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<p>The Church of England highly values the work of the Heritage Lottery Fund in running
the Grants for Places of Worship Scheme, a fund which puts £30m a year into UK listed
places of worship, of all faiths and denominations. This dedicated scheme takes account
of the specific needs of places of worship that are primarily run by volunteers who
cannot afford to employ the skills of professional grant-application writers.</p><p>
</p><p>The Church has also worked closely with the National Heritage Memorial Fund
during the recent Church Roofs Fund scheme that has invested £55m in over 400 places
of worship, 300 of which were Anglican churches. This scheme has successfully kept
the roof on churches where it was urgently needed in order to keep the building open
for its community. This scheme has now ended and we are working with the National
Heritage Memorial Fund to evaluate the impact of the scheme across the country.</p><p>
</p><p>Given the profound contribution churches make to the social and economic life
of the nation it is right that this is recognised in this way, especially as the scheme
ensures outcomes from repairs including benefits to local people.</p><p> </p><p>The
Church Buildings Council last year awarded just over £600,000 to churches for urgent
repairs to buildings and objects including stained glass, sculpture and monuments.
This is part of a long-term partnership with the Wolfson Foundation, Pilgrim Trust
and Radcliffe Trust. The partnership between Wolfson Foundation, Pilgrim and Radcliffe
Trusts has enabled a simple application process and fast response time, making it
a relatively small but very valuable resource for struggling parishes. We are actively
seeking to secure the future of this fund and increase its grant-giving capacity through
the work of our new associated charity, the Anglican Parish Churches Fund.</p><p>
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