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THE NATIONAL CHURCHES TRUST SURVEY How the United Kingdom's church buildings are maintained, funded, managed and contribute to their wider communities Registered Charity no. 1119845

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Page 1: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

The NaTioNal

ChurChesTrusT

surveyHow the United Kingdom's church buildings are

maintained, funded, managed and contribute to their wider communities

Registered Charity no. 1119845

Page 2: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

Cover image credits (from top left to bottom right):

1 – National Churches Trust archive

2 – National Churches Trust archive

3 – Volunteer training at Yarpole, St Leonard’s Church, photographer Robert Chitham

4 – 2009 Ride + Stride, photographer Mick Young

5 – Farmers’ market at Yarpole, St Leonard’s Church, photographer William Chitham

6 – National Churches Trust archive

Page 3: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

Registered Charity no. 1119845

The NaTioNal

ChurChes TrusT

surveyHow the United Kingdom's church buildings are

maintained, funded, managed and contribute to their wider communities

Page 4: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

The National Churches Trust is the leading national charity promoting and supporting

churches of historic, architectural and community value across the UK. It advocates:

· The use of church buildings by congregations and the wider community not just as

places of worship but as venues for social, cultural and educational activities.

· The conservation of places of worship of historic value for the use and enjoyment of

future generations.

The Trust, which is independent of government and church authorities:

· Provides grants for the restoration and modernisation of church buildings.

· Supports projects that integrate churches into their local communities and enable

buildings to be kept open.

· Collaborates closely with the County Churches Trusts and local volunteer networks

across the UK in their support for local churches.

· Encourages good management and regular maintenance of church buildings by

providing practical advice, support and information.

· Works to increase awareness by the public and among decision-makers and opinion

formers of the value of places of worship.

For more information, see www.nationalchurchestrust.org and follow the Trust on Face-

book and on Twitter @NatChurchTrust.

This report is available on the Trust’s website. Technical enquiries about the survey and

its data can be made to Charlotte Walshe at [email protected].

Page 5: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 1

C o n t e n t s

Foreword 2

Introduction 3

Key findings 5

Background 7

Methodology 8

Conclusions 11

Acknowledgement and thanks 13

Detailed survey findings 14

I. The building and its use 15

II. The people involved 21

III. Repairs, maintenance and facilities 28

IV. Community activities 37

V. Fundraising and factors for success 48

Appendix 1: Survey analysis and sample balancing 54

Appendix 2: The National Churches Trust Survey 57

Page 6: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

2

The findings of the National Churches Trust’s UK-wide survey highlight the invaluable

contribution that church buildings make to society, to the heritage of our nation and to

the vibrancy of its community life. The results show that without these buildings, the

country would be a poorer place, socially, culturally and architecturally. Equally, they

reveal the future potential of church buildings still to be realised.

The complexities and challenges faced by hard-pressed individuals and volunteer

groups who care for these buildings are not well understood. This report brings some

much needed clarity to the issues they face by providing factual information. It also

shows how the sharing of success stories can help those tasked with keeping churches

in good repair, and inspire and encourage new approaches.

This research demonstrates the value of church buildings, and illustrates the reasons

why we all must work to ensure that the nation’s churches, chapels and meeting houses

are kept in a good state for the benefit of future generations.

Tony Hall, Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE

Richard Best, Lord Best OBE

Professor Eamon Duffy

Dr David Kynaston

Ruth Lea

Kate Parminter, Baroness Parminter

Dame Stella Rimington DCB

Rt Hon Sir Timothy Sainsbury

March 2011

F o r e w o r d

Page 7: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 3

1. Throughout this report, the term ‘church buildings’ should be taken to refer to any Christian place of worship – church, chapel or meeting house.

This survey, looking at the current state of the UK’s churches, chapels and meeting

houses - how they are maintained, funded, managed and the contribution they make to

communities - is the first of its kind. It establishes up-to-date data on a consistent basis

across Christian denominations and places of worship in the UK1.

The UK’s estimated 47,000 Christian places of worship are important in the life of the

nation. They form part of the traditional iconic imagery of towns and villages and are

some of the most architecturally and historically significant buildings in the country.

19,500 – 40% - of them are listed, with churches comprising the biggest single category

at grade I or equivalent.

However, many people have only a hazy idea – if one at all – of how these buildings are

run and paid for, and of their wider role beyond that of their use for worship. Furthermore,

assumptions can and have been made about the operation and contribution of church

buildings to society. This survey hears directly from those on the ground about the facts

of their experiences, successes and challenges.

The survey, which originated from discussions by the National Churches Trust

with heritage organisations, Christian denominations and those that look after church

buildings, was conducted primarily through an online questionnaire. Developed with

the support of McKinsey & Company, it was piloted with groups of potential respondents

before being conducted from April-July 2010.

The survey sought information from respondents in four main areas:

· The building and how frequently it is used

· The physical state and care of the building, and its future needs

· The value of the building to the local community and how it is used

· How the building is managed and financed

The representatives of approximately 17,000 places of worship were contacted directly

by email, and 26 denominations, representing a further 13,000, agreed to contact their

church buildings on our behalf. A further 3,200 places of worship were contacted by post.

At the same time a media campaign was carried out to encourage potential recipients to

participate.

The representatives of more than 9,000 church buildings engaged with this survey,

providing more than 7,200 responses for use in analysis, making it the largest project

of its kind. Responses came from all four corners of the UK, from the Shetland Islands

to the Channel Islands and from Suffolk to Northern Ireland, from buildings over 1,300

years old through to those that opened in 2010. The responses received appear generally

representative of the wider UK picture, both in terms of denominational and geographical

spread.

I n t r o d u C t I o n

Page 8: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

At a time of increasing focus upon the value of volunteering, the survey clearly

identifies the important role churches play as community buildings. They allow local

people both in the congregation and beyond to be involved with an array of activities,

from concerts and counselling to post offices and youth groups.

Whilst the majority of church buildings are in good or fair condition, this does not

obviate the need to recognise that caring for these buildings can be burdensome and

costly. The necessity for regular maintenance and the potential for major repairs drive

the need for continued financial and practical support. UK church buildings do not benefit

from the levels of state assistance seen in some other European countries, and the task of

both raising finance and managing the building often falls to small numbers of dedicated

individuals or groups of volunteers.

4 � i n t r o d u c t i o n

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 5

The findings in this report are based on the responses to the survey. These are either

presented directly or, where stipulated, as estimations for the UK’s church buildings,

calculated using a sample balancing process outlined in Appendix I.

· church buildings are open and being used, for both regular worship and other

purposes. It is estimated that more than 90% of the UK’s church buildings hold

a service at least once a week and that nearly 80% are used for other purposes,

including community activities. It is estimated that more than half are regularly

open to the public beyond their worship services.

· church buildings are significant venues for volunteering. It is estimated that a

fifth of the UK’s church buildings have more than 50 people volunteering in the

building, and even in less populated rural areas more than a third have more than

20. If the sample is representative nationally, an estimated 1.4 million members

of church congregations volunteer in any capacity in their church building along

with an estimated further 200,000 people from the wider community.

· churchbuildingsareimportantculturalvenues. It is estimated that nearly half of

the UK’s church buildings are used for arts, music and dance activities.

· church buildings are key locations for supporting children and young people. It

is estimated that more than half of the UK’s church buildings facilitate activities

such as nurseries, youth groups and additional activities for young people.

· church buildings are significant places for support and counselling. It is

estimated that more than two-fifths of the UK’s church buildings are used

for support and counselling services on issues such as homelessness, drug

and alcohol misuse, finance and debt, parenting and mental health.

· churchbuildingsareimportantintheadministrationofthedemocraticprocess.

More than 4,600 church buildings served as polling places at the 2010 general

election, around one-sixth of the total number of locations used for this purpose.

· churchbuildingscouldoffermoretotheircommunitieswithimprovedspaceand

morevolunteers. Lack of a suitable space and lack of volunteer time are the main

barriers to further provision of community activities – less than 1 in 10 respondents

said they felt restricted by a decision to preserve the building solely as a place of

worship.

· sharing best practice in supporting community activities could benefit other

churchbuildings. Respondents indicated that access to, or sharing of information

on how other churches have been able to provide greater support to the local

community would be of greatest benefit.

· Manychurchbuildingshavekeyfacilities,butthereisroomforimprovement.

It is estimated that more than two-thirds of the UK’s church buildings have

toilets, but that would leave nearly a third without provision. Listed buildings

are generally less well equipped. Buildings with adequate heating, toilets or

tea/coffee-making facilities are more likely to offer additional community

activities.

K e y F I n d I n g s

Page 10: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

· Mostchurchbuildingsareingoodorfaircondition–thoughacriticalnumber

needhelp. 92% of respondents said their building was in ‘good’ or ‘fair’ condition

– 8% said that it was poor or very poor.

· urgentrepairswouldcostanaverageof£80,000tothosebuildingsinthesample

inneedofthem. The three most commonly required repairs identified as urgent

were to rainwater goods, roofs and heating.

· ‘Friends’ groups that support churches are a good demonstration of community

involvement and provide additional funds for church buildings. The results

suggest that there are a significant number of Friends’ groups in existence,

involving thousands of people, of whom more than half are not members of the

local congregation. The Friends’ groups cited by respondents contribute an average

of more than £2,000 a year for regular repairs and maintenance to their building,

and almost £4,000 a year for new or major works.

· church communities often fund the majority of their repairs themselves. On

average, church buildings in the sample meet 85% of urgent repair needs from

their own funds. Where urgent repairs exceed £50,000, this reduces to just over

two-thirds of the total cost. The completion of such major works therefore relies

on attracting other funding. In respect of support received, the specified national

funding source mentioned by the largest number of respondents was the annual

‘Ride and Stride’ event organised by the County Churches Trusts with the support

of the National Churches Trust.

· regular maintenance matters. In the sample, maintenance has a direct positive

impact on the condition of a church – roughly a quarter of churches which do little

or no maintenance are in poor or very poor condition. Church buildings which do

not have regular services are more likely to be in a poor or very poor condition.

· churchbuildingsareplayingtheirpartintacklingclimatechange. Approximately

25% of respondents have undertaken an energy audit, almost a third have improved

the efficiency of their heating system, and those undertaking renovation work are

more likely to use energy efficient materials and systems.

6 � k e y � f i n d i n g s

Page 11: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 7

The National Churches Trust Survey is the first ever exercise of its kind – a national online

survey of the UK’s Christian places of worship, with a particular focus on the buildings

themselves – how they are maintained, managed, funded and used by their communities.

The survey has its origins in a series of meetings which started in 2004 when senior

representatives of heritage and church bodies concerned with caring for church buildings

came together to form the ‘Hoare’s Bank Group’2. These meetings - which eventually

led to the creation of the cross-sector body Places of Worship@The Heritage Alliance3 -

provided a forum for those involved with places of worship to explore areas of common

interest and identify potential future actions. One of the issues identified at an early stage

was the need for current factual information.

Whilst there have been a number of significant pieces of research conducted in recent

years by heritage bodies, regional faith forums and other research bodies into some of

these issues, in most cases these have focused either on particular geographical areas,

denominations or types of building. As an organisation concerned with supporting

and promoting all types of Christian places of worship throughout the UK, the National

Churches Trust has a particular interest in seeking comparable information across

denominations, geographical areas and types of building. This is the gap into which this

exercise seeks to inject new information.

Following initial discussions in 2008, the Trust began work on the project with

the support of McKinsey & Company on a pro bono basis. A working group was

established in early 2009 to provide advice and feedback as the project developed.

2. Named after the group’s initial meeting place.

3. See http://www.heritagelink.org.uk/places-of-worship/.

B a C K g r o u n d

Page 12: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

4. Churches Together is a body which enables Christian denominations in the British Isles to co-ordinate the work that they each do separately. There are subsidiary versions of the organisation in each of the parts of the UK and in most towns and cities. The membership of the CTBI can be found on its website at http://www.ctbi.org.uk/227.

5. Defined as the at least 450 former places of worship declared closed for regular worship and now within the care of specific bodies such as the Churches Conservation Trust, Friends of Friendless Churches, the Historic Chapels Trust, the Scottish Redundant Churches Trust, the Welsh Religious Buildings Trust, the Norfolk Churches Trust, the Norwich Churches Trust and the Ipswich Churches Trust.

Parameters

Estimates of the number of Christian places of worship in the UK vary significantly. Due to

a number of factors involved in the definition, it is not possible to arrive at an agreed total

figure. Churches are both closing and opening each year, and terminology is not clear – for

example ‘church’ can be used to denote a ‘congregation’, rather than a building.

As some groups of worshippers hold services in buildings that have a different

primary function, this can also inflate the overall figure. The following definitions

were used for the survey:

· UK was taken to include England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and also the Isle

of Man and the Channel Islands. This is consistent with the geographical organisation

of the major denominations.

· ‘Christian’ was taken to be a denomination that is a member of Churches Together in

Britain and Ireland4.

· Place of worship was defined as a building whose primary function is for Christian

worship. For some of the questions, respondents were asked to include other buildings

linked to their place of worship (e.g. a church hall) but that was made clear in the

appropriate section of the survey.

· Private chapels and places of worship situated within other facilities – such as

hospitals, prisons, military bases, universities and schools – were not included, and

neither were cathedrals due to the distinct nature of the issues surrounding their

maintenance, funding and use. Those places of worship closed for regular services5

were able to complete the survey, but few did so.

On this basis, we estimate a total church building population of 47,000.

surveydesignandimplementation

The content of the survey was based on extensive consultation with individuals and

organisations from the church and heritage sectors. We considered the sorts of data it would

be useful to collect, what information was in need of updating, and what might not have

previously been collected on a consistent, uniform basis. A ‘long list’ of potential questions

was compiled based on these discussions.

8 �

M e t h o d o l o g y

Page 13: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 9

The questions were structured around four key sections:

· A: Categorisation – questions to gain basic information about the building and how

frequently it is used

· B: Your Buildings – questions to understand both the current state and care of the

building, and its possible future needs

· C: Community Activities – questions to assess the value of the building to the wider

community and how that community interacts with the building

· D: Managing and Funding your Church – questions to understand how the building is

managed and financed

In addition, questions were included to gather opinions of the survey itself and to

determine whether respondents wished to be contacted in the future.

Particular attention was given to ensuring that the terminology used

throughout the survey applied as far as possible to different denominations and

types of church building. Whilst this was generally achieved, the significant

variation in approach and language meant that this was not possible in all cases.

Following its compilation by the end of September 2009, the ‘longlist’ version of the

survey questions was then subjected to testing with potential users. Two focus groups

were held, one in London and one in Worcestershire, involving representatives of church

buildings from five major denominations. On the basis of this feedback, the survey was

rephrased and condensed where appropriate and put to a further level of testing via a

pilot sample. The pilot took place in December 2009-January 2010 and involved 123 places

of worship drawn from those who had previously received grants from the National

Churches Trust. The pilot provided feedback on the content of the survey, and also on the

practical aspects of the online operation and general user experience.

The survey was launched on 16 April 2010 and closed for analysis on 28 July 2010.

The dates were determined by the readiness of the survey and feedback from those

responsible for churches that it should neither commence during the run-up to Easter,

nor continue over the school summer holidays.

contactsandresponse

In order to contact and gather data from as many church buildings as possible, it was

decided to conduct the survey primarily online. Potential respondents were invited to

participate via a personalised email link to a website designed for the survey by specialist

providers SurveyLab.

To this end, a publicly-available email address associated with each place of worship

was sought. These were principally sourced via denominational websites and contact

directories and the websites of individual churches. In this way, we were able to establish

Page 14: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

1 0 � M e t h o d o l o g y

approximately 17,000 direct contact details. In a number of cases, the individuals we

contacted had responsibility for more than one church building, and so this total under-

estimates the number of church buildings that could be contacted via this method.

A number of denominations either provided us with individual contact details, or

agreed to contact their churches on our behalf. 26 denominations agreed to contact their

churches in this way. These represent approximately 13,000 further buildings.

