At Paisley Abbey near Glasgow last Friday (1 November), we announced £491,000 funding to support the Development Trust Association Scotland (DTAS) with their New Futures Programme. By helping communities explore new uses for former places of worship, DTAS will give these historic buildings a sustainable future.

The day before (31 October) at St Mary’s Church in Swansea, Anne Jenkins, our Executive Director for Business Delivery, spoke at the Church in Wales Forum.

There are challenges ahead, but we want our work to give confidence to the sector to plan for the future.

Anne Jenkins, Executive Director for Business Delivery at The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Rolling out our strategic support for places of worship

Our grant to DTAS is the second made through our Heritage in Need: Places of Worship strategic initiative. The first, of £4.68million, is helping expand the Church of England’s Conservation Grants Scheme.

We have committed to invest at least £15m over the next three years to more projects like these through our strategic initiative, plus another £85m through our National Lottery Heritage Grants.

Our aim for the strategic initiative is to help projects that will shape the future of religious heritage. To address the needs and challenges faced by places of worship across regions and nations, we could fund projects including:

• developing the processes, guidance and infrastructure needed to support places of worship changing use, management or ownership
• building the capacity of smaller denominations and faith groups to develop large projects
• providing advice and support to those who manage historic religious buildings and sites, such as funding for support officers 
• initiatives bringing together many organisations, faith groups and funders to collaborate and find solutions to issues facing historic religious heritage 

For full details of what Heritage in Need: Places of Worship can fund go to our strategic initiatives page.

Responding to protect heritage, now and in the future

At the event in Swansea, Anne celebrated the £1bn of National Lottery funding invested in places of worship since 1994 and described our ambition to invest a total of £100m in places of worship over the next three years.

“We have talked to stakeholders across the UK and recognise the complex and multifaceted needs they have. We recognise particular challenges within Wales’s sector, including the difficulties of communication and access when working with remote rural places of worship, in addition to wider trends of aging congregations and higher repair costs.

"There are challenges ahead, but we want our work to give confidence to the sector to plan for the future.”

This message was echoed by Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, who said at Paisley Abbey: “We recognise the scale of the challenges facing places of worship and those who care for them, and want to be as creative and responsive as possible to the sector’s needs, now and in the future.”

Apply for National Lottery Heritage Grants

Any place of worship in the UK, of any religion or denomination, can apply for grants from £10,000 to £10m. Explore places of worship we've funded:

• St John's Church in Worksop, Nottinghamshire was awarded £368,000 to restore its spire and open a community café to help people build digital skills and combat loneliness
• Leicester’s historic Grade II listed synagogue was restored with £1.2m in National Lottery support and now has a heritage centre, new entrance and shabbat-friendly lift
• Think Circus SCIO was awarded £25,000 for community engagement and sustainable business planning for Leith St Andrew's
• St Gwrst Church was awarded £707,000 for essential restorations and is now a vibrant hub blending history, worship and community activities

Find out how to apply for funding.