Noticeboard
Update on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
(27/08/10)
Please support the campaign to extend the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, beyond March 2011
by sending a letter to your MP - Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme letter (this letter is now quite long, please shorten and personalise it as you see fit) and signing the new petition started by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich here.
The LPWGS has provided great relief to places of worship faced with raising enormous sums for maintenance and repair, and has enabled those who look after these valuable heritage and community buildings to maintain them for future generations.
The scheme is due to come to an end on 31st March 2011
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme letter
If you live within David Cameron's (Witney), George Osbourne's (Tatton) or John Penrose's (Weston-Super-Mare) constituency your letters would be particularly powerful so please write now!
There is also an Early Day Motion for MP's to sign to support the continuation of the scheme. See if your MP has signed up here.
New issue of POWOW out now!
(27/08/10)
The September 2010 newsletter from Places of Worship @ The Heritage Alliance is now available to download
here - POWOW Sept 2010Take part in the ‘Ride + Stride' event on 11th September, this year for the first time including London!
(17/08/10)
The basic principle of this fundraising event is that 50% of the money raised by those who are sponsored goes to the Church/Chapel chosen by the participant and 50% to (this year) the Heritage of London Trust, all of which will be given in grant aid to Churches across the capital.
THE RIDE IS OPEN TO EVERYONE!
In fact, the more people from outside church congregations that take part, the more successful it will be in arousing interest in and support for our fabulous heritage of church buildings and the case for their support. The ride first started in Suffolk in 1982 and now 36 counties are taking part. Altogether, over £24M has been raised nationally.
If you are interested in taking part in the London Ride and Stride - either as a cyclist or as a church, then visit the Ride and Stride website - http://www.rideandstrideuk.org/
Heritage Inspired announced as finalist in White Rose Tourism Awards
(05/08/10)
Welcome to Yorkshire has today revealed that Heritage Inspired is on the shortlist for 'Best Tourism Experience'.
South Yorkshire's Heritage Inspired initiative works with over 150 partner sites from all faiths and denominations to develop their tourism. They were specifically nominated for their innovative Heritage Festival which attracts around 25000 visitors each year to at least 75 heritage faith sites which open their doors to visitors and lay on events and activities. The winners will be announced on 4th October. For more information see http://www.heritageinspired.org.uk/
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme petition - update
(02/08/10)
The Government has issued a response to the LPWGS petition(which had 9,100 signatories)
which can be viewed here.
It is a dissapointing response which highlights the current lack of understanding of the LPWGS and the need for further campaigning before the scheme ends in March 2011.
Please send an updated Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme Letter to your MP and sign the new petition.
Fundraising for Churches and other Places of Worship
(29/07/10)
Training Days with Revd Maggie Durran
For more details click here.2nd National Crossing the Threshold Conference - Book Now!
(20/07/10)
To be held on 30th September at Christ Church, Woking - book now to avoid disappointment!!
Following last year's successful CTT event at Hereford this conference will focus on a Community Development Approach to the use of Church Buildings. The day is organised in partnership with Rochester & Canterbury and Oxford Rural Advisers.
To see the flyer click Crossing the Threshold 2nd National Conference
To book please email:
crossingthethreshold2010@googlemail.com
Latest News on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme petition
(08/06/10)
After the closure of the 10 Downing Street online site there is now a new petition to save the LPWGS started by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
Sign the petition here
Please also support the campaign to extend the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, beyond March 2011, by sending a letter to your MP (a draft is available below)
The LPWGS has provided great relief to places of worship faced with raising enormous sums for maintenance and repair, and has enabled those who look after these valuable heritage and community buildings to maintain them for future generations.
The scheme is due to come to an end on 31st March 2011
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme letter
If you live within David Cameron's (Witney), George Osbourne's (Tatton) or John Penrose's (Weston-Super-Mare) constituency your letters would be particularly powerful so please write now!
There is now an Early Day Motion for MP's to sign to support the continuation of the scheme. See if your MP has signed up here.
Latest Supporter's E-Bulletin now available!
(19/05/10)
This is the thirteenth e-bulletin since the publication of Building Faith in our Future. It sets out developments to date and seeks your help as we, the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division, at the Church of England, continue to move the campaign forward.
Download the supporter's e-bulletin no. 13 here!
To register as a Building Faith Supporter and receive copies of the Building Faith in our Future e-bulletin, please contact:
Becky Payne at rebecca.payne at c-of-e.org.uk
Transitional Grant Aid relief ending March 2011
(16/02/10)
In addition to the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme another source of funding for church buildings - the transitional relief on Grant Aid - is due to come to an end in 2011.
Churches and other charities making Gift Aid repayment claims are currently entitled to Gift Aid transitional relief on qualifying donations: instead of being repaid standard rate income tax at 20p, they are still repaid at the old rate of 22p.
We know what the LPWGS has contributed significantly to Churches. It is much more difficult to estimate the impact of the loss of Gift Aid transitional relief. However, it is estimated that from the loss of Gift Aid relief the Church of England alone will lose some £7 to £8 million a year.
