Yesterday the Church of England posted the following Press Release:

“Second round of church roofs fund opens

02 December 2015

Applications to £25 million package for roof and gutter repairs to listed places of worship open from today

The second round of the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund opens to applications today. Applications will be accepted for 12 weeks, with a deadline of Friday, 26 February 2016. The Chancellor made the welcome announcement in his Autumn Statement last week that the full £25 million pledged for the Fund in the 2015 Budget in March will remain in place. It is anticipated that awards will be allocated in early summer 2016.

Applications for grants between £10,000 and £100,000 will be accepted from listed places of worship across the UK, where roof and rainwater goods repairs are deemed to be urgent. Works must have been identified by a professional architect or surveyor as necessary within two years. Both unsuccessful applicants under the initial scheme and new applicants will be able to apply, provided that they meet the current criteria.

The Fund is being administered by a dedicated team appointed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Contact details for the team and the full guidance documents are available on the website: www.lpowroof.org.uk. ChurchCare will also be providing support and guidance centrally to dioceses and to parishes interested in applying.

The Rt Hon Canon Sir Tony Baldry, Chair of the Church Buildings Council, said, “I encourage all parishes that are eligible to submit an application. The process of applying has been kept simple and, for those that are successful, the benefits of making the church building watertight are immeasurable. This is not only about securing our historic buildings against damage, but about allowing worship to continue and about enabling parishes to think about the potential for extending use of their buildings to the wider community. The anecdotes we have heard from successful applicants in the first round clearly show how the grants have energised and revitalised parishes.”

Earlier this year, nearly 400 Church of England parishes were offered grants in the first round of awards from the Roof Repair Fund. These grants came out of total funding package of £30 million, distributed between 502 listed places of worship.

Ends

Notes for editors

ChurchCare, the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division, is the Church of England’s national resource, supporting the conservation and development of the Church of England’s 16,000 parish churches (12,000 of which are listed) and 42 cathedrals for worship, mission and community engagement. ChurchCare provides information on funding sources open to churches and cathedrals. Details about the work of ChurchCare can be found at: www.churchcare.co.uk.

The Listed Places of Worship (LPOW) Roof Repair Fund is a two-round scheme, running between 2014 and 2016. The Fund was initially set up following allocation of £15 million by the Treasury in December 2014, and was extended by £40 million in the 2015 Budget due to unprecedented demand. It is administered by a dedicated team, under the overall direction of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) and on behalf of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The NHMF was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of our national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. More information on the LPOW Roof Repair Fund can be found at: www.lpowroof.org.uk. More information on the NHMF can be found at: http://www.nhmf.org.uk.”

The Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund web site includes the following information:

“The programme is now open for a second round of funding, with a budget of £25million to be awarded in 2016. The closing dates for applications will be Friday 26 February at 12 noon.

We have made some changes to the scheme, and amended our application form and guidance. As a result, any applicants who were unsuccessful during the first round and wish to be considered again will need to make a new application using the online application portal. The key changes are:

• The repair work should be identified in a recent condition survey as being needed within the next two years.
• We can now consider the repair of spire coverings such as shingles or tiles, in addition to roofs, tower roofs, cupolas, rainwater disposal and any associated repointing where it forms part of the roof repairs.
• We have allowed more room in the application form to explain the reasons for any restrictions in the accounts of the place of worship and to tell us about your opening arrangements.
• We have reduced the number of items that we have asked for in the supporting documents. Alternative funding for listed places of worship is available from other sources, such as the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Read-only versions of the new application form and application guidance are available on the How to apply page. To apply to this scheme, you must complete an online application form.

Comment

We covered the first round of the fund, announced on 2 December 2014, in the following posts: Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund: some legal issues; and Churches’ Roof Repair Fund – grants announced. Likewise we will report on the progress of this second round of funding.