Medium Grant Guidance for project development

How to apply: tips, guidance and application form for a Medium Grant for project development from the National Churches Trust

On this page you will find everything you need to know to help you complete your application for a Medium Grant for project development from the National Churches Trust. Simply click on the headings below to jump down to the section you need.

View and download the guidance as a PDF document that you can print

 

About the grant

We can fund development-stage work at an existing church building, such as investigative studies, or work which helps to develop a more sustainable project and/or prepare projects to a point where you can approach major grant funders, including the National Churches Trust. This point is RIBA Stage 1, which you can find out more about here, is ‘preparation and briefing strategies’.  

This could be researching issues through an in-depth structural report or identifying different possibilities to proposed alterations or repairs through carrying out feasibility or option studies.  

Grants could be used to cover the cost of professional support to conduct condition surveys (not Quinquennial Inspection Reports) or draft the key documents required by funders such as activity plans, or the cost of employing a Project Manager to oversee professionals and prepare funding applications.  

Examples of specific items up to the equivalent of RIBA Planning Stage 1 (preparation and brief), include:  

  • Architectural plans and costings (not beyond RIBA Planning Stage 1)  
  • Condition surveys  
  • Governance advice and training  
  • Business planning  
  • Conservation statements  
  • Public engagement or activities advice  
If your application includes staff time

The person should not be a member of the governing body of the place of worship. For external appointments, the organisation should advertise on the open market, interview at least two candidates and operate an equal opportunities policy. A brief outlining the tasks and responsibilities of the Project Manager should be submitted with the application. It should be clear and have a distinct division of responsibilities between the Project Manager, the clergy/churchwarden and the wider professional team.  

If your application includes work to be carried out by an architect or surveyor at this stage:
  • They must have conservation accreditation if the building is listed. There must be proof of tendering within the last five years.

We can award grants of up to £10,000 to your church, chapel or meeting house.  

 

What this grant is unable to fund

We will not fund work that has already started or projects that are already in a development stage funded by a major grant funder, or work that exceeds RIBA Planning Stage 1. If you’re unsure of what ‘RIBA Planning Stage 1’ refers to, you can find out more information on what this means here. It is the very early stages of a project, often prior to engaging an architect or professional. 

 

Application process

For our Medium Grants, it is a one-stage process. You will need to fill out an application form on Benefactor, the portal we use to manage and process all grant applications to the National Churches Trust. 

We may request further information via the messaging service inside your application portal. Please check the portal regularly, although you should receive an email alert if you are sent a message.  

Your application will be assessed by officers against our priorities, scoring criteria and impacts, and against other applicants in the round, then will be moderated by the Grants Manager and Director of Church Engagement

Our independent Grants Committee reviews the final recommendations and confirms the decisions on all of the grants awarded by the National Churches Trust. We will usually contact you by email or post within two weeks of a Grants Committee meeting with news of your application.  

If you are successful, you will need to return a signed acceptance form within 60 days. The latest conditions of the grant will be laid out in the offer documents. These are likely to include: 

  • Submit details about your church so that we can publish it on the ‘Find a Church’ area of our website. This helps us to promote your church to our Friends and donors as a place they can visit.
  • Your project must be led by a qualified professional with conservation accreditation if the building is listed and retained throughout the course of the project – if this changes between application and award we reserve the right to amend or withdraw our offer;
  • Your church must be open for at least 100 days beyond worship, within a year of completion;
  • You need to publicly acknowledge the National Churches Trust grant; this could include in print or online, as well as helping in any publicity we do about the impact of our grants;
  • Return feedback as requested;
  • Complete the work and claim the grant within two years of the decision date;
  • If the place of worship is closed for worship within ten years of receiving payment of a grant award, report this to the National Churches Trust without delay. We may request full or partial repayment of the grant;
  • If the project changes, and/or the cost of the work reduces your grant amount could be revised accordingly, and in most cases would never exceed 50% of the project costs 

 

Eligibility criteria: are you eligible for a Medium Grant? 

To establish eligibility for the programme, you will be asked a series of questions at the start of any new application to us, reflecting the statements below. Please answer these honestly. Submitting an application that does not meet one of the criteria is likely to result in a rejected application. Applicants must meet all the criteria to be considered for a grant. Please note, that your congregation can be of any Christian denomination and the building can be listed or unlisted.