Unfortunately the transitional Gift Aid relief will not be extended but discussions are currently ongoing within the voluntary sector about improving the operation of the Gift Aid Scheme.
Ten Years On: the new report by Susan Rowe
(14/12/09)
A Review of the Millennium Commission Funded Rural Churches in Community Service Programme
The Rural Churches in Community Service (RCCS) programme, funded by the Millennium Commission, ran from 1998 to 2001 and assisted 99 churches, in rural areas throughout the UK, to develop community projects in church buildings. In 2003 a review of the projects developed within Anglican churches in England was under taken. This 2009 study has reviewed the 59 churches from the 2003 review with regard to achievement against their original aims and their performance in 2003. The review considers the impact of community use on the wider community and on the church; it has tried to establish what makes projects sustainable.
Click here to download the full report - Ten Years On: Susan Rowe
A community development approach to the use of Church Buildings: A New Toolkit Launched
(24/11/09)
Hereford Diocese has launched a new toolkit for churches who wish to open up their buildings for wider community use.
The conference held in Hereford on 19 November 2009 was a great success. Over 200 people from across the country attended coming from individual churches, dioceses, local authorities, health trusts, rural community councils, voluntary sector, the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage. The main event was the launch of a new Toolkit which takes churches through the whole process of opening up their church for wider community use. This was commissioned by the Diocese of Hereford, supported and with input from the Shropshire Rural Community Council and Hereford Council.
As well as four workshops looking at some of the practical guidance contained within the Tookkit and also two site visits to two success stories, there were also presentations from the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division, English Heritage, and the Department of Communities and Local Government. There was also a report back on the recent review of the Rural Churches in Community Service Programme Ten Years On.
The Toolkit and all the presentations can be downloaded from the Diocese of Hereford website:
http://www.hereford.anglican.org/churchgoers/
community_partnership_and_funding/
about_us_and_latest_news/toolkit.aspx
The Toolkit is helpfully broken down into sections so no one has to download the whole Toolkit in one go.
There was also a DVD which features people from four Hereford villages, Peterstow, Peterchurch, Yarpole and Bridge Sollars talking about their particular projects in their historic churches and how they did it! These four churches between them now house, within their building, a branch library, a community shop, and a Childrens' Service Centre as well as numerous other community activities and other local authority services. The DVD should be available to all who are interested shortly, Just keep an eye on the website.
Cathedral Camps Looking for Churches
(17/11/09)
In 2008 Cathedral Camps set up the ReFresh Project as a means of diversifying the type of buildings and the types of volunteers the charity works with. It is a programme of one-day volunteering events in faith buildings across England, for 16 to 25 year olds, combining the expertise of the Cathedral Camp week long residentials, with the flexibility required by smaller venues
The project seeks to involve local communities in volunteering within their local faith buildings as a means of building community relations and engaging local youth; moving beyond the traditional model of large Cathedrals and residentials and working with smaller churches and buildings of other faiths.
The volunteering projects are practical heritage based, and range from graveyard mapping, painting railings and community rooms, polishing brass or a marble floor, to litter picking or creating an eco-diverse area in graveyards and clearing cellars.
The project works with a diverse range of young people; from University conservation groups to local youth offending teams. They work with the venues to target groups in the local community they would like to engage with, enabling them to open their doors to a range of people who might previously have felt excluded or simply uninterested. The volunteers gain first hand practical experience and develop skills as well as making new friends and being introduced to buildings in their community they might not have previously entered.
The ReFresh coordinator will liaise with the venue and the young people to find a date which works for both parties. They will also work with the venue to design a set of projects which the volunteers will be able to carry out. The coordinator will conduct a risk assessment of the venue and the activities involved, and will provide the necessary health & safety talk at the start of each day of volunteering. Each volunteering day will be coordinated and supervised by a ReFresh member of staff or trained volunteer leader.
These are primarily run one off one-day events; however, if you have a longer term project you need help with or a series or projects, ReFresh are keen to build relationships with venues that will allow them to develop lasting relationships with them and their local youth community.
Youth volunteering has never been so popular - why not take advantage of the wonderful energy that is out there and invite some in to make a difference at your venue?!
If you are interested please contact: Rebecca Wilkinson telephone: 0207 643 1412 or email: rwilkinson@csv.org.uk
or go to the website:
http://www.cathedralcamps.org.uk/refresh.htm
Community Cashback
(02/07/09)
New Community Cashback Scheme
This is a new scheme called Community Cashback billed as giving 'local people a say in how £4 million of recovered criminal assets should be spent in their communities'. For more information go to http://cashback.cjsonline.gov.uk/
The projects should be related to nuisance, anti-social or criminal behaviour or its impact on the community:
- projects could focus on one or several neighbourhoods
- projects should be community focused and make a noticeable difference on the community
- projects must demonstrate value for money, but able to be delivered quickly and their impact should be clearly evaluated
- outcomes must be visible to the community.
The Church/churches are community bodies but will need to identify projects which deliver on the above, e.g: restoring/creating a wildlife friendly churchyard where it has been subject to vandalism etc might work well.
