Caring for your church – news, advice and more. Sent to all Clergy, Readers, ALMs, LLMs, Churchwardens, Treasurers and Deanery Lay Chairs.
In this Issue: This bulletin focuses on information and updates to help you care for your church building, serve the local community and comply with legislation.
1. Information and updates
- URGENT UPDATE: Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme and future government funding
- New Additional Matters Orders
- Making applications for DAC advice – Faculties and Minor Matters
- Defibrillators
- Hertfordshire Archive and Local Studies (HALS) – new opening times
- Martyn’s Law Briefing Note
- Telecom infrastructure on church buildings
- Churches looking for servers’ albs
2. Training and Resources
- Accessibility Icons for websites
- Be Prepared & Stay Calm!
- Applying for a National Heritage Lottery Fund grant
3. Environment
- Please act now! Energy Footprint Tool – Footprints for Creation
- Carbon Literacy for Congregations
- Church heating – Your questions answered
- Swift boxes in churches
4. Maintaining your building
- Recommended monthly tasks
5. Grants and Funding
- Receive funding – for free!
- Small Grants for Village Halls – apply now if you fit the criteria!
- Potential Grants for NZC, Biodiversity and Community Projects
6. Good news stories
- St Mary’s Watford switches to green gas – The Diocese of St Albans
7. Upcoming Events
- Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust – A Life in Ruins
With thanks for all you do to maintain our wonderful churches as places where people can encounter God, parishes can reach out in mission and local communities can be transformed.
The DAC Team
Emma Critchley, DAC Secretary
Ann Wise, Historic Church Buildings Support Officer
Seamus McGibbon, Pastoral and Closed Churches Officer
Tom Abraham, Net Zero Carbon Officer
Mayra Shaw, Team Secretary – Church Buildings
Liz West, Church Buildings Maintenance Officer
Richard Jackson, Local Church Income Support Officer
1. Information
URGENT UPDATE: LPWGS grants – have you managed to apply yet?
On Thursday 22 January the Government announced that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS) will finally close for good on 31 March this year. It was hidden amongst the press release announcing the £1.3B investment in heritage over the next 4 years which includes museums, and historic buildings as well as places of worship. At a DCMS briefing on the same day we learnt that £92M has been allocated for Places of Worship spread over 4 years – £23M a year.
The Government is now working with Historic England to decide what the new funding for listed churches will look like and what the application process will be; hopefully we’ll know more by the new financial year which starts in April. What we do know at the moment is that the scheme will not be about having VAT refunded, there will be more emphasis on ‘place’ and area deprivation.
It is really important if your church is listed and you are having work carried out, to claim back any VAT money before 23:59 on the 31 March; there will be no carry over to the next financial year. Please keep an eye on the ‘funding tracker’ on the website, link below, as it shows the amount of funding that has already been allocated and the amount of funding remaining until the end of March 2026. As of 20 January just under £5M of the £23m budget remains.
New Additional Matters Orders
As mentioned in our previous bulletin in November, we have been working with our Chancellor and the Diocesan Registry team to develop new AMOs which now are in effect. Each AMO sets out works that may be undertaken without a faculty provided specified conditions are met. In some cases that may include having written permission from the archdeacon (as for List B). Here is the list of the recently approved AMOs:
Additional Matters Order 1. 2025 St Albans – Electric heating system
Additional Matters Order 3. 2025 Churchyard Regulations
Additional Matters Order 4. 2025 St Albans – Hiring of a church or a church hall to third parties
Additional Matters Order 5. 2025 St Albans – Wi-Fi Extenders
Please check the link below for all the active AMOs:
Did you know? Making applications for DAC advice – Faculties and Minor Matters
There are lots of resources on our website, see link below:
to guide you through the process of a church repair or development project. Have a look in particular at the section on Permissions. So that we get all the information the DAC needs to give advice in relation to permissions – and in one place – we ask that all applications are made via the DAC online portal at https://portal.stalbans.anglican.org. A step-by-step Online Portal User Guide – The Diocese of St Albans is available either as a downloadable slide presentation or a short video. See link below:
Defibrillators
If you follow the Diocese of St Albans Facebook page you will already know that recently it included useful and important advice about defibrillators from the Diocese of Manchester.
Recently, one of our churches faced a situation where a defibrillator (AED) was needed. Thankfully, the outcome was positive, but the experience highlighted an important issue: the AED was not showing as registered in the emergency services system, even though it appeared on the national database.
This is vital as, when you call 999, the operator checks their system to locate the nearest defibrillator and provide the access code. If your AED isn’t correctly registered or updated, precious minutes can be lost.