In order to reach places of worship for which we were not able to obtain an

email address and which were not being contacted by their denomination, we also

created a hard copy version of the survey, which was posted to an additional 3,200

places of worship. These were selected on the basis of geographical location and/

or denomination. This was to ensure UK-wide coverage as far as possible and to

provide groups with limited email access the opportunity to participate. A Welsh

language version of the survey was also produced.

Finally a media strategy was implemented to raise awareness of the existence of the

survey, and to encourage those churches that might not have heard of the exercise to

participate. This focused on denominational and local media, including regional media

interviews and a significant number of relevant hard copy and online publications.

A series of reminder e-mailings were sent to those we had either contacted directly,

or who had registered themselves but only partially completed the survey online. A

follow-up letter was sent to those who did not initially respond to the paper survey. The

representatives of more than 9,100 individual places of worship engaged with the survey,

either online or by post. This provided a very encouraging 7,200 responses for use in

analysis.

The responses received are generally representative of the UK picture in terms of

denomination, attendance and building age and location, based on relevant independent

data. There are no current UK-wide figures for community use so we have, in the process

of analysis, utilised such independent data as is available to make estimates for the wider

UK picture. This process enables us to draw the best estimates possible in the context of

the available data at the time of analysis.

A personalised report summarising aggregated responses from comparable churches

has been made available to each participating place of worship that requested this

information.

Page 15: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 1 1

The National Churches Trust Survey establishes new and up-to-date facts about the state

of the UK’s Christian places of worship. Thousands of church communities generously gave

of their time to respond.

Church buildings are essential both to the UK’s heritage, and the vitality of towns and

villages up and down the country.

The survey shows that these buildings bring together thousands of people in a variety

of ways that benefit local communities, with church buildings being used extensively for

purposes beyond worship. It also reveals that many communities are keen to facilitate

wider activities. Open, accessible church buildings provide their communities with a

significant resource, which the National Churches Trust’s programme of community

grants and easily accessible advice helps to develop.

The survey also reveals that a significant number of buildings are in urgent need of

help, and provides quantitative information of the costs associated with maintaining

these often challenging buildings. Although many are in good or fair condition, churches

still require external support to undertake major projects, and the National Churches

Trust provides this support in the form of both money and advice.

Good maintenance practice is fundamental to the Trust’s support and advice for

churches. The evidence of the survey backs our assertion that formal maintenance plans

are vital to sustaining buildings and preventing major structural problems.

Friends’ Groups attract many non-worshipping individuals to support church

buildings, and the survey shows both the value these groups bring and the opportunity

there is to develop this form of support. The National Churches Trust encourages places

of worship to welcome those who are not regular worshippers by providing support to

existing Friends’ Groups and helping in the creation of new ones.

The survey underlines the remarkable contribution of volunteers both in the provision

of community activities and maintaining the church fabric. The Trust is committed to

supporting and strengthening local volunteer organisations, particularly local Churches

Trusts, whilst also seeking to sustain this support over the long-term.

The survey raises some important issues relating to the role and contribution of listed

and unlisted places of worship. Listed churches understandably receive the greatest

attention and are able to attract specific funding as a result. They are a tremendous asset

C o n C l u s I o n s

“Our churches are important to our communities and we must do all we can to preserve and maintain them.”

r t � h o n � d av i d � c a M e r o n � M p

The Daily Telegraph, 21 August 2010

Page 16: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

to our national life, local identity and the historic environment, but may be limited in the

extent to which they can be utilised for other purposes. By contrast, nearly two-thirds

of the UK’s church buildings are unlisted and it is often these that are at the forefront of

facilitating wider community activities. Further debate is needed about how best to assess

the ‘value’ a church building provides to its community – including religious, historical,

architectural, social and economic aspects. The National Churches Trust campaigns for

increased support both for historic places of worship and for unlisted buildings when

these can be shown to provide real community benefit.

This survey does not seek to be the final word on the matter. Given the encouraging

levels of participation, the National Churches Trust believes that the information gath-

ered should be updated in the future, with the aim of increasing levels of participation,

strengthening the fact base, identifying possible trends, and closer examination of

subjects not included in this survey, such as church tourism.

Exercises such as this are essential to a better understanding and appreciation of

church buildings across the UK. The National Churches Trust hopes that this and future

studies will stimulate further debate on the issues raised in this report. This includes both

how to encourage a wider audience to appreciate their very real value to society and how

best to ensure that these buildings are handed down in a good state of repair to future

generations.

1 2 � c o n c l u s i o n s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 1 3

The project was made possible due to the generous financial support of Ian Armitage.

The project was initiated, developed and implemented with the support of McKinsey &

Company on a pro bono basis, and particular thanks are due to Dominic Casserley, John

Drew, Alice Woodwark, Eve Bugler, Matt Clifford, Niall O’Tuathail, Rajdeep Dash and Mark

Roberts. The project was ably supported by Brunswick Arts – Rebecca Blackwood, David

Lasserson and Merrie Ashton. The online version of the survey and its reporting tools

were designed and built by SurveyLab Ltd and we are grateful to John Kemp, Dan Wardle,

Hew Whitefoord and Iftikhar Siddique. Professor John Shepherd from the Rural Evidence

Research Centre also assisted with the statistical analysis. The survey project team at

the National Churches Trust consisted of Matthew Seward, Charlotte Walshe and Jamie

Larkin. Additional research and support was provided by Katherine Parks, Louis Yeboah

and Hugo Chu and other members of the Trust staff also provided assistance and support

– Chief Executive Andrew Edwards, Justine Webb, Alison Pollard, Andreas Kolb, Rhodri

Evans and Ceri Mick. The project team is also grateful for the support of Trust Chairman

Michael Hoare and the Board of Trustees.

Discussions were also held with representatives of every major Christian

denomination in the UK, government and public bodies with responsibility for

heritage, organisations concerned with caring for places of worship and other

historic buildings, charitable trusts and foundations, the County Churches Trusts

and a number of academics and other specialists in the field. In some cases these

individuals spoke to us in a personal capacity and so they are not named in this

report, but we are grateful for the important insight and advice that we received

from all these sources both on the survey design and its implementation.

Finally, we would like to thank the thousands of respondents who took the time to

complete the survey, and those who earlier participated in the focus groups and pilot

survey. Many of these individuals are volunteers, and we are grateful that they saw the

value of the exercise and contributed to the project.

a C K n o w l e d g e M e n t s a n d t h a n K s

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1 4 �

The following sections illustrate the aggregated responses to the survey. The findings are

organised along the following themes:

i. Thebuildinganditsuse

ii. Thepeopleinvolved

iii. repairs,maintenanceandfacilities

iv. communityactivities

v. Fundraisingandfactorsforsuccess

To take account of the profile of the overall church building population, the results have been

balanced where necessary. The use of balanced data in the following sections is indicated

as appropriate, using the term ‘estimated for the UK’s church buildings’. Appendix I outlines

the methodology used for analysing the survey responses in this way.

Four categories are used throughout the analysis to define key types of church

buildings. These topics are widely held by those consulted during the preparation of the

survey as being pertinent in defining a church building, and featured in the first section

of the survey questionnaire:

· Listed status

· Rurality

· Date of construction

· Denomination

detailed� �survey� findings

Page 19: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 1 5

I . t h e B u I l d I n g s a n d t h e I r u s e a s C h r I s t I a n p l a C e s o F w o r s h I p

The National Churches Trust is concerned with supporting church buildings so that they

continue to serve their local communities. Its remit covers all Christian places of worship

through the UK, whether listed or unlisted, urban or rural.

Understanding the condition of today’s churches and how this might vary was

therefore a key building block of the survey. It is also important to understand any

relationship between this and the building’s primary function as a place of worship and

how often it is used for this purpose.

In order to gain an initial overview from those directly caring for these buildings, we

asked participants ‘How would you describe the overall condition of your church?’

· Good – no obvious problems

· Fair – some minor problems and general wear and tear

· Poor – widespread problems

· verypoor – serious problems which require urgent attention

Charts 1 to 3 illustrate how condition, estimated for the UK’s church buildings, can be

affected by listing, location or date of construction.

Chart 1: Overall condition with regard to listed status estimated for the UK’s church buildings

Chart 1 shows that buildings are significantly more likely to be in ‘good’ condition if unlisted,

whereas listed churches are proportionately more likely to be in ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ condition.

0102030405060708090

100

All Churches Listed Unlisted

%

Good

Fair

Poor

Very Poor

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1 6 �

Chart 2: Overall condition with regard to location estimated for the UK’s church buildings

Chart 2 indicates that, with the exception of those in ‘Town/Fringe’ regions, where the

number of buildings in ‘good’ condition exceeds those in ‘fair’ condition, location has little

significant impact on the overall condition. The urban/rural distinctions are those in use

by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Chart 3: Overall condition with regard to date of construction estimated for the UK’s church

buildings

0102030405060708090

100

Hamlet Village Town/Fringe Urban(pop>10k)

%Good

Fair

Poor

Very Poor

0102030405060708090

100

pre 1300 1300-1699 1700-1899 post 1900

%

Good

Fair

Poor

Very Poor

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 1 7

Chart 3 shows that the date of construction is a contributing factor to the condition

of the building. This is most evident for the construction period 1300-1699, when

the low point for good condition and the peak for fair condition are reached. Other

factors, such as the cyclic nature of repairs, will also contribute to a building’s overall

condition over time.

Nevertheless, in all cases the percentage of those in good or fair condition does not

significantly deviate from the sample (92%).

The geographical range of participants was notably diverse.

· Whalsay Church in the Shetland Isles was the most northerly respondent. A

mid-eighteenth century building which is grade B listed; the church facilitates

campaigning and informal meetings, with 25 volunteers – despite its remote

location meaning that they have no water supply.

· The most southerly response came from St Martin de Grouville’s Church, Jersey.

Built in 1000, this unlisted church is open everyday to receive visitors and is

undertaking major renovations to make the building even more user-friendly.

· North Lowestoft United Reformed Church, Suffolk was the most easterly

respondent. A grade II building, constructed in the mid-nineteenth century, it

has good facilities with toilets and a kitchen area. Steps have also been taken

towards achieving energy efficiency, with conversion to a green energy tariff.

· The most westerly response came from Northern Ireland, from Rossorry

Parish Church (St Fanchea’s), Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. The current building

was constructed in 1841, continuing a dedication which began in 1084. It is a

listed building, in good condition and well-maintained. Rossorry is a lively and

thriving parish and provides regular Sunday Services in addition to social and

recreational activities for its local community.

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relationship between building age and location

Participants were asked when the main part of their current church building was

constructed, and were able to enter a date in a free text box on the survey. Construction

dates for the buildings in our sample range between the years 654 and 2010.

These particular responses demonstrate how these buildings are emblematic of

the broad sweep of the nation’s history.

· The oldest non-Anglican building to respond was the Abbey Chapel in Devon,

built in 960. Now owned by an Evangelical congregation, the building is grade

II* listed.

· The earliest constructed building overall in the sample is the Chapel of St Peter

on the Wall in Bradwell, Essex. Built in 654 on the wall of old Roman fort the

building is grade I listed and believed by some authorities to be the oldest

church in England.

· Conversely, the urban church of St Andrew’s in Crawley was just concluding its

construction when they filled in their questionnaire. Services are held several

times a week and many activities for young people are also facilitated.

Chart 4: Date of construction with regard to location

0102030405060708090

100

Hamlet Village Town/Fringe Urban(pop>10k)

%pre 1300

1300-1699

1700-1899

post 1900

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 1 9

Chart 4 illustrates that rural churches tend to have earlier construction dates. However,

the sample provides several examples which go against this overall trend. Two respondents

from hamlets, one in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland, had constructed new churches

as recently as 2005. In contrast, 43 responding urban churches cited a construction date

of 1200 or earlier.

ownership, services and access

We were keen to understand the relationship between a congregation and its place of

worship and how that might impact on the building.

Those using primarily secular buildings or holding services in a place of worship owned

by another congregation were not invited to complete the survey beyond its first section.

We welcomed responses from buildings closed for regular worship, but few participated

in the survey. The overwhelming majority of respondents (98%) have responsibility for, or

ownership of their building. Of these, nearly 10% allow other congregations to use the space.

Chart 5: Regularity of services with regard to denomination estimated for the UK’s church

buildings

Chart 5 shows that over 90% of church buildings hold a service at least once a week, with

this figure rising to 97% amongst non-Anglican churches.

0

20

40

60

80

100

1 or more servicesper week

1-3 services permonth

Less than 1 serviceper month, or no

services

%

Good or Fair Poor or Very Poor

Page 24: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

Chart 6: Overall condition with regard to regularity of services

Chart 6 shows the correlation between buildings where less regular or no services are

held, and those in poor or very poor condition. The role of people – whether as congregants,

volunteers, staff or participants in community activities – is explored in more detail later

in the report.

opening of churches

Participants were asked how often their church building is open to the public outside

services and community activities, and had six options from which to choose.

More than half of these church buildings are regularly open beyond specified services,

with nearly three-quarters of these open for daylight hours or longer. Interestingly,

these churches are divided quite evenly between rural and urban, indicating no greater

tendency for urban or isolated churches to remain open or closed. There is no discernable

link between how ‘open’ a building is and its general state of repair.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Church of Englandand Church in

Wales

Roman Catholic Otherdenominations

%

1 or more services per week 1-3 services per month

Less than 1 service per month No services held

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 2 1

In our work supporting churches, the National Churches Trust deals every day with

the dedicated individuals and groups – many of them volunteers – who are tasked with

caring for these buildings. Along with the national network of County Churches Trusts,

we seek to help them with advice, support and information. We also support the role and

activities of local Friends’ Groups, which can bring together members of the congregation

and non-churchgoers in support of their local church building.

This section therefore provides insight into the numbers of voluntary and paid staff

working in church buildings, to which areas they most readily lend support and how their

time impacts on the uses and condition of the building.

Volunteers

The majority of respondents answered our questions regarding how many people

volunteer in any capacity at their church. Individual responses ranged from zero to over

200 volunteers. In the vast majority of cases (85%), volunteers tended to be members of

the worshipping congregation as well.

Chart 7: Numbers of volunteers per building estimated for the UK’s church buildings

The average church building has 33 people volunteering in any capacity, of which

28 are from the congregation. The responses we received identified a striking

22,781 people who are not members of the congregation volunteering in any

capacity. Assuming relative uniformity given the sample size, we can estimate for

the UK as a whole some 1.6millionvolunteers , 200,000 of which are not members of

congregations. Even just considering the identified non-congregational volunteers

from the responses, these numbers compare favourably with other major sources

of volunteering, for example in conservation7.

I I . t h e p e o p l e I n V o l V e d

20%

22%

38%

14%

5% 1%

0 to 10

11 to 20

21 to 50

51 to 100

101 to 200

201+

7. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds claims to have “over 16,000 volunteers” (http://www.rspb.org.uk/volunteering/about.aspx); the Wildlife Trusts report 35,000 volunteers (http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=helping: volunteer) and the National Trust 55,000 volunteers (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-trust/w-volunteering/w-aboutvolunteering.htm).

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Chart 8: Number of volunteers with regard to location estimated for the UK’s church buildings

Chart 8 confirms that rural churches have fewer volunteers than urban churches, but

does highlight that 38% of rural churches have more than 20 volunteers.

Chart 9: Overall condition with regard to volunteer numbers estimated for the UK’s church

buildings

Chart 9 shows the strong link between the number of volunteers and the building’s

overall condition with a tendency for those buildings with fewer volunteers to be in

poor or very poor condition. Conversely, as the number of volunteers increases so

does the likelihood of the building being in good condition.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Urban Rural

%

0 to 10 volunteers 11 to 20 volunteers 21 to 50 volunteers

51 to 100 volunteers 101+ volunteers

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 50 51 to 100 101+

%

Number of volunteers

Good

Fair

Poor

Very Poor

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 2 3

Chart 10: Proportion of volunteer time spent on various activities

Chart 10 demonstrates that whilst the number of volunteers may affect the condition

of the building, it should not be assumed that caring for the fabric of the church is the

main activity of volunteers. In fact, this comprises less than a third of the time given by

the volunteers in our sample, who focus their efforts on the mission of the church and

community activities.

paid staff

Whilst clergy are the most recognisable paid employees associated with church buildings,

other full-time and part-time staff are employed. In our sample, 515 respondents identified

themselves as having at least one full-time, paid member of staff, excluding clergy. The

number of respondents with part-time staff is significantly higher at 2,196. Many identified

the employment of professional cleaners or maintenance workers on a part-time basis.

