DON'T JUST LOVE THEM. HELP SAVE THEM.

Plague, war, fire. Churches have stood through it all. But they won’t survive the next five years without you. Please donate today and help save churches at risk in the UK. Your donation can protect breath-taking art, architecture and stories that span centuries.

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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

Skillington, Lincolnshire

At St James’s church in Skillington, Lincolnshire, our Church of the Week, urgent drainage repairs are helping ensure it can stay open. The Grade I Listed 11th-century church is on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. The team there has a plan to restore this church and protect the heritage inside from further damage. The most pressing issue is that the drains are ineffective. Water is pooling around the walls of the church, causing damp and damage to the walls and internal plasterwork. A £10,000 grant from the National Churches Trust, alongside a £15,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant from the Wolfson Foundation, recommended by the National Churches Trust, will help pay for a new drainage system. And in more good news, the church has attracted more volunteers recently as locals get interested in the ongoing restoration. “We are incredibly grateful to the National Churches Trust and the Wolfson Foundation for these generous grants, which mark a significant milestone in the ongoing restoration of St James’ church,” shares Robert Ducksbury, St James’ Church Restoration Manager.  “For our small rural community, this support means far more than just repairs. St James’ is not only a place of worship, but a shared space for reflection, history, and connection.”

View Skillington St James

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 vacancy at the charity

Use your finance skills to help keep the UK’s churches open and in use. We’re looking for a full time Finance Manager. If you enjoy all aspects of financial operations and are keen to develop new skills – and would get satisfaction knowing your work supports the conservation of some of the nation’s most important buildings – we would love to hear from you. Click to find out more and 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 help churches

Act now before our historic churches are gone forever.

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