Church Buildings

Work with Historic Church Buildings Officer has evolved out of a post formerly jointly funded by the Diocesan Board of Finance and English Heritage North West Region. The work is guided by a Task Group and includes:

  • Working with English Heritage to identify joint priority churches.
  • Producing a Church Building Strategy for the diocese, which has been approved by the Church and Society Committee. 
  • Developing partnerships with local government.
  • Supporting joint priority churches.
  • Signposting good practice procedures for maintenance, conservation, accessibility and ecology.
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St Clement, in the Parish of Ordsall & Salford Quays, has been awarded a grant by English Heritage for high-level structural repairs.

For further information, please contact Simon Ambrose, 0161 828 1410.

 

Funding for historic churches

Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund has said that it will make it quicker and easier for voluntary organisations to apply for £1bn worth of grants over the next five years. As part of its new strategic plan, launched in April 2008, it will offer more help to applicants and make decisions earlier in the development of a project. Stricter green criteria will be applied to all future bids and projects will be asked what they are doing to minimise their impact on the environment and ensure that they are using sustainable resources.

Further information can be found at www.hlf.org.uk

The Repair Grants Scheme for Places of Worship

Both English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have confirmed that their current commitments to the Repair Grants Scheme for Places of Worship will continue until at least 2010/11.

This Grant Scheme reopened in April 2008. For application documents go to:
English Heritage or
Heritage Lottery Fund - how to apply

One important change is the requirement to provide regular advertised visitor access to your place of worship outside the usual hours of worship on at least 40 days of the year. There is also the need to comply with additional EU procurement regulations if more than 50% of your project is publicly funded. English Heritage is producing further guidance on this which should be available shortly.

Click here for Managing your Grant - an explanation of how English Heritage will support your project and what you must do to keep to the condition of the grant.

Developnig your church building

Faculty Applications

For details of when and how to apply for a Faculty for work on your church building, visit the DAC section.

Kitchens

You need to be aware of health and safety regulations when planning or using a kitchen for the preparation of food.

Download the Church Kitchens document that summarises the requirement for developing the space, ventilation, lighting and appliances.

Hygiene Courses

It is a legal requirement that people who work in kitchens which provide food to the public are supervised by someone who has a recognised qualification in food hygiene. Your local FE College or Council should be able to provide you with information about courses, or contact Andrew Barr wayward@barrone.fsnet.co.uk who runs these courses for parishes.

Community Building Project Toolkit

Building Success is a toolkit to help anyone planning a community building project. Visit www.building-success.org.uk. 

Church Halls 

These guidelines on how to manage and get the best out of your church hall and some sample documents have been prepared by one of our parishes: Making the Most of Your Parish Hall, Sample Constitution and Sample Parish Hall.

Health and Safety

For full details of how to address health and safety issues and guidance notes in connection with the letting of church premises, visit Ecclesiastical.