Of those in our sample with paid staff, the average number of staff was two, both full time

and part time respectively.

8%

6%

10%

13%

8%26%

29%

Cleaning

Preparing for services

Building maintenanceand repairs

Administration

Fundraising

Faith activities

Community activities

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Chart 11: Employment of paid staff (excluding clergy) with regard to location estimated for

the UK’s church buildings

Within our sample, 2,363 buildings benefit from the employment of paid staff. Chart 11

shows that urban churches are more likely to employ paid staff of any kind. However, for

part-time staff there is less variation between urban and rural churches.

Chart 12: Proportion of paid staff (excluding clergy) hours spent on various activities

Chart 12 highlights that paid staff tend to focus on different kinds of work to volunteers.

Activities associated with the building - such as cleaning, administration, repairs and

maintenance - take up a far larger average amount of time (almost half) for paid staff. In

contrast, volunteers may spend four times longer than paid staff in fundraising. Faith and

community activities take up about half for both groups.

13%

4%

8%

26%

2%

25%

22%Cleaning

Preparing for services

Building maintenanceand repairs

Administration

Fundraising

Faith activities

Community activities

0

20

40

60

80

100

Churches with part-time staffonly

Churches with full-time staffonly

%

Hamlet Village Town/Fringe Urban (pop>10k)

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 2 5

Chart 13: Volunteer numbers with regard to staffing levels

Chart 13 confirms a correlation between the number of volunteers and the likelihood of

paid staff being employed. For those without staff, there is a greater tendency to have a

smaller number of volunteers. For those with paid staff, nearly a third have more than 50

volunteers. This correlation holds for buildings of all sizes.

Friends’ groups

Friends’ Groups provide a means for local people, whether part of the worshipping

community or not, to be involved in supporting what is an important building for them. This

is reinforced by the nearly 5,000-strong response we received to this section of questions

in the survey. Participants had two methods of identifying an existing Friends’ Group, via

a question regarding the successful management of their building, and a direct question

about Friends’ Groups. From the results of these two questions, our sample provides a

total range of 688 to 805 Groups.

Based on those who answered these questions, we can estimate that 9-18% of UK

church buildings already have a Friends’ Group. A further 25% recognise how such a Group

could contribute to a building’s success and 6% are actively considering establishing one.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Those with paid staff Those without paid staff

%

0 to 20 volunteers 21 to 50 volunteers51 to 100 volunteers 101+ volunteers

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Chart 14: Membership size of Friends’ Groups by location

Chart 14 indicates that a greater proportion of urban churches have larger Friends’

Groups. However, the chart also indicates that for our sample, the majority of Friends’

Groups overall have fewer than 50 members. Analysis suggests that location affects the

likelihood of having a Friends’ Group, with 70% of those in our sample being in a rural

location, 30% in an urban location.

For all UK church buildings, we estimate two-thirds of those with Friends’ Groups are

Church of England, 7% are Methodist and 9% are Roman Catholic.

Our findings confirm Friends’ Groups’ ability to engage with non-congregational

members of the local community – they have an average of 52 members, of which

28are from the congregation. Assuming relative uniformity given the sample size,

we can estimate a total of at least 22,000 non-congregational members aiding the

UK’s church buildings through Friends’ Groups.

Chart 15: ‘Age’ of Friends’ Groups

0

20

40

60

80

100

Hamlet Village Town/Fringe Urban(Pop>10k)

%

0 to 50 members more than 50 members

56%

17%

22%

5%

10+ years old

6 to 10 years old

1 to 5 years old

less than 1 year old

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 2 7

Chart 15 shows that over half of Friends’ Groups in the sample are more than ten years

old. It is also encouraging to see that they are still being founded and that the rate of

establishment is increasing i.e. more have been set up in the last five years (1 to 5 years)

than in the five years preceding that (6 to 10 years).

Lastly, we look at the financial contribution of these Groups. We asked participants to

provide the average, annual contribution for ‘regular repairs and maintenance’ and ‘new

works or major changes’.

Average annual contribution for regular repairs and maintenance £2,278

Average annual contribution for new works or major works £3,783

These figures clearly emphasise the impact such Groups can have.

successful Management

In order to better understand which factors ensure the successful management of a

church building, we asked respondents to identify those that they felt they already had,

and those which they believed would be beneficial to instigate.

Of those practices which communities already employ to ensure the successful

management of their building, an active body of volunteers was the most commonly

cited. An effective leader or management team is the next most common. Encouragingly,

nearly one in five of our sample already employs paid staff, in addition to any paid clergy.

We can also consider the importance placed upon those factors these buildings do not

currently have. Participants were also asked to select one of the two options; ‘we do not

have this and it is important’ or ‘we do not have this and it is not important’. The three which

were considered most important, and not currently employed were: an active body of

volunteers, good management of finances and a focus on prevention of repairs including

a regular maintenance schedule.

It is worth noting that in all cases, a substantial number (more than quarter in all

cases) of respondents viewed each item as significant in contributing to the overall

success of their community’s building.

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The work of the National Churches Trust is focused on repairs and maintenance to church

buildings through the provision of grants for repairs; support and advice to those caring

for these buildings; and strong emphasis on the need for regular maintenance. Therefore,

questions regarding these issues were a key feature of the survey.

regular Inspections

Many churches are subject to regular building inspections. These inspections tend to be

carried out every five years and are therefore often named Quinquennial Inspections

(QIs). The majority of the larger Christian denominations recommend that their buildings

undertake these inspections, and for many this is compulsory for their listed buildings.

Participants were asked about the timing, content and utility of their QIs. For those

denominations where inspections are required, the vast majority (70-95%) of each have

successfully carried out QIs in the last five years.

Of those who have had a QI in the last ten years, more than half indicated that the most

recent report prioritised key maintenance and repair needs for the building. However, it is

a concern that less than one in three of this group was provided with estimated costs for

the works. Furthermore, only just under half of respondents received a full explanation

of the report’s content. Encouragingly however, 92% of those who answered the question

indicated they would be using their inspection report to plan future works.

Our questionnaire also highlighted a significant group of 1,593 respondents, who

have carried out regular inspections but feel this is not sufficient. They agreed with the

statement that ‘The report itself is useful but we do not have the resources to follow the

recommendations made’.

Overall, inspections tend to be informative to those responsible for these buildings.

Only 46 respondents claimed their report is ‘too complicated to understand’.

2 8

I I I . r e p a I r s , M a I n t e n a n C e a n d F a C I l I t I e s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 2 9

urgent repairs

In addition to considering the overall condition of the building, the survey also asked

participants for more detail about the condition of specific parts of the church building

and its grounds. Participants were asked to assign one of three conditions to each of

18 areas of the building:

· Good:No expected need for repair for at least 5 years

· Potentiallyatrisk: Needs repair with 1-5 years

· urgent: Needs repair within 12 months

Chart 17: Areas of the building by state of repair

%ofoverallsample*

area Good Potentiallyatrisk urgent

Graveyards 38 9 1

Pathways 59 18 3

Foundations 77 3 1

Rainwater Goods 54 23 7

Walls (External) 61 19 4

Windows 57 21 4

Roof 58 19 6

Spire/Tower 42 11 4

Flooring (Internal) 66 14 2

Walls (Internal) 61 18 3

Paintings 33 11 2

Plumbing 59 9 2

Heating 56 20 5

Electrics 63 15 4

Asbestos 37 4 1

Monuments 38 5 1

Organ 53 15 3

Bells 41 7 2

*Due to varying levels of response for the dif ferent parts of this question, rows do not total 100%.

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Of those repairs identified as urgent, the three most common were:

· Rainwater goods

· Roofs

· Heating

Conversely, of those areas in ‘Good’ condition, the three most common were:

· Building foundations

· Internal Flooring

· Electrics

We can examine whether these urgent repairs are universal, or whether the type of

repair most needed is affected by other factors:

listed status

For all respondents, the two most common urgent repairs are rainwaterGoodsand roofs

respectively. However, listed buildings identify the spire/tower as the third most likely

area in need of urgent repair. Unlisted buildings declare heating repairs are the third most

common urgent repair. This may simply be because listed buildings are more likely to

have a spire or tower, as heating is still the fourth most common for that group.

use of the building

Use of the building for purposes other than regular worship has no noticeable impact

on the order of urgency for repairs. The three most common, in descending order are:

rainwatergoods,roofs,heating.

In our sample just over a quarter of respondents indicated one or more urgent repairs.

More than 1 in 10 of our participants require urgent repair to their rainwater goods and/or

their roof. It is this sub-group we shall now consider in more detail.

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 3 1

Chart 18: Analysis of respondents needing urgent repairs to rainwater goods and/or roofs*

Factortoconsider DivisionProportionofoverallsurveysample

Proportionofthoserequiringurgentrepairtorainwatergoodsand/orroofs

Listed statusListed 62% 72%

Unlisted 38% 28%

Age of building

Pre 1300 14% 18%

1300-1699 16% 19%

1700-1899 42% 43%

1900+ 28% 21%

Denomination

Church of England 61% 68%

Roman Catholic 8% 4%

Other 33% 28%

Location

Hamlet 8% 9%

Village 42% 41%

Town/Fringe 24% 23%

Urban (pop>10k) 26% 27%

* All percentages are based on those who provided sufficient information to determine each factor

Chart 18 clearly shows the significant effect of listing upon the key types of urgent

repair. This is endorsed by the corresponding shift regarding the age of the building and

its denomination, within this sub-group. This is because a large proportion of the listed

churches in the sample are Church of England and built prior to 1700. Location appears

to have no bearing on this sub-group, with 50% of both the overall sample and this sub-

group being urban and rural respectively.

Page 36: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

urgent repair Costs

We asked participants to estimate the total cost of their urgent repairs and to indicate if

VAT was included in their estimate. For those buildings in need of them, the average cost

of urgent repairs is just over £80,000,including VAT.Assuming relative uniformity given

the sample size, we can estimate a total urgent repair bill for the UK’s Christian places of

worship of around £1billionincludingvaT. 8

recent renovation projects

Following feedback from our pilot study, we included a tick-box option to our question

regarding funds already spent on repair projects: ‘We have recently completed/ are

undertaking a major renovation project’. Nearly a quarter of the buildings that responded

had recently, or were still undergoing major structural repairs or improvements.

Charts 19 [i, ii, iii]: Analysis of respondents declaring recent renovation projects

Denomination overallsample% recentrenovation%These percentages

show that denomination type does not play a significant role in a

building’s likelihood of undertaking major

renovations.

Church of England 61 65

Catholic 8 8

Other 33 27

(i)

listedstatus overallsample% recentrenovation%A greater proportion

of listed buildings have undertaken recent

renovation works. This could be due to either

greater repair needs of such buildings or

more easily accessible funding.

Grade I 21 26

Grade II* 28 30

Grade II 13 15

Unlisted 38 29

(ii)

location overallsample% recentrenovation%Rurality alone

does not impact a building’s likelihood to

undertake larger repair/improvement projects.

Hamlet 8 8

Village 42 43

Town/Fringe 24 24

Urban 26 26

(iii)

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8. VAT for these figures was calculated at the current rate at the time of the survey.

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 3 3

Maintenance

Participants were asked which activities formed part of their normal maintenance

schedule, with a list of tasks suggested. Only 2% of respondents carry out none of the

maintenance suggested. The four most common maintenance tasks being carried out

(in descending order) are:

· Checking electrics

· Checking for signs of internal leaks, damp or infestation

· Clearing rainwater goods

· Checking the heating system and boiler

Less than three-quarters of respondents check their smoke alarms and fire safety

equipment. This is either an oversight, or an indication that not all churches have such

fire safety equipment. It is also interesting to note that for those who identified their roof

as in need of urgent repair, only 60% check the roofing materials and clear the area of

moss, birds’ nests or other materials as part of their maintenance schedule.

The survey confirms a positive relationship between formal maintenance and general

building condition. When looking at all UK church buildings, for those in good condition,

we estimate more than 80% carry out regular maintenance, 13% in accordance to a formal

maintenance plan agreed with a qualified professional. Conversely, for those in poor or

very poor condition, barely more than half carry out regular maintenance.

When we consider the relationship between overall condition and maintenance

more closely, we can see why the benefit of maintenance is not more prominent. For the

majority of grant giving bodies in this sector, there is a substantial deficit between the

funds required and the funds available. Many bodies are consequently forced to consider

only those buildings in the greatest need of structural repair i.e. those in poor or very

poor condition. For those buildings which receive grant aid, this is often accompanied by

a request to employ a formal maintenance programme. Potentially as a direct result, we

find that a surprising proportion of those in poor or very poor condition (9%) have a formal

maintenance scheme. We can only imagine how the number of those in good condition

would increase if all buildings were to adopt such a scheme.

Facilities

It is generally held that certain factors may affect a building’s likelihood to have particular

facilities. There were nearly 6,000 responses to the question concerning the basic facilities

available in the church. It was greatly encouraging to see that only 31 respondents had none

of the facilities listed, 28 of which were based in hamlets or villages.

Page 38: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

Chart 20: The presence of facilities with regard to the buildings’ listed status

Facilitycolumna:Proportionofoverallsamplewiththespecifiedfacility

listedstatusofthosewiththespecifiedfacility(columna)*

Listed Unlisted

overallsample 100% 62% 38%

Electricity 81% 62% 38%

Water 66% 56% 44%

Heating 70% 59% 41%

Accessible entrance 63% 59% 41%

Hearing loop 58% 59% 41%

Signage 10% 52% 48%

Servery 40% 47% 53%

Tea/Coffee facilities 59% 57% 43%

Baby-changing facilities 31% 47% 53%

Toilets in the building 53% 50% 50%

*These percentages are based on those who provided sufficient information, in all cases more than 99% of the sub-group identified in column A.

Chart 20 provides a clear indication that more recently constructed churches tend to

be far more likely to have these selected facilities. This is as true for all of the facilities

this survey listed, from those that are relatively simple to install e.g. adequate signage,

to the more complex options e.g. full kitchens/serveries or toilets.

Chart 21: The presence of facilities with regard to the buildings’ locations

Facilitycolumn a: Proportion ofoverall sample with thespecifiedfacility

locationofthosewiththespecifiedfacility(columna)*

Hamlet VillageTown/Fringe

Urban (Pop>10k)

overallsample 100% 8% 42% 24% 26%

Electricity 81% 8% 42% 24% 26%

Water 66% 4% 37% 28% 31%

Heating 70% 8% 40% 25% 27%

Accessible entrance 63% 6% 39% 26% 28%

Hearing loop 58% 4% 35% 29% 32%

Signage 10% 2% 24% 32% 42%

Servery 40% 3% 27% 32% 38%

Tea/Coffee facilities 59% 5% 37% 28% 31%

Baby-changing facilities 31% 2% 23% 35% 41%

Toilets in the building 53% 4% 31% 31% 35%

*These percentages are based on those respondents who provided sufficient information, in all cases more than 99% of the sub-group identified in column A.

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 3 5

Chart 21 shows that town/fringe and urban churches are more likely to have these

facilities. As with listing, this is most noticeable for signage, full kitchen/servery and

baby-changing facilities.

Estimates for the UK’s church building suggest that just fewer than 70% have a

hearing/audio loop fitted, whilst only 14% have adequate signage for the visually impaired.

Likewise, 70% are estimated to have toilets in their church or attached buildings, while

less than half have baby-changing facilities.

energy efficiency

Reducing a building’s carbon footprint is a relatively new but increasingly important

topic, and is the focus of some recent efforts on the part of denominations9. Participants

were asked if they had undertaken any of the following measures:

· Carrying out an energy audit

· Switching to low energy light bulbs

· Switching to a green energy tariff

· Improving the efficiency of the heating system and controls

· Carrying out energy saving work to the fabric e.g. secondary glazing

or roof insulation

· Installing energy generating technology e.g. solar panels or wind turbine

With the exception of fitting low-energy light-bulbs, the most common change was to

the heating system. Despite this, heating systems still stood out as one of the key areas

in need of repair in section B of the survey.