How to Make Sure Your AED is Ready
- Register on The Circuit The Circuit is the UK’s national defibrillator network used by ambulance services. Visit https://www.thecircuit.uk and ensure your AED details are accurate.
- Update Key Information
- Cabinet access code
- Location and accessibility
- Status of pads and battery
- Keep the Code On-Site Store the cabinet code securely in the church office or with keyholders so it’s immediately available in an emergency.
- Assign an AED Guardian Nominate someone to check the device monthly, confirm registration details, and log maintenance.
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) – new opening times
Hertfordshire parishes – please note the revised HALS opening times and new plans, important details in our blog as per link below:
Martyn’s Law Briefing Note
The Historic Religious Buildings Alliance has produced a comprehensive Martyn’s Law briefing note. It can be found on the HRBA website:
It can also be downloaded here:
Telecom infrastructure on church buildings
File Image: Shillington All Saints who generate income by hosting a mobile phone transmitter
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for negotiating with Mobile Phone / Telecoms Networks for renewing the contract or initial installation of transmitters.
Hosting a mobile phone / telecoms transmitter in your church building can have the double benefit of providing a sustainable regular income stream and an internet connection inside your church to run various smart technologies and devices from. Much like the final installation, which actually remains out of sight and hidden away, the legal process and paperwork setup can be deemed off-putting or be seen as a barrier before even getting started.
The Church of England has therefore published a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support PCCs wishing to start an installation or renew a contract which eases some of the legal hurdles and sets the right expectations when discussing with various suppliers.
If you are thinking of hosting a telecoms / mobile phone transmitter or already have one installed and would like to learn more about the MOU, please do get in touch.
Churches looking for servers’ albs
We are looking to encourage some older children and youth to be more involved in serving during the Eucharist at 2 of our churches, St Mary’s North Mymms and St John’s Lemsford. If anyone has any spare cassock albs suitable for 8-16 year olds, please do let us know and we will arrange to collect them from you. Photo for reference above.
Please contact by email as below or call 07447 458 526.
Many thanks, the Revd Ruth Barr & the Revd Kathryn Alford
Accessibility Icons for websites
These accessibility icons are now available for churches to use and can be accessed via the resources hub on A Church Near You. Churches can log on in the usual way and click on the resources tab.
Be Prepared & Stay Calm!
As it hasn’t been a warm sunny winter and spring is likely to be cold and wet Ann is running some additional online Emergency Planning sessions at the end of February.
We always hope it never happens but what if there was an emergency at your church, what will you do first? Do you know where everything is located that you may need in case the church is flooded, or a storm damages the roof and everything below? A churchwarden who attended one of the December sessions emailed us at the beginning of January:
“I just wanted to say how useful the emergency planning training was. It certainly helped on Sunday when our new extension was flooded. It’s also highlighted other issues we encountered on discovering the flood. It was really thought provoking.”
The dates and times for February are:
Monday 23 February – 2pm
Wednesday 25 February – 10am
Thursday 26 February – 6.30pm
Saturday 28 February – 10am
To book please email Ann and select which one you’d like to attend. Once booked you will receive a link to your chosen session. Each session lasts around 40 – 50 minutes. Places are limited for each date so that the sessions are informal and gives everyone the chance to contribute to the discussion. Please note the sessions are held on Teams.
Applying for a National Heritage Lottery Fund grant
If your church is working on a project and you feel there’s a possibility that an application may be made for lottery funding please let Ann know.
Not only will she be able to support and advise you at a very early stage but it will avoid the regional NHLF team advising you to contact her!
She is planning to hold a 2 hour online session in collaboration with the NHLF in April, after Easter. The date and time still to be confirmed; the session will cover all aspects of applying for a lottery grant (both the under £250K and over £250K programmes) and will provide invaluable advice on the NHLF’s four investment principles which is where many applications, throughout the country, fail on.
In the meantime do visit the Places of Worship page on the NHLF’s website
3. Environment
Please act now! – Energy Footprint Tool – Footprints for Creation
The energy footprint tool is open for completion from 12 January until 30 June 2026. The National Church’s guidance on completing the tool is available here
The information you submit is invaluable in helping us understand the costs and carbon emissions associated with operating different heating systems and how our overall carbon footprint is changing over time. Completion is a pre-requisite for accessing both national church and diocesan funding streams related to decarbonising churches and halls, including funding towards replacing heating systems.
Carbon Literacy for Congregations
Why not run a carbon literacy course for your congregation as a Lent Course?
