ChurchCare campaigns and projects

The Cathedral and Church Buildings division campaigns on behalf of church buildings.

We work with others to keep cathedrals and churches in their sights.

Interior view of St John the evangelist church Shobdo

Burial grounds of England survey

The Church Buildings Council is working with several dioceses and national partners to develop software and a survey methodology to create digital plans of our churchyards, cemeteries and everything that can be found within them.

The plans will allow parishes to better manage their churchyards and their buildings, using a live online record which they can update. It will also be useful in attracting visitors and those interested in memorials and ecology.

The plans will be available through the Church Heritage Record and Online Faculty System.

Our partners include:

In June 2017, we held two free launch events in London and York. Key stakeholders presented on similar projects and we discussed how the survey could bring them together within one central system.

Contact us to find out more.

Bats and Churches

According to estimates, up to 6,400 parish churches in England may be used by bats. All bats are protected species and Natural England, the Government's statutory wildlife adviser, needs to be consulted in advance of any work that might affect bats or their resting sites (roosts). Click here to go to their website. In most cases careful planning will allow work to be undertaken without causing delay to the project or disturbance to the bats. Click here to access our advice on how to deal with bats and their roosts.

However in some cases large roosts can cause major problems. The Cathedral and Church Buildings Division has been working closely with Natural England to find a way forward.

Following a sucessful Heritage Lottery bid a development stage grant was awarded to the Bats in Churches project which is a partnership between Natural England, Church of England, Historic England, Churches Conservation Trust and Bats Conservation Trust. The project aims to provide solutions and support to church congregations struggling with large bat roosts. You can keep up to date with the project through the website Bats and Churches.

Big Church Switch

Help switching your church or your own energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable energy. The Church of England and its environmental campaign Shrinking the Footprint have signed up to the Big Church Switch, a campaign led by Christian Aid and Tearfund. The Big Church Switch calls on churches and individual Christians of all denominations to switch their energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable energy. By using clean, renewable energy the Church can demonstrate its commitment to care for our neighbours and for the earth – our common home.

Find out more here.

Be inspired by Anna's journey to turn her church green.

First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund 2014-2018

The independent evaluation of the First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund grant scheme, to which the government contributed £40 million, was published on 17 July 2018 and is available in full in the below link

https://www.churchofengland.org/more/church-resources/churchcare/our-conservation-grants/grants-cathedrals

The First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund, launched by the Government in 2014, invited applications from Catholic and Church of England cathedrals to address urgent repair works. The fund prioritised making buildings weatherproof, safe and open to the public as well as ensuring they would be in a safe condition to host acts of remembrance for the centenary of the First World War armistice in 2018.

Grants were awarded over two phases between 2014-18, each totalling £20 million. A total of 130 awards were made to 57 cathedrals. Twelve cathedrals were awarded more than £1 million each, and the average award was £274,000.

Projects supported by the fund were all assessed by architects as requiring urgent attention either immediately or within 12 months.

The largest number of projects (approximately a third) were for roof repairs. Many of the repairs funded also related to external masonry, with other projects covered including guttering, heating, sound system, electrical and window refurbishment.

Grants were awarded by an independent panel chaired by Sir Paul Ruddock, a position appointed by the Secretary of State. The Fund was administered by the Church of England’s Cathedrals and Church Buildings Division (CCB) on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, with the CCB praised in the report for cost efficiency and excellent communication.

The report concluded that the fund had been successful in achieving its aims and met a funding need that could not be met elsewhere, adding that areas of cathedrals covered by grant-aided projects had been very largely changed from needing urgent repair to needing routine maintenance only. 

As part of the evaluation process, individual summaries were produced for each of the 130 projects supported, which are accessible on our cathedral's funding page