Chart 22: Overall condition with regard to energy efficiency measures in place*

energyefficiencymeasure Good(%) Fair(%) Poor(%) veryPoor(%)

Energy audit 43 50 5 2

Light bulbs and/or green tariff 41 51 6 2

Efficient heating, glazing and/or insulation 45 48 6 1

Energy generating technology 65 32 3 0

*note that the figures for ‘Energy Generating Technology’ are based on a sample of <100.

Chart 22 indicates that for all UK church buildings, it is estimated that energy efficiency

measures benefit the building overall i.e. a greater proportion of those undertaking

significant changes are in good condition. This may be because they have recently

undergone work to install these new and improved technologies.

We must be careful not to ignore the financial requirements for such works. The initial

cost of installing energy-generating technology such as solar panels may currently be

beyond a good number of communities.

9. For instance, see the Church of England’s Shrinking the Footprint campaign http://www.shrinkingthefootprint.cofe.anglican.org/.

Page 40: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

Chart 23: Energy efficiency measures taken and the proportion as a result of undergoing

renovation works

NB: energy generating technology = 0.5% of the sample, 46% of which had undertaken renovation works

Accepting the financial limitations many buildings have with regard to implementing

energy efficiency measures, it is encouraging that a significant proportion of those who

have undertaken these measures have done so as part of a general renovation project.

The use of ‘green’ materials and choices when undertaking renovations is a proficient way

of incorporating these measures into a building.

It is also encouraging to see that the energy efficiency measures in chart 23 are not

limited to unlisted or more modern buildings. For example, of those buildings which have

installed more efficient heating, glazing, insulation and energy generating technology,

more than half are listed, with 30% of those being grade I.

0

10

20

30

40

Energy audit Greenenergy tariff

Heatingsystem

Low energylight-bulbs

Doubleglazing/roofinsulation

Energygeneratingtechnology

% o

f ove

rall

sam

ple

Undertook the measure in isolation Also recently undertook major renovation works

3 6 � i i i . � r e p a i r s , � M a i n t e n a n c e � a n d � f a c i l i t i e s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 3 7

The National Churches Trust believes that church buildings represent vital community

assets and that their future is, in part, dependent upon demonstrating this to the wider

public.

The 47,000 churches in the UK represent one of the largest networks of actual and

potential community buildings. These numbers compare favourably with the 12,000 post

offices10, 10,000 English village halls11, 52,000 public houses12 and 4,500 local social clubs13

across the country.

overview of activities

Survey participants were asked about the purposes for which their buildings are used

other than regular worship. They were also asked to consider various factors which might

affect the frequency and extent of these uses. For the purpose of the survey, “non-worship

faith activities” have been taken to be those activities with a focus on faith or mission, but

not the main regular services.

Chart 24: Purposes for which the buildings are used other than regular worship

Chart 24 provides an overview of the purposes to which the buildings are put, rather

than their frequency or extent. Estimating for the UK church building population as

a whole, nearly 8 in 10 are used for purposes other than regular worship.

I V . C o M M u n I t y a C t I V I t I e s

010203040506070

Non-worshipfaith

activities

Communityactivities

organised bythe

congregation

Communityactivities

organised byothers

Privateevents

None

%

10. The Post Office states that it has “around 12,000” branches: http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content2?catId=20000192&mediaId=103100763

11. According to Action with Communities in Rural England, there are around 10,000 village halls in England: http://www.acre.org.uk/our-work/community-assets/village-hall-information-service/village-hall-research

12. According to the British Beer and Pub Association, there are 52,000 pubs but in 2010 around 28 closed each week (http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/apr/12/general-election-labour-manifesto-pub-closures). Were this closure rate to continue, the number of pubs would fall below the current number of Christian places of worship within four years.

13. As of 2008, there were around 4,500 local social clubs represented by the Committee of Registered Club Associations – whose membership includes the Working Men’s Club & Institute Union, the Association of Conservative Clubs, the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, the National Union of Labour & Socialist Clubs, the National Union of Liberal Clubs, the Royal British Legion, the Royal British Legion Scotland, the Royal Naval Association and the Royal Air Forces Association Branch Clubs: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmcumeds/492/8102803.htm

Page 42: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

The extent of other activities is dependent on people being willing to facilitate them,

people being able to attend them and a building able to accommodate them. Factors that

might affect this are considered in Charts 25-28.

Church buildings facilitate a diverse range of activities. These two cases illustrate

what is already being achieved:

· St Aidan’s Church in Kingston upon Hull is an unlisted, twentieth-century

building. With the help of three part-time staff, they provide a multitude of

community activities, including the running of farmers’ markets and facilitating

the mobile library.

· St Andrew’s United Reformed Church in Ealing provides a home for around 100

hours of community activities a month, ranging from support and counselling,

to youth groups, cultural events and informal meetings.

Chart 25: Occurrence of additional activities with regard to listed status estimated for the

UK’s church buildings

Chart 25 suggests a strong correlation between the listed status of the building and the

occurrence of additional activities, all types of which are more likely to occur in unlisted

buildings.

0102030405060708090

100

Listed Unlisted

%

Non-worship faithactivities

Community activitiesorganised by thecongregation

Community activitiesorganised by others

Private events

3 8 � i v . � c o M M u n i t y � a c t i v i t i e s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 3 9

Chart 26: Occurrence of additional activities with regard to location estimated for the UK’s

church buildings

Chart 26 indicates generally that the more urban a church building, the more likely it is

to perform any of the types of activities listed. The more rural a church, the more likely it

is that community activities will be organised by the congregation, rather than through

the use of space by the local community.

Chart 27: The presence of facilities estimated in those UK church buildings used for

community activities

Chart 27 indicates that, for those buildings which are already used for community

activities, the vast majority have key facilities in place. For the purposes of this chart, we

have taken community activities to include non-worship faith activities, private events

and community activities provided by either the congregation or others.

05

101520253035404550

Hamlet Village Town/Fringe Urban(pop>10k)

%

Non-worship faithactivities

Communityactivities organisedby the congregationCommunityactivities organisedby othersPrivate events

0

20

40

60

80

100

Mains electricity Adequate heating Toilets in the building

% o

f UK

chur

ch b

uild

ings

prov

idin

g ac

tiviti

es

Buildings with this facility Buildings without this facility

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Chart 28: Occurrence of additional activities with regard to volunteer numbers

Chart 28 shows, for each of four ranges of volunteer numbers, the occurrence of additional

activities. It indicates that as the number of volunteers increases, occurrence of all

activities also increases. In all cases, there appears to be an emphasis on providing space

for the community as a whole - as indicated in the first two bars of each group - rather

than for private events.

Charges, Fees and leasing of property

An additional income stream for many churches is the rental of space and charging fees

for activities. We estimate that justunderhalf of all UK church buildings charge a fee for at

least a proportion of their community activities.

Based on actual responses received to this question, we have estimated the following

average charges (excluding anomalous answers):

For respondents who charge for all activities

Community activity: £12.84/hr

Private event: £17.08/hr

For respondents who charge for some activities

Community activity: £17.58 /hr

Private event: £15.93/hr

We asked participants to estimate the number of hours per month that their church

buildings are used for community activities. Overall, the average was just under 70 hours

per month. 55 of these were for activities organised by external individuals or groups.

0102030405060708090

100

0 to 20 21 to 50 51 to 100 101+

%

Number of volunteers

Any activities

Community and/orNon-worship faithactivitiesPrivate events

4 0 � i v . � c o M M u n i t y � a c t i v i t i e s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 4 1

Based on the average charges above, we can speculate that these buildings could be

gainingbetween£8,500and£11,600peryear through this provision.

In addition, over 1,000 respondents indicated they have a long term lease or rental

agreement in place with an external organisation. This brings an average of more than

£8,000 per annum to each building with this arrangement.

use of church buildings for community activities

The questionnaire suggested 25 specific activities which may occur within church

buildings. This list has been grouped for analysis as outlined in Chart 29, and used in the

subsequent charts 30 and 31.

Chart 29: Summarised community activity categories

summarisedcategory activitiesfromthefulllistincluded

Support or counselling

Personal financial support/debt counselling/credit union, housing and homeless support, drug/alcohol support, support for people with mental health problems, other forms of counselling/advice, parenting support, healthy living support

Community improvementCrime prevention/youth offender programmes, campaigning, social enterprise/community business

Educational services Adult education, church educational visits, genealogical research

Secular services Mobile l ibrary, post office, poll ing station, shop/café, farmers’ market

Young peoples groups Nursery, youth groups, activities for young people

Informal meetings Informal meetings

Arts, music, dance Arts , music dance, theatre

Church activities Flower festivals, bell ringing/organ playing

Chart 30: Estimated use of UK church buildings for community activities

categoryestimatedpercentageofuKchurchbuildingsusedforthesetypesofactivities

Young peoples groups 54%

Educational services 43%

Arts, music and dance 43%

Support of counselling 42%

Informal meetings 39%

Community improvement 34%

Secular services 27%

Church activities 27%

Chart 30 il lustrates the high proportion of the UK’s church buildings estimated to

be already engaging with their local communities through the types of activities

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l isted. These noteworthy percentages indicate both a need from communities for

these types of activities, and a desire from those responsible for church buildings

to meet this need.

Chart 31: Breakdown of activities held in church buildings in the last year

Chart 31 shows the number of individual occurrences of the specifi ed activities recorded

by our respondents, and indicates that activities for young people and various forms of

counselling and support are the most commonly occurring overall, with a low ranking for

‘secular services’, such as post offi ces, polling stations and cafes. Th e latter fi nding may be

due to the more signifi cant organisational requirements for the provision of such services

and that some of these activities are relatively recent initiatives.

4 2 � i v . � c o M M u n i t y � a c t i v i t i e s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 4 3

There is clear focus for church buildings to facilitate activities for youngpeople.

· St John’s Methodist Church in Bangor, Wales is a Victorian building which is well

facilitated and maintained. There are plans to use the open space for concerts,

exhibitions and the like, and more than 60 hours of youth activities take place

each month.

· Eaglesham Parish Church just south of Glasgow is a grade I listed church with

a strong congregation and some 60 volunteers. The building makes more than

200 hours of youth activities possible each month.

Beneficiaries and local relationships

We asked participants to identify any groups they felt directly benefited from the

community activities that their buildings made possible. We also asked them to identify

those groups within the local community with which they had an existing relationship.

Chart 32: Beneficiaries of community activities

Group %ageofsample

Elderly people 41

Young people 39

Parents/toddlers 31

Unemployed people 10

People with learning difficulties 9

Those with drug/alcohol addictions 8

Families under stress 8

Ethnic minority groups 7

Users of mental health services 6

Homeless people 5

Asylum seekers/refugees 4

Ex-offenders 3

Chart 32 shows that elderly people, young people and parents and toddlers are those

most frequently identified as benefiting from these activities. This is a similar finding

to other research into the social and community action of faith communities operating

from church buildings. 14

14. For example Faith in Action in the South West (2006) p2, Faith in Wales: Counting for Communities (2008) p20, Faith in England’s Northwest (2003), pp37-38

Page 48: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

When asked to identify any regular contact, connections or relationships with local

organisations, local schools, colleges and universities were the most common. Interestingly,

nearly a third of churches identify a relationship with their local authority, and one in five

with their local political representative.

Factors affecting use of buildings for community activities

Participants were asked to select from a list of possible limitations, to indicate key

reasons why further community engagement may be hindered.

Chart 33: Possible limitations to holding more community activities in church buildings

reason %ofsample

Lack of volunteer time 33

Lack of suitable space available 33

Lack of suitable facilities available (e.g. toilets, parking for the disabled) 28

Financial limitations 24

Lack of volunteer skills and knowledge 23

Lack of interest in community to partake in activities 17

Lack of interest from other organisations to co-run activities 13

Unsuitable access 11

Decision made to preserve the building solely as a place of worship 8

None of the above 3

Chart 33 shows that key limitations to further community engagement appear to be a

lack of suitable space and volunteer time. Remarkably, only 8% of the sample indicates

a need to preserve the building solely as a place of worship. Approximately 60% of this

particular group are either Church of England or Roman Catholic, comparable to the

69% of our overall sample. The remaining 40% is roughly proportional to the other

specified denominations. This would appear to indicate that the decision for many is

taken at the level of individual places of worship.

4 4 � i v . � c o M M u n i t y � a c t i v i t i e s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 4 5

Chart 34: Activities estimated to be taking place in UK church buildings by denomination

Chart 34 demonstrates that a significant proportion of buildings across all denominations

are being used for community activities and other purposes.

Chart 35: Activities estimated to be taking place in UK church buildings by location

Chart 35 confirms that urban churches are more likely to be used for other purposes. It is

worth noting that nearly half of churches in hamlets are used for community activities

to some degree.

0

20

40

60

80

100

Church of England Roman Catholic Other

%

Community activities Private events No activities/events

0

20

40

60

80

100

Hamlet Village Town/Fringe Urban(Pop>10k)

%

Community activities Private events No activities/events

Page 50: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

The role of the national Churches trust and other organisations

We asked participants ‘What practical assistance would be of greatest help to your congregation

in supporting your local community more?’ and provided a list of options. Participants were

asked to select up to three answers.

Chart 36: Practical assistance of greatest use to congregations

Typeofassistance %ofsample

Information on how other churches have achieved this [supporting their local community]

55

Information on assessing local needs 39

Information on how to finance events 37

Assistance in maintaining and improving space 33

Volunteer training 26

Assistance in making facilities more available 26

Information on how to organise events 18

Chart 36 demonstrates a need for clear information and assistance with available space. The

National Churches Trust is committed to promoting best practice and working with volunteer

networks to ensure that support, advice and information are available at both a national and

local level.

additional information on community use of church buildings

In addition to the survey questions we contacted the national offices of 25 organisations

operating in fields including cultural activities, volunteering, health care and promotion,

youth organisations, sport and physical fitness, social care and community groups. The

decentralised and local nature of many of these organisations meant that they did not all

centrally hold accurate information on the use of church buildings by their members, but we

were provided with some useful insights and feedback:

· Alcoholics Anonymous estimate that of the 4,174 venues they use nationwide, 2,104

are church buildings, or 50.4%.

· All but 50 of the 1,502 Boys’ Brigade units use church buildings.

· The majority of the 1,245 Girls’ Brigade units use church buildings.

· The majority of the approximately 5,000 Mother’s Union groups use church buildings.

· 596 of the 658 choirs that are members of the National Association of Choirs use

church buildings for practice or rehearsal, representing 90%.

· Responses from half of St John Ambulance regional associations indicate that 1 in 8

of their meeting places are in church buildings.

4 6 � i v . � c o M M u n i t y � a c t i v i t i e s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 4 7

· The Women’s Institute estimates that around 40% of their 7,000 weekly meetings

occur in church buildings.

· 15 of the 105 Women’s Royal Voluntary Service units (14%) use church buildings,

mostly for kitchen use in order to, for instance, supply ‘meals on wheels’ services.

We are grateful for the assistance of these organisations in providing this information.

use of churches for polling stations

The 2010 general election took place during the period that the survey was live and we asked

participants whether their building was used as a polling station. Taking advantage of the

timing, we also took the opportunity to obtain electoral administration details from the

local authorities responsible for organising the locations of polling stations. We were able

to gain information for 92% of the relevant local authorities15. Of the records we obtained:

· In England 4,060 of 23,978 polling places were church buildings, totalling 17%

· In Scotland, 203 of 2,036 polling places were church buildings, totalling 10%

· In Wales, 305 of 1,819 polling places were church buildings, totalling 17%

· In Northern Ireland, 67 of 624 polling places were church buildings, totalling 11%

Overall across the United Kingdom, 4,635 of 28,457 polling places were church buildings,

totalling 16%.

Given that we were unable to obtain 100% of records, this figure is likely to be an

underestimate, but it nevertheless shows that church buildings make a substantial

contribution to the effective delivery and administration of public elections in the UK. In

some local authorities, church buildings made up more than one third of all polling places.

