Northern Ireland: New church repair grants

Thanks to the Department for Communities, the National Churches Trust has a time limited opportunity to award £200,000 of additional grants to help keep places of worship of all denominations in Northern Ireland open and in good repair. These grants can fund essential or urgent repairs at your church, chapel or meeting house.

You must apply through our existing Medium and Large Grants programmes before the below deadline dates. You will find links to both pages at the bottom of these page.

Status: Open for new applications

Deadline: 

  • Medium grants: Tuesday 19 January 2027
  • Large grants: Sunday 13 December 2026

Please note, these deadlines have been extended specifically for churches in Northern Ireland in order to give you more time to prepare your application. As a result, these deadlines are later than the deadlines for Medium and Large Grants for other nations in the UK.

If you are looking for our regular funding of project development or installation of facilities then our standard deadlines still apply.

You may be eligible for one of these grants if:

  • You meet the National Churches Trust criteria for a Medium or Large Grant.
  • The church building is based in Northern Ireland.
  • The building is listed.

Full eligibility criteria can be found on the relevant grant pages. For any queries about eligibility, please contact the Northern Ireland Support Officer, Kerry Rooney, who will be able to advise.

Medium Grants – up to £40,000 in Northern Ireland

Medium Grants can support urgent and essential maintenance and repair projects costing up to £80,000. The maximum Medium Grant available to eligible applicants in Northern Ireland will not exceed 50% of the project cost, with a maximum grant of £40,000. 

The deadline for medium-sized repair projects in Northern Ireland is Tuesday 19 January 2027.  

Large Grants

Large Grants can support major urgent and structural repair projects costing over £80,000. Our Large Grants operate through a two-stage application process:

Stage One

This is a simple form which allows our team to check that your project meets our eligibility criteria. We recommend that you submit as much information as you can at this stage, as it will help to determine if your project will be successful.  The deadline for Stage One is Sunday 13 December 2026.

Stage Two

Our team will contact all applicants to let them know if they  can progress to the second round. If you are successful, you will hear from us by Monday 21 December 2026 and will need to submit your Stage Two application by Sunday 17 January 2027 with final decisions notified in March. 

How to apply

Please go through to either the Medium or Large grant pages on our website and read through the eligibility criteria and guidance to find out which grant is right for you. Once you’re ready to apply, you will find a link on both of these pages, which will take you through to our grants portal, Benefactor. Please note that the Department for Communities can not fund the installation or upgrades of facilities or project development.

Medium Grants written on a green background

Medium Grants

Grants to support urgent repair and maintenance issues costing up to £80,000.

Large Grants written on a purple background

Large Grants

Grants to support major urgent and structural repair projects costing over £80,000.

Need help with your application?

If you have questions about applying for a grant, please contact the Northern Ireland Support Officer by emailing kerry.rooney@nationalchurchestrust.org.