Grants and funding

Our buildings can be costly to maintain and adapt, but there are a variety of sources of funding available for both repairs and alterations.

Grants for church buildings available through the Diocese of Exeter

All ‘Quick wins’ and minor repairs & improvement grants have been allocated. A full update is available to download here.

Finding grants

Cornerstone is a platform that helps parishes promote a culture of generous giving, and provides a comprehensive grants database. You can sign up for access via the Mission Resources fundraising page here. A range of recorded webinars on fundraising and grant applications, plus guidance on writing a fundraising strategy, is available on the same page.

There is also lots of useful information and a national funding/grants list on the Parish Resources website.

The main grant funders for church buildings are:

The main local funder is Devon Historic Churches Trust.

Grants for conservation of historic church interiors and churchyard structures

Grants are available for the conservation of historic church interiors and churchyard structures, via the Church of England. This includes conservation of bells and bell frames, books, church plate, individually listed churchyard tombs/walls/railings/gates, clocks, metalwork, monuments, organs, paintings, stained glass, textiles and woodwork. In order to claim a grant, you must first have a conservation report carried out by an accredited conservator – funding is also available for this.

Full details of these grants, and how to apply, is available online here.

A searchable list of accredited conservators is available on the Institute of Conservation website.

Applying for grants

The following webinars were recorded as part of the Growing the Rural Church project.

	In this recorded webinar, the team from Church Grants take you through the process of project planning, with particular focus on obtaining funding from external sources (recorded 4 March 2021).
	In this recorded webinar, the team from Church Grants take you through writing a case for support for your church project (recorded 20 April 2021).
	In this recorded webinar, two fundraising experts take you through how to write a first class grant application (recorded 11 October 2021). The presenters are Dr Clare Jefferies MCIOF, a fundraising consultant, and Carol Ward MCIOF, Parish Fundraising Manager for the Diocese of London.

Recorded webinars from Church Grants and Mission Resources are available here.

Remember that most grant funders will expect to see evidence that permission for the works is in place before they release funds.

VAT

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS) gives grants covering the VAT on repairs of over £1,000 to listed buildings used as places of worship. The scheme has been extended for 2025/6, with a cap limiting the total amount of any individual place of worship can claim to £25,000 in the year. More information is available here.

The Diocesan Building Fund

The purpose of the Building Fund is to support Mission Communities and parishes in support of the Moving on in Growth agenda by providing funds to enable:

1. The review and rationalisation of a Mission Community’s building stock*

2. The re-ordering of church buildings (both consecrated and non-consecrated) to better provide for church and/or community use

3. The repair and improvement of church buildings including heating systems

Full details of eligible works and criteria can be found here: Assets Group Diocesan Building Fund 2019

and the application form for a loan under this Fund can be found here.

*If you are interested in carrying out a feasibility study with regard to priority 1 above (the review and rationalisation of your Mission Community’s building stock), please contact either Nigel Pratt (01392 294944) for further details and an application form.

Back to ‘Your church building and churchyard‘.