15. It should be noted that the number of buildings used as polling places is not the same as the number of polling stations (which the Electoral Commission estimates to be around 40,000) – polling stations for more than one polling district can be held in the same building, or ‘polling place’.

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4 8 �

The National Churches Trust has substantial experience over many years in giving

direct support to places of worship in the form of repair grants. As a result we have a

good understanding of the financial realities and pressures on individual churches. For

many communities raising sufficient funds to maintain, improve and use their church

building is an ongoing labour. In the survey we therefore sought to better understand

where money was spent and the key sources of income for these buildings.

annual expenditure

We asked participants to identify the proportion of their annual expenditure typically

allocated to seven principal costs.

Chart 37: Overall average breakdown of annual expenditure

Chart 37 suggests that for the average church building in our sample, the largest single

regular expenditure made is that to their denomination, constituting just over a third.

A similar amount is spent in total on maintenance and general upkeep. It is also worth

noting the minimal expenditure towards community activities, just 4%. This is possibly

thanks to the use of volunteers and the potential income from such activities.

18%

6%

19%

34%

4%

13%

7% Maintenance

Staff costs (exc. Clergy)

Clergy costs

DenominationalcontributionCommunity/culturalactivitiesGeneral upkeep

Donations includingmission

V . F u n d r a I s I n g a n d F a C t o r s F o r s u C C e s s

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 4 9

Chart 38: Average annual expenditure with regard to denomination

Chart 38 shows the breakdown of annual expenditure for the denominations and

denominational grouping indicated. It illustrates a number of key similarities and

differences between the various breakdowns shown.

Chart 39: Analysis of selected annual expenditures with regard to number of volunteers

Average number of volunteers

Expenditure 0 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 50 More than 51

Staff costs (excluding clergy) 4% 5% 6% 11%

Community/cultural activities 4% 5% 4% 6%

Maintenance 26% 21% 18% 14%

General upkeep 16% 14% 13% 12%

Chart 39 shows the proportion of a building’s annual expenditure spent on key

costs. The types of building considered are based upon their levels of volunteers –

broken into four ranges. It indicates that volunteer levels can indeed impact upon

a building’s overall expenditure. As indicated in previous analysis (chart 13), we

28%

8%

14%17%

5%

17%

11%

Roman Catholic

Maintenance

Staff costs (exc. Clergy)

Clergy costs

Denominational contribution

Community/cultural activities

General upkeep

Donations including mission

18%

7%

31%17%

6%

12%

9%

Other denominations

28%

8%

14%17%

5%

17%

11%

Roman Catholic

Maintenance

Staff costs (exc. Clergy)

Clergy costs

Denominational contribution

Community/cultural activities

General upkeep

Donations including mission

17%

5%

12%

45%

3%

12%6%

Church of England

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can see an increase in staffing costs in l ine with an increase in volunteer numbers.

Likewise, costs for maintenance and general upkeep decrease in l ine with more

volunteers, as previously indicated. Interestingly, we see only a very minor overall

increase in costs for community activities (4-5%), despite earlier analysis (chart 31)

which indicated a marked increase in the number of buildings offering community

activities as the number of volunteers increases. This suggests that with a good

volunteer force, buildings can increase the level of activities they offer to the wider

community at minimal extra cost.

It is also interesting to note the number of those in each grouping able to provide a

full breakdown of routine expenditure. Nearly twice as many of those with more than

fifty volunteers were able to provide this financial information than those with up to ten

volunteers.

Funding for repair projects

The results described above concern routine expenditure only. However, along

with many other grant-giving bodies, we are aware that it is the expenditure

outside the norm which can cause substantial difficulties for church buildings and

those responsible for them.

With regard to internal funds, participants were asked to specify the proportion

of total repair costs they have been able to meet with their own funds. For those who

indicated repairs had taken place in the last three years, they had provided, on average,

85% of the necessary funds themselves. However, when we consider those for whom

repair costs exceeded £50,000 over three years, this reduces to just over two thirds of

the project cost. This would suggest that individual churches are able to accommodate

the bulk of the costs of the more common, relatively small-scale repairs, but that major

repair works require external financial assistance.

Vat

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was introduced by the government in

2001. It enables l isted places of worship throughout the UK to reclaim the amount

spent on Value Added Tax (VAT) on eligible repairs and maintenance. The scheme,

which had been due to end in March 2011, has been renewed for the period covered

by the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review (2011-2015)16.

5 0 � v . � f u n d r a i s i n g � a n d � f a c t o r s � f o r � s u c c e s s

16. The renewed scheme excludes works to clocks, pews, bells, organs and professional fees, which had previously been added to the scheme’s scope. The scheme will also now operate to a fixed budget.

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 5 1

Chart 40: Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

Chart 40 shows the breakdown of participants who benefited from the scheme, and also

why those eligible may not have taken advantage of it. Over half of the listed buildings

in our sample have benefited from the scheme. We know that for the period 2009-2010,

just under £15 million was claimed by listed places of worship through the scheme17,

emphasising its importance to these buildings and the value of its continuance.

Chart 41: VAT exemption for places of worship

In addition, all places of worship are able to negotiate VAT exemption on certain elements

of various works, primarily for facilities, access or extensions. Chart 41 indicates how

beneficial this has been to our sample to date.

61%

7%

13%

1%

18% Benefited from thescheme

Did not benefit -unaware of the scheme

Did not benefit - noqualifying works

Did not benefit - formtoo complicated

Don’t know

17. The figure is £14, 963,412.67; House of Commons Hansard Written Answers, 18 October 2010 col 562W.

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other sources of Funding

We asked participants to identify sources of funding from a list that we provided. Participants

could select as many as were applicable. Chart 42 provides the initial breakdown of funding

sources for the sample, as well as indicating the impact of location upon these sources. Note

that for the sample overall, the rural/urban division was 50:50.

Chart 42: Analysis of successful funding for repair projects with regard to rurality

Type of funding

Source of funding

Column A: % of respondents who gained funds from this source

Proportion of column A: RURAL

Proportion of column A: URBAN

Local

Individual donations 54 50 50

Fundraising activities 48 57 43

Legacies 34 47 53

Local donor (£500+) 30 55 45

Rental income 17 22 78

Local organisation 14 55 45

Friends’ Group 8 68 32

Local charity 7 57 43

Loans 7 36 64

Regional

Their denomination 9 28 72

County Churches Trusts 6 76 24

Regeneration funding 2 40 60

Regional Development Agency 1 44 56

National

Other National bodies 11 60 40

Ride + Stride event 8 76 24

Landfill Communities Fund 7 61 39

English Heritage/ Cadw/ Historic Scotland/ Northern Ireland Environment Agency

7 62 38

National Churches Trust 6 67 33

Heritage Lottery Fund 4 54 46

Church Urban Fund 1 11 89

No funding 5 62 38

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T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 5 3

Overall, we can see that individual donations and fundraising events are the most common

forms of local income. For specified national sources of funding secured, the most common

appears to be the annual Ride + Stride event. This annual event, held each September, is

facilitated by the County Churches Trusts and the National Churches Trust and attracts

more than 13,000 participants18.

Chart 42 also indicates some differences between the funding sources of urban and

rural church buildings. For our sample, the urban-rural split was 50-50. Urban churches

tend to secure rental income and denominational funding more successfully than their

rural counterparts. Conversely, rural churches tend to be more successful with funding

from national sources and the County Churches Trusts. This is likely to be connected to

the prevalence of listed buildings in rural areas. There is also a greater tendency for rural

churches to have received no funds from any of those on the list.

Analysis of our sample confirms that for the majority of funding sources, a greater

likelihood of securing funds occurred with those buildings with paid staff working

on fundraising activities. Of these, more than three-quarters secure donations from

congregations and visitors, compared to just over half of those without this resource. For

local donations (of at least £500) the corresponding proportions are 50% to 29% respectively.

It is greatly encouraging that both groups are highly unlikely to fail to secure any

funding from those sources listed (5% for those without paid staff working on fundraising,

4% for those with). This may be because paid staff will have the time to research appropriate

funding sources and complete multiple application processes. They will also have the time

and skills to provide supplementary information and additional communications to those

funders requiring them.

18. For more information see http://www.rideandstrideuk.org/.

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5 4 �

The findings presented in the main body of this report represent the response of our sample,

and where stipulated, estimations for the UK church building population as a whole. The

methodology employed to make this possible was carried out following consultation with

individuals concerned with this subject, and from the field of statistics.

definitions, ranges and anomalous responses

Analysis was carried out following the closure of the survey in July 2010. The following

definitions and ranges were utilised for the analysis:

Definitionorrange Type1 Type2 Type3 Type4 reasonforuse

Listed status Grade I/AGrade II*/B

Grade II/C

Unlisted

Used by English Heritage, Historic Scotland, Cadw and the Northern Ireland Development Agency

LocationHamlet or Isolated dwelling

VillageTown or Fringe

Urban (pop>10k)

Used by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Date of construction Pre-13001300-1699

1700-1899 1900+

Broadly representative of the following architectural periods: Anglo-Saxon /Norman; Perpendicular; Baroque and Regency; Twentieth century

We excluded anomalous answers where it was sensible to do so. This included setting

a lower limit for construction dates and realistic limits to estimated costs of repairs.

The excluded answers also included a particular attendance figure which would have

translated to well over 100 services per week.

a p p e n d I x 1 : s u r V e y a n a l y s I s a n d s a M p l e B a l a n C I n g

Page 59: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 5 5

sample Balancing

Short of a total 100% response, the recognised way to approximate a population’s response

is to employ a statistical balancing methodology. For the purposes of this survey, we were

advised to employ a ‘sample balancing’ methodology. This process was carried out with

the support of McKinsey and Company following the survey’s closure.

Sample balancing is the most appropriate method where there are certain characteristics

present in the population being surveyed that may affect both the response rate and the kind

of responses received. If we failed to take this into account, our population estimates would

be unrepresentative. Likewise, simply multiplying figures would be equally misleading.

For this survey, the following characteristics for balancing were agreed:

· Denominational sub-groups: Church of England and Church in Wales, Roman Catholic

and Other denominations

· Attendance

· Grade of listing

· Urban/Rural distinction

· Country

It is best practice to implement sample balancing on distinct sub-groups of the population

separately, using reliable data for the distribution of the other relevant characteristics for

each sub-group. This is outlined in Table 1:

variablesproposedforindependentsamplebalancingofeachofthethreedenominationalsub-groupings

Church of England and Church in Wales

RC church in UK Other UK Churches

Denomination n/a n/a Yes

Attendance Yes Yes Yes

Grade of listing Yes Yes Yes

Type of location (rural, urban etc)

Yes Yes Yes

Country Yes Yes Yes

We then re-balanced the weighted data sets to achieve the correct proportion of

responses for each sub-group as a whole. This ensures not just that responses

are correctly distributed within each sub-group, but that the overall distribution

approaches the UK church building population. For each characteristic which we

wished to balance in our sample, we used independent data sources available

at the time of the analysis. This was derived from denominations, government

bodies, heritage bodies and other specialist research.

Page 60: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

5 6 � a p p e n d i x � 1 : � s u r v e y � a n a l y s i s � a n d � s a M p l e � b a l a n c i n g

responses received

9,100 representatives of church buildings engaged with the survey, either online or by

post. In order to analyse a response, we required the information given to be sufficient to

clearly identify the building. This resulted in more than 7,200 responses to consider. The size

and quality of the raw dataset meant it already closely mapped to the UK church building

population, in terms of the characteristics identified for our balancing. For the purposes of

our balancing, we required each response to satisfy each characteristic listed, in order to

provide an accurate overall weighting factor. Thus the balanced data set consisted of more

than 5,100 records – an impressive retention rate of over 70%.

The raw sample illustrates the various preferences for engaging with the survey:

· In response to a direct e-mailing 77%

· By post 11%

· Self-registering online 12%

Page 61: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

T h e n a T i o n a l c h u r c h e s T r u s T — s u r v e y � 5 7

a p p e n d I x 2 : t h e n a t I o n a l C h u r C h e s t r u s t s u r V e y

Below is an illustration of the dedicated survey website, followed by a full copy of the

paper version of the survey.

Page 62: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 1 -

Th

e N

ati

on

al

Ch

urc

hes

Tru

st S

urv

ey

20

10

Than

k yo

u fo

r ta

king

the

tim

e to

fill

in t

his

ques

tion

nair

e. P

leas

e an

swer

as

man

y qu

esti

ons

as y

ou

are

able

to.

You

can

ask

col

leag

ues

for

help

and

sen

d us

par

tial

ly c

ompl

eted

res

pons

es. I

f you

w

ould

pre

fer

to c

ompl

ete

the

surv

ey o

nlin

e, ju

st v

isit

htt

p://

surv

ey.n

atio

nalc

hurc

hest

rust

.org

.

We

wou

ld b

e gr

atef

ul t

o re

ceiv

e yo

ur r

espo

nses

by

Frid

ay 1

1th

June

201

0, b

ut p

leas

e do

get

in

touc

h if

you

wou

ld li

ke to

take

par

t bu

t w

ill n

eed

mor

e ti

me

to c

oord

inat

e a

resp

onse

.

Whe

n co

mpl

etin

g th

is q

uest

ionn

aire

, ple

ase

bear

in m

ind

the

follo

win

g:

- We

use

the

wor

d 'c

ongr

egat

ion'

thro

ugho

ut th

e su

rvey

to r

efer

to y

our

wor

ship

ping

co

mm

unity

, and

‘chu

rch’

to r

efer

to y

our c

hurc

h, c

hape

l or m

eetin

g ho

use.

- In

sect

ions

A, C

and

D w

e as

k ab

out y

our

'chu

rch

build

ings

'. Pl

ease

incl

ude

the

chur

ch

itsel

f and

any

hal

ls, a

ttac

hed

room

s an

d ou

tsid

e ar

eas.

In S

ectio

n B

we

are

aski

ng

ques

tions

abo

ut y

our

chur

ch, c

hape

l or m

eetin

g ho

use

only

.

- We

have

sou

ght t

o pr

ovid

e en

ough

spa

ce fo

r you

to a

nsw

er e

ach

ques

tion,

if th

is is

not

th

e ca

se, p

leas

e fe

el fr

ee to

writ

e in

the

free

spa

ce b

esid

e th

e qu

estio

n, o

r on

a se

para

te

shee

t, in

dica

ting

whi

ch q

uest

ion/

s yo

ur a

nsw

er/s

cor

resp

ond

to.

- Thi

s qu

estio

nnai

re is

ope

n to

chu

rch

build

ings

clo

sed

for w

orsh

ip. I

f thi

s is

app

licab

le to

yo

ur b

uild

ing,

ple

ase

indi

cate

this

in q

uest

ion

2 of

Sec

tion

A a

nd fe

el fr

ee to

leav

e bl

ank

any

ques

tions

whi

ch a

re n

ot a

pplic

able

to y

ou th

roug

hout

the

surv

ey.

Sect

ion

A: C

ateg

oris

atio

n

(10

qu

esti

ons)

1. P

leas

e co

mpl

ete

the

follo

win

g de

tails

abo

ut y

our

chur

ch:

Nam

e of

you

r ch

urch

e.

g. S

t Geo

rges

Chu

rch

Tow

n e.

g. B

radl

ow

Pref

erre

d em

ail a

ddre

ss

Post

code

e.

g. K

T17

1LB

2. W

hich

sta

tem

ent

mos

t ac

cura

tely

des

crib

es y

our

cong

rega

tion

's r

elat

ions

hip

to y

our

chur

ch b

uild

ing?

(Ple

ase

tick

the

one

whi

ch b

est a

pplie

s)

W

e ow

n/ar

e re

spon

sibl

e fo

r a

chur

ch b

uild

ing

and

are

the

only

con

greg

atio

n

We

own/

are

resp

onsi

ble

for

a ch

urch

bui

ldin

g an

d al

low

oth

er c

ongr

egat

ions

to

use

it

We

use

a ch

urch

bui

ldin

g th

at b

elon

gs to

ano

ther

con

greg

atio

n *

W

e us

e a

prim

arily

sec

ular

bui

ldin

g/ro

om (e

.g. a

sch

ool)

W

e ar

e cu

rren

tly c

arin

g fo

r a

chur

ch w

hich

is li

sted

as

clos

ed fo

r w

orsh

ip

* W

hat o

ther

con

greg

atio

ns u

se y

our

chur

ch b

uild

ing?

