Parish Grants scheme - update

The Parish Grants scheme was designed with two different streams: Large Grants and Small Grants. The maximum award for a Large Grant is £50,000 and for a Small Grant, £5,000. This was put in place to enable not only reordering works and structural changes, but also people-focussed projects aimed at improving mission and ministry of and among Deaf and disabled people.

The main criterion for awarding a grant to a parish was set out in our assessment framework as follows:

the proposed work would enhance accessibility and inclusion for those who are Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent.

Outcomes

The scheme has been very popular: in the ten months since the Grants Scheme was launched, 22 large grants and 31 small grants have been approved, with an award value of just over £821,700. This is an amazing investment that has been made possible in accessibility and inclusion in these 53 churches in the northern province.  Examples of the focus of the projects approved include:

  • Installing accessible toilets
  • Creating step-free access into and within churches, church halls and community centres
  • Installing, improving and ensuring effective operation of hearing-aid loops
  • Creating a quiet space, a neurosensory space and providing neurosensory toys, gadgets and noise-cancelling headsets to support families with neurodivergent children
  • Adding handrails to steps to support and ensure safety of visitors and churchmembers with mobility difficulties
  • Improving outdoor spaces to reduce the risk of trips and falls
  • Adding and marking out a disabled parking bay in the church car park
  • Improving signage and printed materials to meet the access needs of partially sighted and dyslexic readers
  • Removing pews and rearranging seating to enable wheelchair users to choose a place to sit for themselves
  • Training for church leaders and preachers to enable them to understand the needs of neurodivergent people and better craft their communications
  • Improved screens and monitors, sometimes to enable subtitles and captioning, sometimes to offer pictorial imagery
  • Livestreaming services for those who cannot attend in person
  • Handheld tablets available for sight-impaired, hearing-impaired or neurodivergent attendees, or to lend to a house-bound church member to enable their access to the livestreamed service
  • Accessible seating including seats with armrests, and seats with padding
  • Replacing an old worn-out wheelchair with a new, comfortable one for lending out as needed to visitors

Wow!

It’s important to note that all these applications have demonstrated an excellent and rigorous approach to assessing what is needed. This might be running an accessibility audit, and will always involve consulting with the people who might benefit from the proposed work. It is often a moving experience to read of the anecdotes which demonstrate that improved accessibility is needed.

“We have held a number of holiday clubs, family fun days and run an Afterschool Club using the hall. One regular is a boy who has a congenital defect in his leg. His leg has now been amputated and he uses a wheelchair. His new prosthetic leg is of Spiderman…  It would be great to hold a superhero Holiday club in the hall for him to show off his bionic leg and bionic wheelchair.”

You can see more stories of how the accessibility projects have benefitted their church communities at this link.

What’s next?

A stone pathway in a churchyard leading to the church doorThe grants scheme will continue to accept applications till early next year, as long as funds remain in the pot! We are especially encouraging parishes in the north to consider what accessibility projects they might be able to do with the support of a small grant of up to £5000. Maybe the list above of successful applications inspires you – if you are such a leader – about a project you could devise and run to improve inclusion within your parish? We are also accepting applications from deaneries who might want to run, for example, a mission or outreach event to promote awareness or provide training in this area.

There will be a webinar about the Small Grants stream on 24th July on Church Support Hub. In this webinar, we will hear from Bishop Richard, acting Bishop of St Albans, speaking of his hopes and inspiration for how these grants might support and grow local church ministries, together with co-panellists Joy Rushton (Being Witnesses Manager, Blackburn Diocese), Claire Stinson (Church Operations Support Officer, Sheffield Diocese), and Rev Nathan Thorpe, vicar of St Giles with Aintree in Liverpool Diocese. 

Click here to register for webinar on Church Support Hub

At present, eligible parishes are those in the Province of York. It is expected that further funding will be approved to continue this grant scheme from 2026 for parishes within the Province of Canterbury. 

Register for webinar

Click here to register for the webinar about the Disability Project’s Small Grants Scheme, with Bishop Richard and panellists.

See map

Follow this link to see a map and find further details of the churches have received grants to date.