pilot Scheme helps connect people who have a story to share with those in need of support. Here's how a mentor-mentee relationship works and what to expect:

1. Volunteer Mentors put themselves forward and mentees request support

We collect stories of successful projects from people who have overcome challenges or pioneered creative solutions for their place of worship. This can be anything from carrying out repair and renovation projects, creating a sustainable income for your church or recruiting and maintaining volunteers. We review each submission through our expression of interest form, so they're ready to be matched.

At the same time, we are inviting people who are facing a problem with their church building. Whether it's related to the roof, the gutters or having the right people or funding to make things happen, we want to make sure people know they're not alone, help is at hand. Mentees can submit their requests for support through our short online form.

2. Mentors and mentees are matched

Our team carefully finds the right support, and our Volunteer Mentors are put in touch with a mentee. We'll aim to match people in the same area, and if you're a Welsh speaker we'll do our best to match you with someone else who speaks Welsh too.

3. First conversation

We encourage the first meeting to be online via a video call, or over the phone. That way, the volunteer mentor and mentee can have an initial conversation to share ideas and begin to help find a solution. Sometimes, one phone call is all it takes to get moving in the right direction. 

4. Meet in-person

After reflecting on the initial conversation, it might be helpful to meet on-site at the church or chapel, in order to get a first-hand look at the challenges and opportunities the building presents. We are able to reimburse travel costs for our volunteer mentors.

5. Wrap-up conversation

This is most likely to happen over the phone or via video call. Once obstacles and challenges are overcome, our mentees get to discuss their successes with the volunteer mentors. It is a time of reflection and celebration. 

6. Feedback and next steps

The National Churches Trust want to know how this Pilot Scheme is making a difference and how we can make it work better in the future, so we'll ask for some feedback from both volunteer mentors and mentees. 

Plus, once mentees have navigated through one project, they may be ready to share their own story and become the next volunteer mentors, helping others to keep even more places of worship open and in use.