: ___

____

____

____

_

- 2 -

3. T

o w

hich

den

omin

atio

n do

es y

our

cong

rega

tion

bel

ong?

(P

leas

e tic

k th

e on

e th

at b

est a

pplie

s)

Ba

ptis

t

Chur

ch in

Wal

es

Ch

urch

of E

ngla

nd

Ch

urch

of I

rela

nd

Ch

urch

of S

cotla

nd

Co

ngre

gatio

nal F

eder

atio

n

Free

Chu

rche

s in

clud

ing

the

Free

Ch

urch

of S

cotla

nd a

nd th

e U

nite

d Fr

ee C

hurc

h of

Sco

tland

Met

hodi

st M

orav

ian

Pe

ntec

osta

l

Pr

esby

teri

an

Pr

esby

teri

an C

hurc

h in

Wal

es

Ro

man

Cat

holic

Salv

atio

n A

rmy

Sc

ottis

h Ep

isco

pal C

hurc

h

Soci

ety

of F

riend

s

Uni

on o

f Wel

sh In

depe

nden

ts

U

nite

d Re

form

ed C

hurc

h

Loca

l ecu

men

ical

pro

ject

(ple

ase

spec

ify):

____

____

____

___

O

ther

(ple

ase

spec

ify) :

__

____

____

____

_

4. W

hen

was

the

mai

n pa

rt o

f you

r cu

rren

t ch

urch

bui

ldin

g co

nstr

ucte

d?

If yo

u ar

e un

sure

of t

he e

xact

yea

r, p

leas

e gi

ve a

n es

timat

e (e

.g. 1

800)

.

____

____

___

5. W

hich

bes

t des

crib

es th

e lo

cati

on o

f you

r ch

urch

?

(Ple

ase

tick

the

one

whi

ch b

est a

pplie

s)

H

amle

t or I

sola

ted

dwel

ling

Vi

llage

Tow

n or

Fri

nge

Urb

an (o

ver

10,0

00 r

esid

ents

)

6. O

n av

erag

e, h

ow fr

eque

ntly

are

reg

ular

ser

vice

s he

ld?

Plea

se c

ount

eac

h in

divi

dual

ser

vice

but

do

not i

nclu

de w

eddi

ngs,

fune

rals

, or b

aptis

ms.

Se

rvic

es a

re a

ny o

ccas

ion

of p

ublic

wor

ship

, whi

ch m

ay o

nly

invo

lve

a sm

all n

umbe

r of

peop

le. R

emem

ber t

o co

unt e

ach

serv

ice

indi

vidu

ally

; eve

n if

two

occu

r on

the

sam

e da

y (e

.g. o

n Su

nday

)

Fo

ur o

r m

ore

serv

ices

per

wee

k

Two

or th

ree

serv

ices

per

wee

k

O

ne s

ervi

ce p

er w

eek

Tw

o to

thre

e tim

es p

er m

onth

One

ser

vice

per

mon

th

Fi

fth

Sund

ay o

f a m

onth

Less

than

one

ser

vice

eve

ry fi

fth

Sund

ay

N

o se

rvic

es h

eld

7. O

utsi

de o

f ser

vice

s an

d co

mm

unit

y ac

tivi

ties

, how

oft

en is

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

g op

en to

th

e pu

blic

? (P

leas

e tic

k th

e on

e w

hich

bes

t app

lies

– lis

t con

tinue

s on

the

next

pag

e)

N

ot o

pen

othe

r tha

n fo

r ser

vice

s an

d co

mm

unity

act

iviti

es

O

pen

only

on

requ

est

O

pen

only

at r

egul

ar s

peci

fied

times

; at l

east

onc

e a

mon

th

Page 63: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 3 -

O

pen

only

at r

egul

ar s

peci

fied

times

; at l

east

onc

e a

wee

k

O

pen

daily

- da

ylig

ht h

ours

onl

y

Ope

n da

ily -

mor

e th

an d

aylig

ht h

ours

8. P

leas

e in

dica

te th

e to

tal a

tten

danc

e at

this

chu

rch

on S

unda

y 11

th A

pril

2010

. If

ther

e w

as n

o se

rvic

e on

that

dat

e, o

r the

info

rmat

ion

is n

ot a

vaila

ble;

ple

ase

give

figu

res

for t

he m

ost r

ecen

t Sat

urda

y/Su

nday

on

whi

ch th

e co

ngre

gatio

n m

et fo

r wor

ship

.

Tota

l num

ber o

f adu

lts (a

ged

15 a

nd a

bove

) att

endi

ng a

ny s

ervi

ce o

n th

is d

ate:

__

____

____

Tota

l num

ber o

f chi

ldre

n (a

ged

14 a

nd u

nder

) att

endi

ng a

ny s

ervi

ce o

n th

is

date

:___

____

____

Estim

ated

num

ber o

f peo

ple

atte

ndin

g m

ore

than

one

ser

vice

on

this

dat

e:

____

____

___

9. H

ow m

any

peop

le c

an b

e ac

com

mod

ated

for w

orsh

ip a

t yo

ur c

hurc

h?

Num

ber

of p

eopl

e: _

____

____

__

10. I

s yo

ur c

hurc

h lis

ted?

D

esig

nate

d as

hol

ding

nat

iona

l int

eres

t and

her

itage

val

ue: i

n En

glan

d by

DCM

S; in

Wal

es b

y Ca

dw; i

n N

orth

ern

Irel

and

by N

IEA

; and

in S

cotla

nd b

y H

isto

ric

Scot

land

. Ple

ase

answ

er w

ith

resp

ect t

o th

e m

ain

build

ing

Ye

s –

Gra

de I

/ A

Yes

– G

rade

II*

/ B

Ye

s –

Gra

de II

/ C

No

If yo

u ha

ve a

ny fu

rthe

r com

men

ts, p

leas

e en

ter t

hem

in th

e sp

ace

prov

ided

at t

he e

nd o

f the

qu

estio

nnai

re.

Sect

ion

B: Y

our

Bu

ild

ings

(1

0 q

ues

tion

s)

Build

ing

a co

nvin

cing

cas

e fo

r th

e ca

re o

f chu

rche

s re

quir

es a

fact

ual u

nder

stan

ding

of

thei

r cu

rren

t rep

air

and

mai

nten

ance

nee

ds.

Plea

se n

ote

that

in t

his

sect

ion

ques

tion

s ap

ply

only

to

the

'chu

rch'

, and

not

its

asso

ciat

ed

build

ings

.

1. H

ow w

ould

you

des

crib

e th

e ov

eral

l con

diti

on o

f you

r ch

urch

? (P

leas

e tic

k th

e on

e w

hich

bes

t app

lies)

G

ood

– no

obv

ious

pro

blem

s

Fair

– s

ome

min

or p

robl

ems

and

gene

ral w

ear a

nd te

ar

Po

or –

wid

espr

ead

prob

lem

s

Very

poo

r –

seri

ous

prob

lem

s w

hich

requ

ire

urge

nt a

tten

tion

- 4 -

2. In

whi

ch y

ear

was

you

r la

st R

egul

ar B

uild

ing

Insp

ecti

on e

.g. Q

uinq

uenn

ial?

A

Qui

nque

nnia

l ins

pect

ion

is a

five

-yea

rly

insp

ectio

n of

the

chur

ch b

uild

ing,

ca

rrie

d ou

t by

a qu

alifi

ed C

hurc

h A

rchi

tect

or

Surv

eyor

(Ple

ase

tick

the

one

whi

ch b

est

appl

ies)

20

10

20

09

20

08

20

07

20

06

20

05

Be

fore

200

5

We

are

not r

equi

red

by o

ur d

enom

inat

ion

to c

arry

one

out

Don

't kn

ow

3. W

hich

of t

he fo

llow

ing

reco

mm

ende

d co

nten

t is

incl

uded

in y

our

mos

t rec

ent

Regu

lar

Build

ing

Insp

ecti

on?

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

)

It

iden

tifie

s ne

cess

ary

mai

nten

ance

/rep

airs

for t

he s

truc

ture

, ext

erio

r & in

teri

or

of th

e bu

ildin

g

It

add

ress

es a

ny v

alua

ble,

mov

eabl

e ob

ject

s, r

uins

and

any

tree

s un

der

a Tr

ee

Pres

erva

tion

Ord

er

It

prio

ritis

es n

eces

sary

mai

nten

ance

/rep

airs

acc

ordi

ng to

urg

ency

It e

stim

ates

how

muc

h re

com

men

ded

mai

nten

ance

/ re

pair

s w

ill c

ost

D

on't

know

4. W

as y

our

Regu

lar

Build

ing

Insp

ecti

on u

sefu

l in

dete

rmin

ing

urge

nt r

epai

rs a

nd/o

r ta

rget

ing

area

s in

nee

d of

reg

ular

mai

nten

ance

? (P

leas

e tic

k on

e ite

m fo

r eac

h lin

e be

low

)

Ye

s N

o D

on't

kno

w

The

arch

itect

/sur

veyo

r ex

plai

ned

the

cont

ent o

f the

rep

ort t

o ou

r ch

urch

The

arch

itect

/sur

veyo

r ad

vise

d on

th

e w

orks

req

uire

d an

d w

heth

er

addi

tiona

l spe

cial

ist a

dvic

e w

as

nece

ssar

y

We

are

usin

g it

to h

elp

plan

futu

re

mai

nten

ance

and

/or

repa

irs

The

repo

rt it

self

is u

sefu

l but

we

do

not h

ave

the

reso

urce

s to

follo

w th

e re

com

men

datio

ns m

ade

The

repo

rt is

too

com

plic

ated

to

unde

rsta

nd

The

repo

rt d

oes

not p

rovi

de e

noug

h in

form

atio

n to

hel

p pl

an

mai

nten

ance

and

/or

repa

irs

Page 64: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 5 -

5. W

hat

is th

e cu

rren

t con

diti

on o

f the

follo

win

g pa

rts

of y

our

chur

ch a

nd it

s su

rrou

ndin

g ar

eas?

(Ple

ase

tick

the

optio

ns th

at a

pply

)

Are

a

Goo

d:

No

expe

cted

nee

d fo

r re

pair

for

at le

ast

5 ye

ars

Pote

ntia

lly a

t ri

sk:

Nee

ds r

epai

r w

ithin

1-5

yea

rs

Urg

ent:

N

eeds

rep

air

with

in 1

2 m

onth

s G

rave

yard

s

Path

way

s an

d ha

rd

stan

ding

s

Build

ing

foun

datio

ns

Ra

inw

ater

goo

ds (e

.g.

gutt

erin

g an

d dr

ains

)

Exte

rnal

wal

ls

W

indo

ws

(inc.

sta

ined

gla

ss)

Ro

of

Sp

ire/

Bel

l Tow

er

In

tern

al fl

oorin

g

Inte

rnal

wal

ls

W

all p

aint

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Plum

bing

Hea

ting

El

ectr

ics

Pr

esen

ce o

f asb

esto

s

Mon

umen

ts

O

rgan

Bells

6. O

f tho

se a

reas

you

iden

tifie

d as

in n

eed

of u

rgen

t re

pair

, wha

t is

thei

r to

tal e

stim

ated

co

st?

£ __

____

____

_

Plea

se in

dica

te if

this

figu

re in

clud

es V

AT

Que

stio

ns 7

, 8 a

nd 9

dea

l fir

st w

ith

repa

irs

then

wit

h m

aint

enan

ce. F

or r

epai

rs d

o no

t in

clud

e sc

hedu

led

mai

nten

ance

, day

-to-

day

care

(e.g

. cle

anin

g) o

r re

deco

rati

on

7. In

the

past

thr

ee y

ears

, ple

ase

esti

mat

e ho

w m

uch

in to

tal h

as b

een

spen

t on

rep

airs

Incl

ude

all m

oney

spe

nt fr

om b

oth

inte

rnal

and

ext

erna

l sou

rces

.

Excl

ude

repa

ir w

ork

perf

orm

ed b

y vo

lunt

eers

£ __

____

____

_

Plea

se in

dica

te if

this

figu

re in

clud

es V

AT

W

e ha

ve r

ecen

tly c

ompl

eted

/ ar

e un

dert

akin

g a

maj

or r

enov

atio

n pr

ojec

t

- 6 -

8. W

hich

of t

he fo

llow

ing

acti

viti

es fo

rm p

art o

f you

r no

rmal

mai

nten

ance

sc

hedu

le?

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

)

M

aint

aini

ng g

roun

ds a

nd g

rave

yard

s

Clea

ring

rai

nwat

er g

oods

(gut

ters

and

dow

n pi

pes)

Clea

ring

acc

essi

ble

drai

ns a

nd m

anho

les

Ch

ecki

ng a

nd r

epai

ring

the

cond

ition

of t

he ro

of-c

over

ing

mat

eria

ls (t

iles,

she

et

met

al, t

hatc

h)

Cl

eari

ng b

lock

ages

on

roof

cau

sed

by la

rge

area

s of

mos

s, b

irds’

nes

ts o

r oth

er

mat

eria

ls

Ch

ecki

ng d

amag

e to

tow

ers

and

stee

ples

Chec

king

for s

truc

tura

l pro

blem

s an

d da

mag

e to

the

wal

ls e

.g. e

xter

nal d

amp

Ke

epin

g ve

ntila

tion

clea

r

Chec

king

for a

nd r

epai

ring

dam

age

to d

oors

, win

dow

s an

d th

eir f

ram

es

Ch

ecki

ng fo

r int

erna

l sig

ns o

f lea

ks, d

amp

or in

fest

atio

n

Chec

king

the

cond

ition

of t

he fl

oor

Chec

king

toile

ts, t

aps,

bas

ins

and

sink

s ar

e in

wor

king

ord

er

Ch

ecki

ng e

lect

rica

l sys

tem

s an

d ap

plia

nces

are

in w

orki

ng o

rder

Chec

king

the

heat

ing

syst

em a

nd b

oile

r ar

e in

wor

king

ord

er

Te

stin

g sm

oke

alar

ms

and

fire

safe

ty e

quip

men

t (in

clud

ing

light

ing

cond

ucto

rs

whe

re a

pplic

able

)

Non

e of

the

abov

e

9. B

ased

on

the

list i

n th

e pr

evio

us q

uest

ion,

ove

r th

e la

st te

n ye

ars

how

freq

uent

ly h

as

mai

nten

ance

bee

n ca

rrie

d ou

t? (P

leas

e tic

k th

e on

e w

hich

bes

t app

lies)

N

o m

aint

enan

ce c

arri

ed o

ut

M

aint

enan

ce c

arrie

d ou

t inf

requ

ently

Mai

nten

ance

car

ried

out a

nnua

lly

M

aint

enan

ce c

arrie

d ou

t at r

egul

ar in

terv

als

as a

pplic

able

to e

ach

task

(e

.g. m

onth

ly li

ghtin

g ch

ecks

and

ann

ual s

ervi

cing

of t

he b

oile

r)

M

aint

enan

ce c

arrie

d ou

t at r

egul

ar in

terv

als

as a

pplic

able

to e

ach

task

, to

a fo

rmal

mai

nten

ance

sch

edul

e as

agr

eed

with

a q

ualif

ied

prof

essi

onal

10. W

hat f

acili

ties

doe

s yo

ur c

hurc

h ha

ve?

