• There are approximately 28,000 churches in England alone, of which over 14,000 are listed buildings. 45% of all Grade I listed buildings are churches.
• Surveys in 2003 and 2005 showed that 86% of the population visited a place of worship in the previous 12 months, for reasons ranging from worship to concerts or simply wanting a quiet space (ORB).
• Parish churches are the most easily visited type of historic building.
• Unlike other European countries, Britain has no church tax, nor municipal ownership of places of worship. Local congregations and communities finance and maintain their buildings.
• 1,679 churches have been made redundant since 1969, of which 345 have been preserved. Interested parties such as the Churches Conservation Trust, the Historic Chapels Trust and the Friends of Friendless Churches own some 400 redundant church buildings, but their capacity to take on more is restricted by level of funds.
• The burden of looking after England’s Anglican churches falls on 32,000 church wardens and 50,000 to 100,000 secretaries, treasures and members of Parochial Church Councils, none of whom are paid.
• The successful management of churches is hard to achieve, and the needs are becoming increasingly complex – training, structural and interior maintenance, ordering, regulations, accounting, raising money, recording, theft prevention and soon, for some, reporting to the Charity Commission.
• English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund distribute grants totalling £25m a year to help repair Britain’s Places of Worship.
• The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme refunds 100% of the VAT spent by places of worship on eligible works. This has recently been extended to include items such as architects’ fees and repairs to organs and bells. Some other sources of grants, however, are being reduced.
• The National Churches Trust and the associated County Trusts distribute nearly £5m a year in grants (including monies from the Landfill Tax).
• There are other charities and charitable trusts that provide money for places of worship; however the number of applicants and the amounts involved are such that the combined response is totally insufficient.

• The cost of repairs needed far outweighs the current spend
• Sources of funding to bridge the gap are dwindling
• The need is escalating at an alarming rate

Here are some key objectives towards which the sector is working:

• Raising more money
• Ensuring that national policies and strategies are led and informed by local community needs
• Seeking legislative improvements
• Creating better systems to identify churches at risk
• Creating a more consistent policy voice through greater collaboration between organisations within the sector
• Ensuring closer engagement with MPs and Peers
• Using more effective PR to capture a growing awareness of and interest in heritage
• Being innovative and ambitious in our thinking