The Trustees of SHCT awards grants towards church, chapel and meeting house building projects, four times a year. The money comes from legacies to the Trust, and also money raised by the annual Suffolk Churches Ride and Stride and Pedal & Drive events held in September.
For news of the latest grants awarded CLICK HERE
SHCT Grant Application Information
The SuffolkHistoric Churches Trust was founded specifically to help conserve and preserve Suffolk’s Churches and Chapels of all denominations with advice and grants towards the cost of essential repairs and maintenance.
To be eligible for a grant the church or chapel must be within the County of Suffolk and in regular use as a place of worship. Each year the Trust helps between 40 and 50 places of worship of all denominations and ages. The Grants Committee is also able to advise churches on other sources of grant aid.
Scroll down this page to download an application form and guidance notes. If you prefer to fill in the form on a computer choose the word version of the application form which can then be sent with the supporting documents as attachments to an e-mail to shct@btconnect.com for the attention of the Grants Secretary.
Alternatively the application form can be completed by hand and sent with the supporting documents by post. Further details can be found in the Guidance Notes which will assist you in filling in the application form
To download Application Form pdf version click here: SHCT Grant Application Form 2023
To download Application Form as word version click here: SHCT Grant Application Form 2023
Guidance notes link: click here: https://wp.me/a8xPRb-r7Grants
Application forms and guidance notes may also be obtained from the SHCT Office by e-mail: shct@btconnect.com or telephone: 01787 883884
The Trust also maintains a list of other other sources of grant funding available to places of worship which is available on request from the SHCT office: shct@btconnect.com
Timetable
Grants Committee Meetings are held four times a year and the applications are normally required at least three weeks prior to the meeting (earlier when bank holidays intervene) to allow time for any queries to be sorted out prior to the meeting. Failure to meet the deadlines below may result in the application having to be deferred to the next Grants meeting.
Grants Committee Meetings 2024
Meeting Dates: Closing date for Applications
Monday 15th January Friday 22nd December 2023
Monday 15th April Monday 25th March
Monday 1st July Monday 19th June
Monday Monday 21st October Monday 30th September
Projects for which the Trust may Grant Funds
Funds may be granted towards the cost of preservation, repair, maintenance and improvement of churches and chapels within Suffolk. To be eligible for a grant the Trust requires that:
- The recipient church must be in use as a public place of worship
- The church faces a shortfall of funds to complete the project for which funds are sought
- Recipient churches must be open or readily accessible to the public
- The church believes it will be able to raise the remaining funds needed
- The project has not started; applications for retropective work are not considered
Category A – Fabric Repairs
Roofs including re-thatching, Rainwater goods, Walls ( not churchyard boundary walls) and buttresses, Plaster and re-decorating following work to the fabric, Tower repairs but not the provision of new bell frames or re-casting of bells, Porches, Window stonework and glass/lead repairs but not conservation of stained glass.
Category B
Liturgical reordering, other re-ordering e.g. repair/removal of pews and choir stalls to make space for social/concert use. Electrical work including lighting, heating, heating boilers, repairs to solid flooring.
The Maximum Grant for projects for catagory A & B is currently £20,000
Category C
Lavatories, Kitchenettes, Disability Discrimination Act work (access, handrails, hearing loops etc. including exterior paths,), Listed Churchyard walls (emergency repairs only), Conservation of Wall-paintings, stained glass and other conservation projects only if funds allow. The maximum grant is currently £10,000
Category D
In exceptional circumstances an application may be considered to help pay for outside professional reports or guidance to prepare for applications to major grant funders. e.g. National Lottery Heritage Fund. An initial approach should be made to the SHCT Grant Secretary via the contact tab on this website.
ROOF ALARMS
The SHCT Roof Alarm grants programme to help prevent lead theft has now ended. However applications will be considered as part of our normal grant giving programme. Churches seeking Roof Alarm funding should also look at the Benefact (formerly All Churches Trust) website.
Ineligible Projects
- furnishings and fittings
- brasses and bells
- monuments
- organ
- clocks
- lych gates
- redecoration, unless needed as part of an eligible project
- new buildings or extensions to existing buildings
Applications have re-opened for National Lottery Grants for Heritage from £3,000 to £5million. This marks a return to our core business, but it is not a return to ‘business as usual’
The East of England is part of the Midlands and East Area and Places of Worship should contact the Cambridge Office; please note revised contact details below:
The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic means we have revised our approach to what we will fund. We have created a supplementary document that sets out our Priorities for National Lottery Grants for Heritage for 2021-22. This is a formal part of the programme guidance until April 2022.
Email: MidlandsandEast@heritagefund.org.uk
Telephone: 01223 645938 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm)
National Lottery Heritage Fund East of England
CB1 Business Centre
20 Station Road, Cambridge, CB1 2JD
N.B. Churches considering applying for lottery funding are strongly advised to inform the SHCT Grants Committee via shct@btconnect.com or this website