Do

not i

nclu

de to

ilets

sol

ely

avai

labl

e to

cle

rgy

and/

or s

taff

(P

leas

e tic

k al

l app

ly –

list

con

tinue

s on

the

next

pag

e)

M

ains

ele

ctri

city

Mai

ns w

ater

Ade

quat

e he

atin

g

A fu

lly a

cces

sibl

e en

tran

ce (e

.g. w

ith a

ram

p or

lift

)

Hea

ring

loop

/aud

io lo

op

Si

gnag

e fo

r tho

se w

ith a

vis

ual i

mpa

irm

ent

Se

rver

y/a

kitc

hen

with

food

mak

ing/

stor

age

faci

litie

s

Tea/

coff

ee m

akin

g fa

cilit

ies

Page 65: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 7 -

Ba

by c

hang

ing

faci

litie

s

Toile

t/s

with

in th

e ch

urch

or i

ts a

ttac

hed

build

ings

(e.g

. mee

ting

room

s)

To

ilet/

s in

you

r chu

rch

hall,

whi

ch is

not

att

ache

d to

you

r chu

rch

build

ing

To

ilet/

s in

ano

ther

org

anis

atio

n's

build

ing,

to w

hich

you

hav

e ac

cess

We

will

sho

rtly

be/

are

inst

allin

g to

ilets

in th

e ch

urch

or i

ts a

ttac

hed

build

ings

Non

e of

the

abov

e

If yo

u ha

ve a

ny fu

rthe

r com

men

ts, p

leas

e en

ter t

hem

in th

e sp

ace

prov

ided

at t

he e

nd o

f the

qu

estio

nnai

re.

Sect

ion

C: C

omm

un

ity

Act

ivit

ies

(15

qu

esti

ons)

Ass

essi

ng th

e va

lue

to th

e co

mm

unit

y th

at c

hurc

h bu

ildin

gs p

rovi

de

If yo

u ha

ve a

ny o

ther

com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ities

whi

ch a

re d

ue/

cont

ract

ed to

sta

rt im

min

ently

, pl

ease

feel

free

to in

clud

e th

em in

this

sec

tion.

If o

ther

con

greg

atio

ns u

se y

our

chur

ch

build

ings

for

com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ities

, ple

ase

ende

avou

r to

incl

ude

thes

e in

you

r an

swer

s to

this

se

ctio

n.

1. O

VER

VIE

W O

F A

CTIV

ITIE

S:

Are

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs u

sed

for

purp

oses

oth

er th

an r

egul

ar w

orsh

ip?

(P

leas

e tic

k al

l tha

t app

ly)

N

on-w

orsh

ip fa

ith a

ctiv

ities

(e.g

. dis

cipl

eshi

p gr

oups

)

Com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ities

org

anis

ed b

y th

e co

ngre

gatio

n

Com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ities

org

anis

ed b

y th

e w

ider

com

mun

ity (e

.g. m

othe

rs a

nd to

ddle

rs)

Pr

ivat

e ev

ents

(e.g

. Bir

thda

y pa

rtie

s)

N

one

of th

e ab

ove

2. U

SE O

F SP

ACE

: H

ow m

any

hour

s pe

r m

onth

(app

roxi

mat

ely)

are

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs u

sed

for

the

follo

win

g ac

tivi

ties

?

Are

as/T

ype

of b

uild

ing

Com

mun

ity

acti

viti

es

orga

nise

d by

the

co

ngre

gati

on

Com

mun

ity

acti

viti

es r

un b

y ex

tern

al

orga

nisa

tion

s

Wor

ship

spa

ce

____

____

____

__

____

____

__

Chur

ch h

all

____

____

____

__

____

____

__

Oth

er

(e.g

. com

mun

ity b

uild

ings

/mee

tings

ro

oms)

__

____

____

__

____

____

____

3. D

o yo

u ch

arge

a fe

e fo

r an

y of

the

acti

viti

es id

enti

fied

in Q

uest

ion

2?

Ye

s - f

or a

ll ac

tiviti

es

Y

es -

for

som

e ac

tiviti

es

N

o

- 8 -

If y

es...

.

Act

ivit

y

£ Ch

arge

per

hou

r If

you

do n

ot c

harg

e pl

ease

put

0.If

you

cha

rge

seve

ral d

iffer

ent r

ates

, ple

ase

estim

ate

an a

vera

ge

Com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ities

__

____

____

__

Priv

ate

even

ts

____

____

____

4. A

re a

ny a

reas

of y

our c

hurc

h bu

ildin

gs le

ased

or r

ente

d to

oth

er o

rgan

isat

ions

for

regu

lar,

long

-ter

m u

se (e

.g. a

reg

ular

nur

sery

)?

Ye

s, p

leas

e es

timat

e yo

ur to

tal a

nnua

l inc

ome

from

this

sou

rce/

s: £

___

____

____

_

No

5. D

o an

y of

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs c

onta

in a

flex

ible

, ope

n sp

ace

to a

ccom

mod

ate

mor

e th

an 5

0 pe

ople

? (e

.g. f

or e

xhib

itio

ns, b

lood

don

atio

n, to

ddle

rs g

roup

, pol

ling

stat

ion)

Ye

s - a

nd w

e us

e th

e sp

ace

for e

vent

s lik

e th

ose

liste

d

Yes

- we

are

plan

ning

to u

se th

e sp

ace

for e

vent

s lik

e th

ose

liste

d

Yes

- but

we

have

no

plan

s to

use

the

spac

e fo

r eve

nts

like

thos

e lis

ted

N

o

6. P

AID

STA

FF:

How

man

y re

gula

r pa

id s

taff

, exc

ludi

ng c

lerg

y, d

o yo

u ha

ve?

Pl

ease

put

‘0’ i

f you

hav

e no

pai

d st

aff a

nd w

rite

par

t-tim

e st

aff a

s w

hole

num

bers

, not

the

full

time

equi

vale

nt.

Full

time:

__

____

____

_ Pa

rt ti

me:

__

____

____

_ H

ow m

any

paid

cle

rgy,

do

you

have

?

Full

time:

__

____

____

_ Pa

rt ti

me:

__

____

____

_

Not

ap

plic

able

7. H

ow m

any

peop

le v

olun

teer

in a

ny c

apac

ity

at y

our

chur

ch?

Plea

se e

stim

ate

the

tota

l num

ber o

f vol

unte

ers

in th

e fir

st b

ox a

nd th

en th

e nu

mbe

r of y

our

volu

ntee

rs w

ho a

re a

lso

part

of y

our c

ongr

egat

ion

Tota

l num

ber o

f vol

unte

ers

____

____

___

Num

ber

of v

olun

teer

s w

ho a

re a

lso

part

of y

our

cong

rega

tion

____

____

___

8. O

f tho

se id

enti

fied

abov

e, h

ow m

any

volu

ntee

rs p

rim

arily

ass

ist w

ith

com

mun

ity

acti

viti

es?

Tota

l num

ber o

f vol

unte

ers

____

____

___

Num

ber

of v

olun

teer

s w

ho a

re a

lso

part

of y

our

cong

rega

tion

____

____

___

Page 66: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 9 -

9. P

leas

e es

tim

ate

the

num

ber

of h

ours

spe

nt p

er m

onth

on

the

follo

win

g ac

tivi

ties

:

Vol

unte

er H

ours

Pa

id s

taff

(e

xclu

ding

cle

rgy)

V

olun

teer

s

Clea

ning

the

build

ing

____

____

__

____

__

Prep

arin

g th

e ch

urch

for s

ervi

ce

____

____

__

____

__

Build

ing

mai

nten

ance

and

Ch

urch

repa

irs

__

____

__

__

____

__

Adm

inis

trat

ion

____

____

__

____

__

Fund

rais

ing

activ

ities

(t

his

coul

d in

clud

e ho

urs

spen

t re

sear

chin

g an

d ap

plyi

ng fo

r ex

tern

al fu

nds)

____

____

__

____

__

Faith

act

iviti

es

____

____

__

____

__

Com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ities

__

____

__

____

____

TO

TAL

____

____

__

____

__

10. C

OM

MU

NIT

Y A

CTIV

ITIE

S:

In th

e la

st y

ear,

hav

e an

y of

the

follo

win

g ac

tivi

ties

bee

n he

ld in

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs?

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

)

Pe

rson

al fi

nanc

e su

ppor

t/de

bt

coun

selli

ng/c

redi

t uni

on

H

ousi

ng a

nd h

omel

ess

supp

ort

D

rug/

alco

hol s

uppo

rt

Su

ppor

t for

peo

ple

with

men

tal

heal

th p

robl

ems

O

ther

form

s of

cou

nsel

ling/

advi

ce

(e.g

. car

eer/

IT tr

aini

ng)

Cr

ime

prev

entio

n/yo

uth

offe

nder

pr

ogra

mm

es

Ca

mpa

igni

ng (e

.g. F

air t

rade

)

Soci

al e

nter

pris

e/co

mm

unity

bu

sine

ss

A

dult

educ

atio

n (e

.g. l

angu

age

less

ons)

Chur

ch e

duca

tiona

l vis

its fo

r chi

ldre

n

Mob

ile li

brar

y

Gen

ealo

gica

l/fa

mily

his

tory

res

earc

h su

ppor

t

In

form

al m

eetin

gs (e

.g. c

offe

e m

orni

ngs,

ove

r 60s

clu

bs,

pare

nt/t

oddl

er g

roup

s)

Pa

rent

ing

supp

ort

N

urse

ry/p

re-s

choo

l

Yout

h gr

oups

(e.g

. Sc

outs

/Cub

s/Be

aver

s/ G

uide

s/

Brow

nies

/ G

irls

or

Boys

Bri

gade

)

Act

iviti

es fo

r you

ng p

eopl

e (e

.g.

spor

ts c

lubs

/hol

iday

sch

emes

/ af

ter

scho

ol c

lubs

)

Hea

lthy

livin

g su

ppor

t (e.

g. s

limm

ing

grou

ps, p

erso

nal f

itnes

s)

A

rt, m

usic

, the

atre

, dan

ce (e

.g.

exhi

bitio

ns, l

esso

ns o

r co

ncer

ts)

Lo

cal P

ost O

ffic

e

Polli

ng S

tatio

n

Shop

/Caf

é

Farm

ers'

Mar

ket

Fl

ower

fest

ival

s

Bell-

ring

ing

and/

or o

rgan

-pla

ying

Tick

her

e if

you

have

not

hel

d an

y of

the

activ

ities

abo

ve

Que

stio

ns 1

1 an

d 12

on

the

next

pag

es a

sk a

bout

the

act

ivit

ies

you

prov

ide,

as

indi

cate

d ab

ove

in q

uest

ion

10. P

leas

e on

ly c

ompl

ete

the

part

s of

que

stio

n 11

whi

ch p

erta

in to

the

acti

viti

es y

ou p

rovi

de.

- 10

-

11. D

ETA

ILS

OF

ACT

IVIT

IES

If an

y of

the

follo

win

g ac

tiviti

es a

re h

eld

in y

our

chur

ch b

uild

ings

, ple

ase

indi

cate

who

org

anis

es

them

and

how

man

y ho

urs

per m

onth

they

occ

ur. I

f the

eve

nt o

nly

happ

ened

onc

e in

the

last

ye

ar, p

leas

e in

dica

te w

ho o

rgan

ised

them

but

leav

e th

e nu

mbe

r of h

ours

per

mon

th b

lank

By

mem

bers

of y

our

cong

rega

tion

By e

xter

nal

indi

vidu

als

or

grou

ps

No.

Hou

rs

per

mon

th

Pers

onal

fina

nce

supp

ort/

deb

t co

unse

lling

/ cr

edit

unio

n

__

____

__

Hou

sing

and

hom

eles

s su

ppor

t

__

____

__

Dru

g/ a

lcoh

ol s

uppo

rt

____

____

Su

ppor

t for

peo

ple

with

men

tal h

ealth

pr

oble

ms

____

____

Oth

er fo

rms

of c

ouns

ellin

g/ a

dvic

e (e

.g. c

aree

r/ IT

trai

ning

)

__

____

__

Crim

e pr

even

tion/

you

th o

ffen

der

prog

ram

mes

__

____

__

Cam

paig

ning

(e.g

. Fai

r tra

de)

____

____

So

cial

ent

erpr

ise/

com

mun

ity b

usin

ess

____

____

A

dult

educ

atio

n (e

.g. l

angu

age

less

ons)

__

____

__

Chur

ch e

duca

tiona

l vis

its fo

r chi

ldre

n

____

____

M

obile

libr

ary

__

____

__

Gen

ealo

gica

l/ fa

mily

his

tory

res

earc

h su

ppor

t

__

____

__

Info

rmal

mee

tings

(e.g

. cof

fee

mor

ning

s, o

ver 6

0s c

lubs

, pa

rent

/tod

dler

gro

ups)

__

____

__

Pare

ntin

g su

ppor

t

__

____

__

Nur

sery

/ pr

e-sc

hool

__

____

__

Yout

h gr

oups

(e.g

. Sco

uts/

Cub

s/

Beav

ers/

Gui

des/

Bro

wni

es/

Gir

ls o

r Bo

ys B

riga

de)

____

____

Act

iviti

es fo

r you

ng p

eopl

e (e

.g.

spor

ts/h

olid

ay s

chem

es/

afte

r sc

hool

cl

ubs)

__

____

__

Hea

lthy

livin

g su

ppor

t (e.

g. s

limm

ing

grou

ps, p

erso

nal f

itnes

s)

____

____

Art

, mus

ic, t

heat

re, d

ance

(e.g

. ex

hibi

tions

, les

sons

or

conc

erts

)

__

____

__

Loca

l Pos

t Off

ice

____

____

Po

lling

Sta

tion

____

____

Sh

op/C

afé

____

____

Fa

rmer

s' M

arke

t

__

____

__

Flow

er fe

stiv

als

____

____

Be

ll-ri

ngin

g an

d/or

org

an-p

layi

ng

____

____

Page 67: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 11

-

12. D

o an

y m

embe

rs o

f the

follo

win

g gr

oups

ben

efit

from

com

mun

ity

acti

viti

es in

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs?

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

)

El

derl

y pe

ople

Youn

g pe

ople

Une

mpl

oyed

peo

ple

Pa

rent

s an

d to

ddle

rs

Et

hnic

Min

ority

gro

ups

A

sylu

m s

eeke

rs a

nd r

efug

ees

Fa

mili

es u

nder

str

ess

H

omel

ess

peop

le

Th

ose

with

dru

g an

d al

coho

l ad

dict

ions

Ex-o

ffen

ders

Peop

le w

ith le

arni

ng d

iffic

ultie

s

Use

rs o

f men

tal h

ealth

ser

vice

s

Oth

er (p

leas

e sp

ecify

): __

____

____

____

____

13. D

oes

your

chu

rch

have

reg

ular

con

tact

, con

nect

ions

, and

/or

wor

king

rel

atio

nshi

ps w

ith

any

of th

e fo

llow

ing?

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

)

Ch

urch

es T

oget

her*

Lo

cal A

utho

rity

Lo

cal p

oliti

cal r

epre

sent

ativ

e (e

.g. M

P, M

SP, A

M, M

LA, c

ounc

illor

s)

Po

lice

Lo

cal c

hari

ties

Lo

cal s

choo

ls, c

olle

ges,

uni

vers

ities

Loca

l hea

lth o

rgan

isat

ions

Oth

er fa

ith c

omm

uniti

es

Lo

cal s

port

ing

or c

ultu

ral

orga

nisa

tions

Resi

dent

s an

d ot

her

com

mun

ity

grou

ps

*Chu

rche

s To

geth

er in

Bri

tain

and

Irel

and

is r

epre

sent

ed b

y ea

ch n

atio

n as

Chu

rche

s To

geth

er in

Eng

land

, Chu

rche

s To

geth

er in

Wal

es, A

ssoc

iatio

n of

Chu

rche

s To

geth

er in

Sc

otla

nd (A

CTS)

and

the

Iris

h Ch

urch

Cou

ncil

(ICC)

. All

sect

ions

wor

k w

ith in

divi

dual

pla

ces

of

wor

ship

and

den

omin

atio

ns to

fost

er a

nd p

rom

ote

ecum

enic

al re

latio

nshi

ps.

14. M

any

chur

ches

are

lim

ited

in th

e ac

tivi

ties

they

can

pro

vide

. Whi

ch o

f the

follo

win

g m

ay p

ose

limit

atio

ns t

o ho

ldin

g m

ore

com

mun

ity

acti

viti

es in

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs?

