Keep the date free - more information available soon.

There are several grants aimed at making churches greener and helping them to lower emissions and become more efficient.

The first step is to get in touch with Gordon Sephton at:

gordon.sephton@derby.anglican.org

Gordon will talk about what you want to do and help you to decide which grant would be the right one to go for.

A brief overview of the grants available:

Quick Wins

Best for churches which have a relatively immediate opportunity to undertake small decarbonising projects in the range of £3k-£6k.

Give To Go Green

Medium scale projects with costs up to about £20k (though there is some flexibility here) in parishes wanting to grow their fundraising capabilities and confidence. This works well where churches have a good capacity for volunteers and PCC members to commit to a fundraising campaign.  Funds raised are then matched, up to £10k, giving a total of £20k.

Decarbonising Churches Grant

Largest scale projects. Supports high emitting churches (over 10 tonnes pa) and those with failing heating systems to plan and deliver major carbon cutting projects. It focuses on improving energy efficiency and moving to electric heating, so that buildings feel warm, welcoming and are fit for the future.

These grants will have different rounds throughout the 2026-2028 period. More details are available here: Net Zero Carbon Programme Grants for Churches | The Church of England

Places of Worship Renewal Fund is open for business

The Places of Worship Renewal Fund (PWRF) is designed to support the repair of England's treasured places of worship and targeted at places of most need. A total of £92 million has been allocated to the fund over a 4-year period, with £23 million per annum.

If you are thinking about a minor repair or larger capital project and your church building is listed (Grade1, 2 or 2*), then now is the time to put in an expression of interest regarding your project.

The key things to pay attention to are the priorities, objectives, and criteria for the fund, which are clearly explained oin the Historic England site.

In order to support different sizes of project, the fund will be divided into 3 streams. These are:   

• £10,000 to £50,000 (small grants)   
• £50,001 to £350,000 (medium grants)   
• £350,001 to £1,000,000 (large grants) 

The deadline for submitting EOIs for the first round of grants is Sunday the 14th June 2026.  A second round will follow soon after in September 2026.

Please follow this link for all the relevant details made available by Historic England who are managing the grant on behalf of the Depatment for Culture, Media, and Sport.

If you would like someone to read through your EOI before submission contact Gareth Greenwood, Church Buildings Support Officer

The Parish Accessibility Fund offered through the Disability Project aims to help parishes to enhance accessibility and inclusion for those who are Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent. 

Having rolled out this scheme initially to parishes in the Northern Dioceses, we are pleased to now be able to open this welcome grant-funding to parishes in the Province of Canterbury.  Parishes will be able to apply for funding for small projects with a grant of up to £5000, or larger works with a grant value of up to £50,000. 

Small projects might include ideas such as implementing a new supportive group for disabled people, improving signage and imagery with inclusivity in mind, enabling dementia-friendly church, or perhaps training for staff, volunteers and congregations. 

Larger projects could include structural alterations to buildings, installing technology such as a hearing-aid loop, purchasing appropriate seating, redesigning the height of surfaces/information boards, providing large-print resources and so much more.

You should consider 3 key things in order to make a strong application to the fund:

1.  Does our church building have a Completed Accessibility Audit.
2.  Have those with personal experience of disabilities been consulted in designing the project or scheme
3.  Are the main beneficiaries of the project or scheme, those who are disabled and/or neurodivergent

You can read more about Accessibility in church buildings here. 

The application form and guidance documents can be accessed and downloaded from the Diasabilities Project Resources page at this link. 

For any questions or to find out more, please email the Disability Project Team.

