CAPTION: There will be grant funds available to help make churches across the South West of England more accessible.
The Church of England’s Disability Project awarded £5 million in funding
The Church of England has recently announced it is awarding £5 million over the next three years to the Disability Project.
The Disability Project aims to remove barriers and encourage participation for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people in the life of the church.
The project will receive funding for a series of programmes between 2026 and 2028. This includes a number of leadership projects, as it encourages more disabled people into leadership roles within the church.
There will also be grant funds available to help make churches across the South and South West of England more accessible.
The Disabilities and Additional Needs Advisor for the Diocese of Exeter, the Rev’d Claire Reynolds, said, “This is wonderful news. Not only does is send a message that disabled people are to play a role in every area of church life, but it also will make some funding available for churches to make adjustments to the churches and worshipping spaces.”
This news follows the Church Times reporting last week that Growing Hope, a charity that provides free therapy for children and young people with additional needs, has been awarded £600,000 to help with it’s projects in churches across the UK.
Claire added “Across the Diocese of Exeter, there is much to celebrate in terms of disability inclusion. Celebrate Together and Devon Deaf Church have both been around for some time, and do fantastic work in encouraging people with disabilities into leadership.
“Adding to that, we are seeing new things emerging with a number of churches trying new styles of services and worshipping. Places like Exeter Cathedral also offer regular services with BSL interpretation.
“The Neurodivergent clergy hub also offers support for clergy and we recently had a training session with Clare McNamara, a neurodivergence leadership coach.
“If you’re a church that has done some thing new for disability inclusion recently – or wants to do something new and isn’t sure where to start – please do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you and promote what you are doing.”
Church For All
Claire said, “Disability inclusion can start very small and doesn’t need to cost anything at all.
“If you want to do something now that will make a change then consider reading the recent report on neurodiversity ‘Fearfully and Wonderfully Made‘, use the Accessibility Icons available on A Church Near You, or come to our disability inclusion training day Church For All on 22nd April.”
On the 22nd April, from 10am-4pm, the Diocese of Exeter will be hosting a disability inclusion training day at the Old Deanery in Exeter. All are welcome to come along. This will be a day geared towards making your churches and worshipping spaces more accessible for those with disabilities, additional needs and neurodivergence.
With the help of experts in the field, the day will be an opportunity to look at the whole range of church life. From the physical building, to looking at how to make children’s and youth groups more accessible, and to different services and groups – what barriers are there to people fully hearing the good news and engaging with the life of the community. To book your place, click here.
If you would like further information on please contact Claire on: claire.reynolds@exeter.anglican.org