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

)

D

ecis

ion

mad

e to

pre

serv

e th

e bu

ildin

g so

lely

as

a pl

ace

of w

orsh

ip

La

ck o

f sui

tabl

e sp

ace

avai

labl

e

Uns

uita

ble

acce

ss

La

ck o

f sui

tabl

e fa

cilit

ies

avai

labl

e (e

.g. t

oile

ts, p

arki

ng fo

r the

dis

able

d)

Fi

nanc

ial l

imita

tions

Lack

of v

olun

teer

ski

lls a

nd k

now

ledg

e

Lack

of v

olun

teer

tim

e

Lack

of i

nter

est f

rom

oth

er o

rgan

isat

ions

to c

o-ru

n ac

tiviti

es

La

ck o

f int

eres

t in

com

mun

ity to

par

take

in a

ctiv

ities

Non

e of

the

abov

e

15. W

hat p

ract

ical

ass

ista

nce

wou

ld b

e of

gre

ates

t he

lp to

you

r co

ngre

gati

on in

sup

port

ing

your

loca

l com

mun

ity

mor

e?

(Ple

ase

tick

up to

thre

e an

swer

s w

hich

mos

t app

ly –

list

con

tinue

s on

the

next

pag

e)

In

form

atio

n on

how

oth

er c

hurc

hes

have

ach

ieve

d th

is

In

form

atio

n on

how

to o

rgan

ise

even

ts

In

form

atio

n on

how

to fi

nanc

e ev

ents

- 12

-

Vo

lunt

eer

trai

ning

(e.g

. inf

orm

atio

n on

reso

urce

s, c

ours

es a

nd tr

aini

ng

man

uals

)

Info

rmat

ion

on a

sses

sing

loca

l nee

ds

A

ssis

tanc

e in

mak

ing

faci

litie

s m

ore

acce

ssib

le

A

ssis

tanc

e in

mai

ntai

ning

and

impr

ovin

g sp

ace

If yo

u ha

ve a

ny fu

rthe

r com

men

ts, p

leas

e en

ter t

hem

in th

e sp

ace

prov

ided

at t

he e

nd o

f the

qu

estio

nnai

re.

Sect

ion

D: M

anag

ing

and

Fu

nd

ing

you

r ch

urc

h

(10

qu

esti

ons)

Und

erst

andi

ng h

ow y

ou m

anag

e an

d fin

ance

you

r ch

urch

and

its

asso

ciat

ed b

uild

ings

1. W

hich

fact

ors

cont

ribu

te t

o th

e su

cces

sful

man

agem

ent

of y

our

chur

ch b

uild

ings

?

(Ple

ase

tick

an o

ptio

n fo

r eac

h lin

e be

low

)

Alr

eady

co

ntri

bute

s to

our

ch

urch

’s s

ucce

ss

Do

not c

urre

ntly

ha

ve t

his

but f

eel

it is

impo

rtan

t

Do

not c

urre

ntly

ha

ve t

his

and

feel

it

is n

ot

impo

rtan

t A

ctiv

e bo

dy o

f vol

unte

ers

A

ctiv

e Fr

iend

s' G

roup

Com

pete

nt m

anag

emen

t te

am

Effe

ctiv

e le

ader

Paid

em

ploy

ees

(esp

eci a

lly fo

r ad

min

istr

ativ

e ta

sks)

Ade

quat

e tr

aini

ng a

nd

info

rmat

ion

(e.g

. m

aint

enan

ce, p

roje

ct

man

agem

ent,

cla

imin

g G

ift

Aid

)

A fo

cus

on p

reve

ntio

n of

re

pair

s in

clud

ing

a re

gula

r m

aint

enan

ce s

ched

ule

Goo

d in

tern

al c

apab

ilitie

s in

fin

anci

al m

anag

emen

t and

pl

anni

ng

2. T

he L

iste

d Pl

aces

of W

orsh

ip V

AT

Sche

me

enab

les

VA

T on

elig

ible

rep

airs

and

m

aint

enan

ce t

o be

rec

laim

ed. H

ave

your

chu

rch

build

ings

ben

efit

ed fr

om t

his

sche

me?

Fu

rthe

r det

ails

can

be

foun

d at

ww

w.lp

wsc

hem

e.or

g.uk

Ye

s

No

- We

wer

e no

t aw

are

of th

e sc

hem

e

No

- We

have

not

had

any

wor

ks th

at w

ould

qua

lify

for t

he s

chem

e

No

- The

form

was

too

com

plic

ated

Don

't kn

ow

Page 68: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 14

-

6. W

hat

is th

e ap

prox

imat

e br

eakd

own

of t

he r

outi

ne a

nnua

l exp

endi

ture

for

your

chu

rch

build

ings

?

The

tota

l sho

uld

equa

l to

100%

or

less

Mai

nten

ance

__

____

____

%

Staf

f cos

ts (e

xclu

ding

cle

rgy)

__

____

____

%

Cler

gy s

taff

cos

ts

____

____

__ %

Co

ntrib

utio

n to

you

r den

omin

atio

n (e

.g. C

omm

on F

und)

__

____

____

%

Com

mun

ity a

nd c

ultu

ral a

ctiv

ities

__

____

____

%

Gen

eral

upk

eep

incl

udin

g cl

eani

ng a

nd

utili

ties

____

____

__ %

Don

atio

ns to

oth

er p

roje

cts

incl

udin

g m

issi

on

____

____

__ %

TOTA

L __

____

____

%

7. D

oes

your

chu

rch

have

an

esta

blis

hed

Frie

nds'

Gro

up?

A

Frie

nds'

Gro

up is

a v

olun

tary

gro

up, w

hich

dev

otes

tim

e to

sup

port

ing

spec

ific

chur

ch/e

s

Ye

s - R

unni

ng fo

r mor

e th

an 1

0 ye

ars

Ye

s –

Runn

ing

for 6

-10

year

s

Yes

– Ru

nnin

g fo

r 1-5

yea

rs

Ye

s –

Runn

ing

for l

ess

than

a y

ear

N

o bu

t thi

nkin

g of

set

ting

one

up

N

o

Don

't kn

ow

8. H

ow m

any

mem

bers

doe

s yo

ur F

rien

ds' G

roup

hav

e?

Tota

l num

ber o

f mem

bers

__

____

____

_ N

umbe

r of

mem

bers

who

are

als

o pa

rt o

f you

r co

ngre

gatio

n __

____

____

_

9. W

hat

is th

e av

erag

e co

ntri

buti

on o

f the

Fri

ends

’ Gro

up to

the

follo

win

g pr

ojec

ts?

E.g.

, If y

our F

rien

ds' g

roup

con

trib

utes

to s

peci

fic p

roje

cts

plea

se p

rovi

de a

n es

timat

ed

aver

age

e.g.

£40

0 in

200

7, £

1800

in 2

008,

£20

0 in

200

9 w

ould

ave

rage

to a

n an

nual

co

ntrib

utio

n of

£80

0

Ann

ual C

ontr

ibut

ion

for r

egul

ar re

pairs

and

m

aint

enan

ce

£ __

____

___

Ann

ual C

ontr

ibut

ion

for n

ew w

orks

or

maj

or c

hang

es

£ __

____

___

10. M

any

chur

ches

are

taki

ng s

teps

to r

educ

e th

eir

ener

gy u

se, o

r ca

rbon

foot

prin

t. W

hich

of

the

follo

win

g m

easu

res

have

bee

n im

plem

ente

d in

you

r ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs?

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

– li

st c

ontin

ues

on th

e ne

xt p

age)

Ca

rrie

d ou

t an

ener

gy a

udit

Sw

itche

d to

a g

reen

ene

rgy

tari

ff

Im

prov

ed th

e ef

ficie

ncy

of th

e he

atin

g sy

stem

and

con

trol

s (n

ew b

oile

r,

ther

mos

tats

etc

.)

Switc

hed

to lo

w e

nerg

y lig

ht b

ulbs

- 13

-

3. H

as y

our

chur

ch n

egot

iate

d ze

ro-r

atin

g or

VA

T ex

empt

ion

for

any

wor

ks t

o yo

ur b

uild

ing?

If yo

ur c

hurc

h is

a li

sted

pla

ce o

f wor

ship

, ple

ase

only

incl

ude

exem

ptio

ns re

ceiv

ed a

bove

an

d be

yond

the

List

ed P

lace

s of

Wor

ship

sch

eme

addr

esse

d in

the

prev

ious

que

stio

n.

Ye

s fo

r co

mm

unity

pro

ject

s, fa

cilit

ies

or a

cces

s w

ork

Ye

s fo

r al

tera

tions

(e.g

. ext

ensi

ons)

We

have

not

neg

otia

ted

VAT

exem

ptio

n

No

qual

ifyin

g w

orks

hav

e be

en c

arrie

d ou

t

Don

't kn

ow

4. P

leas

e in

dica

te th

e so

urce

of a

ny fu

ndin

g fo

r re

pair

s pr

ojec

ts in

the

last

five

yea

rs

(Ple

ase

tick

all t

hat a

pply

)

Lo

cal o

rgan

isat

ion

(e.g

. loc

al b

usin

ess

or tr

ust)

Loca

l ind

ivid

ual d

onor

of £

500

or

mor

e

Frie

nds'

Gro

up

Fu

ndra

isin

g ac

tiviti

es (e

.g. c

ultu

ral

even

ts, s

pons

ored

eve

nts,

fete

s,

jum

ble

sale

s)

Co

ngre

gatio

nal a

nd v

isito

r do

natio

ns

Le

gacy

/ies

Loan

s

Rent

al in

com

e

Your

Den

omin

atio

n

Coun

ty C

hurc

hes

Trus

t (ou

tsid

e of

th

e Ri

de a

nd S

trid

e ev

ent)

Ri

de a

nd S

trid

e ev

ent

O

ther

loca

l cha

rity

Re

gion

al D

evel

opm

ent A

genc

y

Nat

iona

l Chu

rche

s Tr

ust

En

glis

h H

erita

ge, C

adw

, His

tori

c Sc

otla

nd o

r Nor

ther

n Ir

elan

d En

viro

nmen

t Age

ncy

Ch

urch

Urb

an F

und

H

erita

ge L

otte

ry F

und

La

ndfil

l Com

mun

ities

Fun

d (e

.g.

WRE

N, V

irid

or, C

EMEX

)

Oth

er n

atio

nal C

harit

ies,

Fou

ndat

ions

or

Tru

sts

Re

gene

ratio

n fu

ndin

g

Non

e of

the

abov

e

5. In

the

last

thr

ee y

ears

, on

aver

age,

wha

t pe

rcen

tage

of t

he a

nnua

l tot

al r

epai

r co

sts

has

been

met

by

your

chu

rch’

s ow

n fu

nds?

Th

e pe

rson

resp

onsi

ble

for

your

acc

ount

s sh

ould

be

able

to c

alcu

late

this

figu

re. P

leas

e in

clud

e yo

ur o

wn

fund

rais

ing

but n

ot a

ny e

xter

nal g

rant

s in

you

r ow

n fu

nds.

0

- 10%

11 -

25%

26 -

50%

51 -

75%

76 -

100%

Page 69: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

- 15

-

Ca

rrie

d ou

t ene

rgy

savi

ng w

ork

to th

e fa

bric

suc

h as

inst

allin

g se

cond

ary

glaz

ing

or r

oof i

nsul

atio

n

Inst

alle

d an

ene

rgy

gene

ratin

g te

chno

logy

e.g

. sol

ar h

eatin

g pa

nels

, win

d tu

rbin

e,

grou

nd s

ourc

e he

at p

ump

etc.

If yo

u ha

ve a

ny fu

rthe

r com

men

ts, p

leas

e en

ter t

hem

in th

e sp

ace

prov

ided

at t

he e

nd o

f the

qu

estio

nnai

re.

Sect

ion

E: F

inal

qu

esti

ons

to c

omp

lete

you

r re

spon

se

Your

ans

wer

s w

ill h

elp

us b

uild

a b

ette

r pi

ctur

e of

the

cur

rent

sta

te o

f chu

rche

s in

the

U.K

. Pl

ease

rem

embe

r to

fill

in t

he d

ata

prot

ecti

on s

tate

men

t on

the

back

of t

his

book

let.

We

wou

ld b

e m

ost g

rate

ful i

f you

cou

ld te

ll us

you

r th

ough

ts o

n th

e su

rvey

by

tick

ing

one

box

for

each

sta

tem

ent.

St

rong

ly

Agr

ee

Agr

ee

Nei

ther

A

gree

Nor

D

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e St

rong

ly

Dis

agre

e Th

e su

rvey

will

ben

efit

thos

e ai

min

g to

hel

p ch

urch

bui

ldin

gs a

nd th

eir

com

mun

ities

(e.g

. her

itage

or

gani

satio

ns, g

rant

-giv

ing

bodi

es)

The

surv

ey w

as s

ensi

tive

to th

e sp

ecifi

cs o

f my

deno

min

atio

n

If y

ou h

ave

any

furt

her

com

men

ts a

bout

thi

s su

rvey

, ple

ase

ente

r th

em b

elow

:

Plea

se n

ow tu

rn o

ver t

o co

mpl

ete

the

data

pro

tect

ion

stat

emen

t

- 16

-

Dat

a P

rote

ctio

n

The

Nat

iona

l Chu

rche

s Tr

ust i

s ga

ther

ing

info

rmat

ion

on t

he c

urre

nt c

ondi

tion

of a

ll Ch

rist

ian

plac

es o

f wor

ship

in t

he U

.K. T

he in

form

atio

n th

at w

e ga

ther

will

be

aggr

egat

ed,

so t

hat t

he p

ublic

ly a

vaila

ble

resu

lts

will

be

anon

ymou

s.

We

com

mit

to n

ot p

assi

ng o

n yo

ur p

erso

nal d

etai

ls to

any

thir

d pa

rtie

s.

W

hen

the

surv

ey is

com

plet

ed w

e ca

n se

nd y

ou a

con

fiden

tial r

epor

t re

latin

g yo

ur c

hurc

h's

resp

onse

s to

rel

evan

t ave

rage

s fr

om th

e su

rvey

. If

you

wou

ld li

ke to

rece

ive

this

, ple

ase

tick

this

box

.

Th

e Tr

ust i

s co

mm

itted

to p

rovi

ding

chu

rch

com

mun

ities

with

sup

port

and

ad

vice

, and

eng

agin

g th

em m

ore

clos

ely

with

our

wor

k. If

you

are

hap

py

for u

s to

get

in to

uch

with

you

abo

ut th

is a

nd o

ur o

ther

initi

ativ

es p

leas

e tic

k th

is b

ox

Emai

l Add

ress

: __

____

____

____

____

____

____

__

Your

Nam

e:

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

We

know

that

bei

ng re

spon

sibl

e fo

r a

chur

ch, c

hape

l or

mee

ting

hous

e ca

n po

se m

any

chal

leng

es -

this

is w

hy w

e pr

ovid

e lin

ks to

a ra

nge

of r

esou

rces

on

our

own

web

site

. The

in

form

atio

n an

d gu

idan

ce o

ffer

ed c

an b

e ap

plie

d to

man

y pl

aces

of w

orsh

ip a

cros

s th

e U

K an

d ac

ross

den

omin

atio

nal b

ound

arie

s. Y

ou s

houl

d al

so v

isit

your

den

omin

atio

nal w

ebsi

te

for

regu

lar u

pdat

es a

nd a

dvic

e.

http

://w

ww

.nat

iona

lchu

rche

stru

st.o

rg/l

inks

.htm

l

Than

k yo

u fo

r tak

ing

the

time

to c

ompl

ete

this

sur

vey.

Your

resp

onse

s w

ill a

llow

us

to c

reat

e an

acc

urat

e pi

ctur

e of

the

UK’

s

chur

ches

, cha

pels

and

mee

ting

hous

es.

Plea

se n

ow re

turn

this

sur

vey

in th

e fr

eepo

st e

nvel

ope

prov

ided

or v

isit

http

://s

urve

y.na

tiona

lchu

rche

stru

st.o

rg to

ent

er y

our a

nsw

ers

onlin

e.

Page 70: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey
Page 71: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey
Page 72: The NaTioNal ChurChes TrusT survey

© National Churches Trust 2011

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