Hope not lost as 47 churches receive vital funding

Many churches find themselves in a perilous state, with leaking roofs, crumbling towers and their volunteers struggling to pay for the work needed to keep the doors open. But hope has not been lost. Thanks to you, another 47 churches have been saved for the future.  

Alongside our free year-round training to support church volunteers, our grants are enabling churches, chapels, meeting houses and cathedrals in every part of country to stay open and in use.  

Investing in Welsh heritage

Investing in chapels and churches that played a vital role in making sure the Welsh language did not die out is crucial to Wales’ national story and for people to understand its long history. It is also an important way of helping to ensure the continuation and safeguarding of Welsh language and identity.  

The Welsh language itself is having a resurgence, with investment from the Welsh Government and media channels and a rise in people learning it – but many of the buildings that helped save the language are deteriorating. It is thought that around 25 percent of chapels and churches have closed in the last decade in Wales/Cymru, in part due to their repair needs.

These buildings – nationally important – are cared for by their local congregations, with all repairs needed to be fundraised for and project managed by them. Last year, the UK Government scrapped its funding for places of worship in the nations by cancelling the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which enabled VAT to be reclaimed for repairs at listed places of worship, and replacing it with an England-only capital fund for repairs. This added a 20% bill to every listed place of worship needing repair in Wales.  

Grants are now even more vital to help secure the future of Welsh places of worship. 

Thank you for helping churches

It is thanks to the generosity of our Friends and donors, those who leave a legacy and our partner organisations that we can help so many different churches not just to survive, but to thrive. By awarding funding on behalf of other Trusts and Foundations, it means that volunteers are not overburdened by multiple application forms but can be considered for multiple grants.  

“Churches have a crucial role as places of worship – but they also serve as integral parts of our communities, and not least as custodians of heritage,” shares Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, who we partner with to award Wolfson Fabric Repair Grants of up to £15,000 to listed churches that need urgent repairs.    

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with the National Churches Trust to help safeguard these important, beautiful buildings for future generations." 

We will soon be updating this page with a map, so you can see all of the grants that have been awarded this time. Please bear with us as we do this. Thank you.