The CofE has worked with the Carbon Literacy Project to produce a carbon literacy course for congregations. This course leads you through the theology, science, and practical impacts of climate change, so you can talk about it with confidence. It is designed to be used in small groups at home or in church. It is designed so that it can be led by anyone who would like their church or small group to know more about climate change. You don’t need any experience to run it, but sometimes people prefer to have experience. Therefore, you are invited to do the course yourself in a small group, online, during Lent 2026, in online sessions run by Caroline Harmon from the CofE Environment team.
The course lasts for 5 evenings, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Tuesday 3 March, Tuesday 10 March, Tuesday 17 March, Tuesday 24 March, Tuesday 31 March.
If you would like to attend, please sign up on this link:
Church heating – Your questions answered
Several of you attended the Diocese of Ely’s session on Church Heating in October which Tom participated in. The recording of the webinar is now available see link below. Scroll down to the bottom of the webpage for both the recording and the downloadable slides (which lack the commentary).
Swift boxes in churches
Churches across the Diocese are finding creative ways to care for God’s creation, with many parishes now installing swift boxes in their towers and buildings.
These simple additions not only provide vital nesting spaces for one of Britain’s most remarkable birds, but also reflect our shared commitment to protecting the environment and celebrating the richness of life around us.
If this is something you’re planning, now is the time to think about the details for your church and upload the proposal as a new case via the DAC online portal in time to get a List B permission and install the boxes before swifts arrive in spring:
Gavin Vicary, North East Herts Swift Group shared with us good news from St Mary’s church, Reed, which installed swift boxes three or four years ago.
Check our website blog Parishes help swifts find sanctuary, link below.
Photo credit: Robert Booth
4. Maintaining your building
Recommended monthly tasks
Major restoration and improvement projects are important but routine checks and maintenance with small ‘stitch in time’ repairs are equally vital. They have proved excellent value for money, preventing much greater damage and costs in the future.
The tasks for the next few months, taken from SPAB – FiM Maintenance Calendar which you can find on SPAB’s website and also on our website check the link below.
5. Grants and Funding
Receive funding – for free!
Incredible as it sounds it is possible if your church is signed up to funding website easyfundraising (it’s very straightforward and there is no cost) check link below:
Holidays, weekend trips, and hotel stays could provide your church with unrestricted funding. With many people booking holidays in January and February, this is an easy way for them to help you fund running costs, services, projects, and more.
Travel companies like TUI, Booking.com, Lastminute.com, Haven Holidays, Expedia, Thomas Cook, Hotels.com, and more all partner with online easyfundraising, to give your church a way of receiving funding – for free.
How it works is simple. When someone supporting your church books a holiday, the company they book with will send your church a free donation as a thank you at no extra cost to the shopper. All they have to do is also to be signed up to easyfundraising and have your church as their chosen charity.
So, make sure everyone knows that their holiday will help you raise funds at no additional cost to themselves or the church!
Small Grants for Village Halls – apply now if you fit the criteria!
For a limited time grants of up to £5,000 are available to help make modest improvements to rural community buildings in England, such as boiler replacements, insulation, toilet upgrades and new kitchens. This grant is part of the Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund which was first announced in 2022 in celebration of the late Queen’s Jubilee and opens for applications for a short time each year. With little fanfare The Small Grants Fund reopened in November 2025 to use up a small underspend. It will close when all the funding is allocated. Awards can be made to cover 20% of eligible project costs, up to a maximum amount of £5,000. The balance of funding for the works proposed must be in place or at least confirmed within 6 weeks of making an application to the small grants fund. Looking at the website it doesn’t appear to have closed yet so get those applications in and let Ann know if you are successful!
Potential Grants for NZC, Biodiversity and Community Projects
If your church is planning a NZC or biodiversity project and is within 5 miles of Luton Airport do check out this page about the Greener Future Fund on the Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation’s website:
If your church is not located in Bedfordshire its still worth checking out BLCF’s website (link below) as there are 3 grants that are worth looking at which close on 30 March. If you apply do let Ann know how you get on as all feedback about funders helps her direct churches to the appropriate grants available.
6. Good news stories
St Mary’s Watford – switches to green gas
St Mary’s Watford has taken a bold step in caring for creation by switching its buildings to green gas. This practical move cuts emissions now and supports the Church of England’s goal to be net zero by 2030. The parish made the change through the Parish Buying scheme and sees it as part of its journey toward EcoChurch Gold.
7. Upcoming Events
Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust
A Life in Ruins
An illustrated history of church buildings with a Beds and Herts focus
By acclaimed stonemason and author, Andrew Ziminski
Talk with refreshments – 2 pm on Saturday, 21st March, 2026
St Mary’s Church, 61 Church Rd, Stotfold, SG5 4NE
Tickets £10 – Friends of the Trust £8