Applying for a Grant

The Beds and Herts Historic Churches Trust has helped hundreds of churches across both counties by providing grants towards the costs of restoration, repair and maintenance. The Trust also administers grants in Bedfordshire on behalf of the Wixamtree Trust.

Often a church architect or surveyor will identify structural issues, but churches are also responding to the need to provide more inclusive access or better facilities in the building. And with more severe weather, adequate rainwater dispersal is essential to avoid issues of damp.

On receipt of a valid application we will arrange a site visit at which a representative of the Trust will review the proposed project onsite and confirm the latest details.

We hold four grant-awarding meetings a year: in February, May, September and November. Grants are paid on evidence of work on the agreed project exceeding the value of the grant having been completed.

We expect all grant recipients to become corporate members of the Trust

What we fund

We give grants to help churches in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and the part of the London Borough of Barnet in the Diocese of St Albans repair and look after their buildings and churchyards.

Who can apply
Any Church, Chapel or Friends Meeting House used for public Christian worship and owned by a denomination that belongs to Churches Together in England.

Our priority: keeping buildings weathertight, safe and sound

• Roofs, walls, windows, doors, gutters, downpipes and drainage

• Structural repairs, including floors affected by ground movement

• Making good damage caused by water or movement (re-pointing, rendering, plastering, redecoration)

• Surveys and investigations needed before this work

We also consider

• Heating, lighting and security alarms

• Protective work, such as lightning conductors and protection against pests

• Improving access, including ramps and accessible toilets

• Repair and conservation of fixtures: bells and bell-frames, organs, tower clocks, monuments, fonts, pulpits and stained glass

• Churchyard walls, railings and lych-gates

In Bedfordshire only

As agents for the Wixamtree Trust we can also consider projects that improve churches for community use, such as re-ordering, toilets, kitchens and serveries.

We do not normally fund

• Work that has already started

• Projects costing less than £5,000 in total, or which the church can already afford

• Church halls or new community facilities

Urgent problems

If your church faces sudden, unexpected repairs or a safety risk, contact us straight away. We may be able to help quickly.

How to apply

Email our Grants Secretary Andrew Lambourne on [email protected] with a brief description of your project and to obtain the necessary application forms.

Advice and support with other grants and fundraising

Churches Conservation Trust The national charity protecting historic churches at risk.

Diocese of St Albans - can give support with looking after church buildings, sources of grants and funding a project. See the Buildings and Churchyards section of the Diocesan website:

Church of England churches may apply for a grant from the Diocesan Board of Finance to help with some very specific repair costs.

National Churches Trust website has a range of support and advice. The Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme makes grants towards VAT on repairs/ alterations to listed buildings mainly used for public worship.

Pilgrim Trust The Trust supports repair and preventative maintenance of historic places of worship and the conservation of their historic interiors and churchyard structures.

Ashwell, Herts

St Mary, Hitchin, Herts