What we fund

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“Our vision is to be a Trust that, through its grants to churches and Christian organisations, makes a positive difference to people’s lives. We like to work with organisations that share our values and are dedicated to helping people and communities to flourish. We particularly like to support churches and Christian charities working in some of the most deprived areas, unafraid to tackle difficult social issues and working in partnership to produce something greater than the sum of its parts.” 

Our grant funding supports projects run by churches of many denominations and Christian organisations, and when considering applications, the Trust considers how well the aims of the project align with our areas of funding focus. These are:
 
  • Building communities, especially where they are hurting or broken
  • Helping people, especially those in particular need, to flourish
  • Growing churches, spiritually and numerically
  • Our grants normally fund capital projects and equipment, not salaries or running costs. We only fund projects in the UK and Ireland. 
Our primary charitable object is to promote the Christian faith or any other charitable purpose. We give grants to churches of many denominations, so long as they are members of Churches Together in England (CTE), Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), Churches Together in Wales (Cytun), the Irish Council of Churches or a local ‘churches together’ group. All applicants, including education establishments, need to be a UK registered charity, church or have “exempt” status. 
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Churches
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Charities
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Communities

We like to fund

We like to fund projects that demonstrate an impact on people and communities. Applicants should include clear (and where possible, measurable) outcomes for projects and demonstrate how they will ensure sustainability beyond our funding.
 
It’s also important to show how additional funding support will be sought to enable the project to be completed. In most cases, we give a small percentage of the project cost as this enables us to say yes to more worthwhile causes, although we do occasionally give larger grants.
 
We give grants to churches and Christian charities tackling issues like:
 
• Homelessness and poverty
 
• Mental health and counselling
 
• Social exclusion and loneliness
 
• Ex-offender support
 
• Community health and wellbeing
 
• Substance misuse
 
Our funding also often supports:
 
• Church repairs, renovations, reordering and new builds
 
• Community outreach by churches and Christian organisations
 
• Protection of ecclesiastical heritage
 
We also support Christian schools and have launched a new grants programme, Growing Lives, aimed at equipping churches and Christian organisations to connect with children and young people.

We don't normally fund

• Non-Christian charities
 
• Running costs (such as salaries and overheads)
 
• Overseas projects or charities
 
• Charities with a political association
 
• Individuals or causes that will benefit only one person, such as student grants or scholarships
 
• Healthcare projects, although hospices can apply for funding for chapel and chaplaincy space
 
• Animal welfare or rescue
 
• Work that is primarily the responsibility of statutory authorities including residential, respite, day care and housing provision
 
• Retrospective grants, although we may be prepared to consider applications for work already done which was urgent (such as essential emergency roof repairs) or for major capital projects (where work has started before all funding has been raised)
 
• More than one application from the same organisation within a 24-month period
 
• One-off events that benefit only a few people
How to apply
Grant examples