We’re supporting communities to secure the future of their churches

23/12/2024

An interior view of a church altar with stained glass windows in the background

Interior view of St George’s Church in Jesmond.

In our latest round of funding decisions, we’ve awarded £1.25million to eight projects with exciting and innovative people-centred plans.

The United Reformed Church and St George’s Church in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, are less than a mile apart. They each have a rare pipe organ, built by one of Britain’s leading 19th-century makers, Lewis and Company, founded by Thomas Christopher Lewis.

Our £163,600 grant will help bring the two places of worship closer together and find more links between them, through the Discover Jesmond 1888 project. As well as conserving the organs, it will create a heritage trail and events programme to engage the community with the churches’ shared heritage.

An organ on the far wall of a church, with arches on the either side — The organ in United Reformed Church, Jesmond.

In Bulmer, St Martin's Church will use our £248,504 grant to conserve and improve the thermal efficiency of its 14th century tower and enhance access and participation by strengthening links with the community.

And in Lincoln, our £51,763 grant will enable the Greek Orthodox Church of St Basil and St Paisios to conduct urgent surveys to understand the ongoing needs of the Grade II listed building.

Places of worship are some of the UK’s most cherished historic buildings and many play a key role as a gateway to our heritage and communities.
Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund

In addition, we’ve awarded development grants (ahead of potential larger delivery grants) to:

St George the Martyr Parish Church, Holborn (£380,389) to address the critical needs of the Grade II* listed church, ensuring it can thrive as a centre for its local community and visitors
Lochwinnoch Church, Renfrewshire (£198,250) to support plans to purchase the category A listed church and transform it into a multi-use community hub
All Saints Church, in the North York Moors National Park, Helmsley (£138,169) to conserve the Grade II* listed building’s unique Edwardian wall paintings and deliver a programme of traditional skills development in masonry, heritage building and wall painting restoration
Holt Methodist Church, Holt (£47,018) to transform the Grade II listed building for community and cultural use
St John the Baptist Church, Nash (£30,804) for urgent repairs to remove it from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register and enable the community to connect with its natural and social heritage

A group of people standing outside a church building — The Lochwinnoch Community Development Trust standing outside the church in Renfrewshire.

A brighter future

The funding is part of our commitment to support places of worship to address their challenges and ensure they’re resilient community assets for generations to come. We plan to invest around £100m over the next three years to achieve this.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Places of worship are some of the UK’s most cherished historic buildings and many play a key role as a gateway to our heritage and communities.

“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, these eight fantastic projects will take vital steps towards securing a brighter and more sustainable future for places of worship and reimagine how they can connect with and benefit their communities.”