  • The building must be a Christian place of worship located within England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands
  • The building must originally have been constructed as a place of worship and must be more than 30 years old.  
  • We do not fund works to converted buildings, church halls, or privately-owned churches – such as chapels within hospitals, hospices, schools, prisons and similar institutions.  
  • The proposed works must be to the main church building or an extension of it.  
  • Applicants must be the owners or have the right to carry out the work. If the church is part of a small or independent denomination, it must be a registered charity. Any place of worship whose annual income exceeds £100,000 must be registered with the Charity Commission, Charity Commission for Northern Ireland or Scottish Charity Regulator.
  • Buildings must be open for regular public worship for a minimum of six services per year. Buildings that have been closed to the public must have plans to reopen for regular worship and public access and a congregation waiting to use the building on completion of the works.
  • Buildings must be open to the public for at least 100 days per year in addition to worship times, or within a year of project completion. Tell us if you will need to have special arrangements in order to meet this requirement, such as keyholder details on display. Priority will be given to those with regular opening hours.
  • Repair projects should be led, overseen and supervised by a suitably qualified professional, usually a professionally qualified architect (listed on the Register of Architects) or a chartered building surveyor (MRICS or FRICS). Where the building is listed, the professional should have conservation accreditation. Professionals should usually hold conservation accreditation from one of the following:  
  • Depending on the nature of the work, the following may also be considered:
  • Work must not have started before the online application is submitted but must be achievable within two years of the grant decision being made.
  • You must have secured at least 50% of the funding for the project you are applying to us for before you submit your application to us (please contact us if you need fundraising advice).  
  • Repair projects must have all necessary permissions in place before you apply to us. This could include permits from your governing body i.e. Faculty signed off by the Chancellor, List B Archdeacon’s consent (most common consent for maintenance applications at Anglican churches), Property Consent, Listed Building Advisory Committee authorisation or a Trustee minute. If consent is not required, we would still like to see a Parochial Church Council (PCC) minute noting the work and the Committee’s approval.  
  • Two quotes must be in place.  
  • Applications must be received before the deadline and include all documentation requested. Any documentation not supplied online must be received within five working days or we reserve the right to reject the application.   

 

Prioritisation, scoring and impact: how will your application be assessed and scored?  

We want to see churches open and in regular use, available to all and thriving at the heart of their communities for many years to come.  

In this section, we will share with you what we are looking for and some tips on what you should include in your application to strengthen your case for funding.

All applications are judged on the following criteria: 

  • Heritage: the architectural significance of the building.  

This does not mean your building has to be listed, but you do need to be able to share in your application details about the history of the building (dates and architect if known), any significant stories, or fixtures or fittings inside or outside of your church building that are of local or national importance. This could be anything from a monument or piece of artwork itself or something that showcases an important designer, architect or style. Its importance within the local streetscene or local landscape.

  • Need: this includes the problem that needs addressing and the urgency of the project – why now?  

This could be demonstrated by sharing details about the condition of the building, the need for the grant funding from the National Churches Trust; financial need as demonstrated by your accounts and funding shortfall, and needs or issues and deprivation levels for the area where your building is located.

  • Case for investment: what is the case for funding from the National Churches Trust right now, in this round?  

Things you could include here is whether the project is ready to start eg if there is a pending funding deadline or an existing grant about to expire. You should also include the potential for the community to raise funds based on the size of the project, and local population, and other funding needs in the area. If your building is identified as being at risk, for example on a Heritage at Risk Register, please mention this and if this will see the building removed from the register. You could also mention partnerships or other significant projects or developments in the area, which will impact this project. Whether you have new users or uses lined up to commence once the work is complete. Including the opening times at your church and how your building is sustainable, open and welcoming eg through the groups it hosts and runs could strengthen your application.

  • Risk management & project planning:  

For project development applications we are expecting to see an indication of realistic time frames for your project to be delivered, the financial condition of the church, and multiple quotes or tendering process for any work that will be delivered. We will check that it is well costed and includes contingency and inflation. 

  • Heritage & community impact: to ensure our funding is focused to achieve the greatest impact, applicants should demonstrate how their project will address the following criteria, which are two vital elements of the National Churches Trust’s strategy for helping church buildings:
    • Church buildings are well maintained, adaptable and in good repair:
      • This could include avoiding costly repairs, being removed from a Heritage at Risk Register, watertight for another 100 years, improved maintenance access or an improved maintenance plan.
    • Church buildings are sustainable, open and welcoming:
      • You should focus on how the development work will support a project that will itself ensure a more sustainable, open and welcoming church.
Prioritisation

Please note, as a charity with charitable objectives, we will prioritise the following in our funding decisions:

  • Work to architecturally and historically significant buildings;  
  • Urgent/essential maintenance and repair projects as evidenced in a recent Quinquennial Inspection Report, building survey or condition report;  
  • Places of worship that can demonstrate a suitable maintenance system is in place, including maintenance plan, to protect your building and our investment;  
  • Places of worship with regular opening hours;  
  • Places of worship that can demonstrate strong community engagement and sound plans for economic viability are important.

Although not listed as distinct priorities, it is important to us to continue to attract applications from a range of denominations and to ensure our funding has geographic spread. This can play into our grant making decisions. 

 

Additional funding opportunities

We do not currently have any partner funding available to supplement our National Churches Trust funds towards project development. For details of other funders please see our major grant funders website page. 

 

Get ready to apply: view and download the questions 

We have created a PDF of the application questions as they appear on Benefactor, our grant application portal. You can view and print these off to help you work out what information you need to have to hand when filling out the grant application. The final application will only be accepted as submitted via the portal. 

View and download the questions

Read through our guide on how to use Benefactor

Thank you for reading through the guidance document for applying to a Medium Grant for project development from the National Churches Trust. We wish you every success in your application and thank you for all that you are doing to keep your church in good repair, open, and in use.

If you have not found what you’re looking for on this page, please get in touch with our team by emailing grants@nationalchurchestrust.org and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

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