There is also other helpful information and advice available on the Disability Inclusion Page of this website

2025

Conservation Reports
rolling deadline - 2 week response time

Monuments, Textiles, Wooden Objects, Books & Manuscripts, Church Plate, Curchyard Sytructures, Monumental Brasses and Decorative Metalwork
13 October 2025 - decision by 28 November 2025

Organs and organ cases
2026 dates to be confirmed

2026

Paintings & Wall Paintings
5 January 2026 - Decision by 20 February 2026

Bells and Bell Frames
26 January 2026 - Decision by 13 March 2026

Stained Glass
23 February 2026 - Decision by 10 April 2026

Clocks
16 March 2026 - Deceision by 1 May 2026

The Church Building Support Officer is currently refreshing the content for this page, so keep returning to check out new resources and links to other sites

If you would like to explore the management and or development of the church building for which you are responsible, please contact the Church Building Support Officer at gareth.greenwood@derby.anglican.org

Here is some Guidance from the Diocesan Advisory Committee including links to heritage societies and key funding bodies.

Ready for the next steps on your decarbonisation journey but could do with some advice, contact our recently appointed Church Decarbonisation Officer gordon.sephton@derby.anglican.org

There will be a lot more resources appearing on this page soon, but don't forget to 'use all the brains in the room' - and this private Facebook Group is the perfect, safe space, to dip into the knowledge and experience of many other Wardens, facing the same challenges as you.  Simply scan the QR code in the picture below.

The Diocesan Board of Finance has extended a joint subscription so that all churches in the diocese can access this grant searching platform for free.

This gives every PCC the opportunity to search a maintained list of local and national grant funders and trusts, that are tailored towards church buildings and Christian project work.

All you need to start looking for that vital funding is your 6 figure parish reference code and the name of your church building.

If you don't know your parish reference code email the Church Buildings Support Officer or you can find it on the Church Heritage Record portal.

Here is the link to the Diocese of Derby Church Grants site

Bespoke Fundraising Advice

If you have a clear project plan and are beginning to think about how to fundraise, we have made available 30 minute pro bono bespoke consultations online, with Matthew and Andrew from ChurchGrants - contact the Church Buildings Support Officer if you would like to arrange a call with the ChurchGrants Team.

Andrew Clark and Matthew Lagden will be delivering the sessions

• Andrew has been attending churches for nearly 40 years and has been a professional fundraiser for 15 years.
• He is one of the Directors of Church Grants as well as operating his own full-time church-focused fundraising consultancy Apostle.
• He is an expert in church capital fundraising appeal strategy and income generation, most notably from Trust & Foundations and major donors

• Matthew has been fundraising with churches for two decades with a particular interest and specialism in legacy and congregational giving.
• He is one of the Directors of Church Grants. He currently is the CEO of the Institute of Legacy Management and attends an Anglican church in Birmingham.
• He was previously the Director of Fundraising at St Paul's Cathedral in London and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.

Capable buildings enable discipleship, mission and ministry.

Buildings are a positive asset when they are fit for purpose, but conversely, can feel like an anchor, stopping a PCC and congregation from fully embodying it’s discipleship, mission and ministry.

When buildings are fit for purpose…

• They play a key role in Transforming Lives, by acting as the stage for people’s major life events.
• They play a major role in Growing Church by providing a sanctuary of peace, a space to worship God, and a place to teach and inspire.
• They play many roles in Building Community - meeting place, polling station, community hub, food bank, spiritual resource centre, to name just a few.

A sustainable and relevant church building will potentially look very different from parish to parish, but working towards a Local Building Development Plan will give the PCC an opportunity to consider all the options and in turn, help reset or strengthen the connection between:

• The church building and the vision of the PCC and congregation.
• The church community and wider parish community

Creating a Local Building Development Plan is one way that can help you:

• Identify or reaffirm the core vision and ministries of the PCC and congregation in relation to your local context.
• Assess the current attributes and elements of the building.
• Determine what the building needs, to support your vision & enable discipleship, mission and ministry within your local community.
• Prioritize the changes needed and identify the resources required.

The very simple 4 step toolkit is something a PCC can use on its own or in concert with other resources.  However, it should always involve the wider parish community beyond the four walls.  Rmember, a church building is not a clubhouse, but a parish’s place of gathering, worship and sanctuary.

Here is the link to the Local Building Development Plan