BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 31st ANNUAL EDITION 3 NEWS REVIEW NEW BLUEPRINT FOR CHURCHES IN NEED The National Churches Trust has published a nationwide plan, Every Church Counts, to help secure the future of the hundreds of churches facing closure across the UK. In 2023, there were another 53 places of worship added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, taking the total number to 943. A similar story exists in Scotland with 182 buildings currently at risk and plans by The Church of Scotland to close up to 40 per cent of its churches. While Wales does not produce a comparable list it is worth noting that a quarter of its historic churches and chapels have closed in the last decade and another quarter are deemed to be at risk. The blueprint for Every Church Counts calls on the government, heritage organisations and Christian denominations to work together to help tackle the biggest single heritage challenge we face. Broken down into six points, the plan calls for the creation of professional support roles to aid volunteers looking after ecclesiastic buildings; engagement with national services such as the NHS to offer spaces Every Church Counts is an NCT blueprint to help save many British churches facing closure. (Photo: National Churches Trust) that can be used by local communities; ringfenced annual funding of £50 million for major repairs; a new national strategy working with local tourism organisations to boost visitor numbers; expanding opening hours to enable better community use and for facilities such as foodbanks and nursery care; making it all happen by bringing together everyone needed to facilitate long term change. The National Churches Trust is urging everyone interested in historic buildings to get involved. You can read more about the plan here: www.nationalchurchestrust.org/ everychurchcounts HISTORIC CHURCHES GOES DIGITAL Cathedral Communications’ magazine Historic Churches is now being distributed digitally. This is an exciting new development for the publication. It allows the publication to become more sustainable and to reach a wider audience, especially in smaller parishes and religious communities that need support with their church buildings. We’ll still be printing and sending out 2,000 copies but by also distributing a digital version it will be accessible to even more people involved in caring for ecclesiastical buildings. There are currently around 17,000 listed places of worship in England and Wales alone, and it has never been possible to post physical copies to every single one of them. All of them can now receive a copy digitally. If you know of someone who would like to receive one by email please ask them to sign up at www.buildingconservation.com/sign-up.
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