The Places of Worship Renewal Fund is now open for expressions of interest, with a deadline for the first round of Sunday, June 14.
The fund, administered by Historic England, will support urgent repairs and essential improvements to listed places of worship in England with grants awarded for capital works that keep buildings safe, open and in public use.
To support different sizes of project, the fund will be divided into three streams: small grants of £10,000 to £50,000; medium grants of £50,001 to £350,000; and large grants of £350,001 to £1,000,000.
At this stage our churches are being asked to complete an expression of interest, which if successful will then lead to being invited to make a full application.
The deadline for submitting expressions of interests for the first round of grants is Sunday, June 14, with a second round following in September 2026.
To submit an expression of interest, churches will need to fill in an online form, which can be found here on the Historic England website.
Churches will need to refer to the Places of Worship Renewal Fund requirements in their expression of interest, briefly describing how their project meets the criteria.
There are specific additional documents needed with an expression of interest, including, where available, a copy of the latest condition survey, quinquennial assessment or equivalent to demonstrate the need and urgency of the works.
Churches will also need a supporting letter from the diocese, confirming that we are supportive of the project and likely to approve any consents/permissions required (if not already approved) to undertake the project and associated works.
Our Church Buildings Team are managing this part of the process, in consultation with the Archdeacons.
To inquire about getting a supporting letter, please make a request by email to Alena Douglas, Church Buildings Support Officer, (alena-rose.douglas@leeds.anglican.org) by no later than Monday, June 8.
The fund is designed to support the repair of England's places of worship, with £92 million allocated to the fund over a four-year period, £23 million per annum.
The launch of the fund has come amid concerns over the ending of the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme, after more than 20 years in operation.
The Scheme repaid VAT as a grant on essential repairs and maintenance of more than £1,000.
The Church of England's national buildings team has pledged to keep working with the wider sector and the Government to make the case for the importance of church buildings to communities and national life and to work to alleviate the extra burden of fundraising for churches.
More on this can be found here.