Grants

Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PWRF) – 21^th July Update

Deadline for the Next Round of EOIs: 2^nd October

There are two online information sessions on the 23^rd September – visit the CBSN page for more details.

Results of the First Round

Decisions for the first round of EOIs were announced on Monday 13^th July.  Over 1000 EOIs were submitted, totalling over £92 million, more than the fund has for the full 4 years, so most applications have been rejected.

Despite being repeatedly told not to worry about the deprivation (IMD) and community needs index (CNI),  this is now the main priority and may be for the first two years of the fund.  Another surprise is that the PWRF cannot be used as match funding for a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

We are endeavouring to obtain feedback on the EOIs submitted from this Diocese, to better prepare future applications, but this may take some time as Historic England are still in the process of appointing dedicated support officers at their regional offices.

HRBA Webinar Recording

The slides and recording of the online meeting held on Tuesday 7th July regarding the Places of Worship Renewal Fund is available on the HRBA website: https://www.hrballiance.org.uk/meetings/

PWRF Website: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/grants/what-we-fund/places-of-worship-renewal-fund/

There are range of grants available to help fund your project.

• Consider carefully if you are ready to apply for grants - do you have costs, timescales, surveys, consent, tenders etc. Read this document first – Are You Ready to Apply for Grants?
• Please check carefully the published guidelines and criteria before applying for funding, making note of the timeframe for deadlines and decisions, and procedure for the release of funds. It is often helpful to get in touch with funders to discuss your project at an early stage.
• Grants are just one way to raise money and should be part of a carefully planned fundraising strategy.  See the fundraising page for more  information. 

Searching for Grants

To search for grants, take a look at your local authority website as it might subscribe to a national database which you can access for free.

South Cambridgeshire, for instance, has GrantGrabber.  Churches in Norfolk might find the Diocese of Norwich’s Grant Finder useful.

Other useful websites include:

• Support Cambridgeshire - https://www.supportcambridgeshire.org.uk/find-funding/
• Hunts Forum - https://www.huntsforum.org.uk/more-from-us/subscribe/
• Grants Online – https://www.grantsonline.org.uk/
• My Funding Central - https://www.myfundingcentral.co.uk/
• Funds Online - https://fundsonline.org.uk/

For lists of grants specifically for building related projects including maintenance, repairs, reordering, facilities, organs, bells, stained glass and wall paintings, please contact Holly Robinson (nee Isted).

Advice on how to avoid the most common mistakes

• The Top 10 Funding Application Errors

National Lottery Heritage Fund (previously the Heritage Lottery Fund)

• In 2023 the National Lottery Heritage Fund announced a new 10-year Strategy, Heritage 2033. 
• Details of how this will be implemented have been released sporadically and are set to be reviewed by the Fund annually.
• To find out the latest, visit the website: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/