Sussex Historic Churches Trust
Grants
How Grants are Awarded
All denominations and groups are welcome to apply for grants.
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Once your application and supporting documents have been received, your application will be considered at the next Trust meeting. This year’s Trust meetings are April 7, 2025 and September 12, 2025; the application deadline is two weeks before each meeting. Urgent applications will be considered by the Trustees between meetings.
How to Apply for a Grant
We welcome grant applications from churches and places of worship across Sussex. To get started, please read our grant application guidance notes carefully and then complete our online Grant Application form. ​
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What do we fund?
The Trust’s governing documents state that income generated by the Trust will be used to support places of worship, of all denominations, with work including:
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Preservation
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Repair
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Maintenance
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Improvement
How do the Trustees assess grant applications?
The Trust favours making a significant number of relatively small grants contributing towards projects rather than a few large grants. The current policy of the Trustees is to confine grants to works of essential repair to the fabric of church buildings. Priority is given to buildings over 100 years old and emphasis is given to maintaining the structure of the building and ensuring it is wind and waterproof. Church halls, parish rooms and churchyards are not eligible for support. (Please refer to the Guidance Notesjotform for more details)
Places of worship eligibility
We wish to support a wide range of Sussex places of worship and religious bodies.
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Churches, including a cathedral, abbey, minster or priory church
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Chapels
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Other buildings used for public worship in Sussex whether belonging to or used by the Church of England or any other religious body
Latest grant awards
The Trust made grants to four churches in September 2024 amounting to more than £45K. The grants included the biggest single grant in the Trust's history - £18,000 to St Mary's Pulborough for urgent work to the church tower.
All grants made in September 2024:
St Mary's Pulborough for urgent work to the church tower: £18,000
St Peter's Church Brighton for work on the church tower: £10,000
St Leonard's Church Aldrington for their steeple ladder: £5,000
All Saints' Church Hastings for the south porch roof and gutters: £12,000
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All grants made in April 2024:
All Saints, Danehill £11,000
St Bartholomew’s, Brighton £4,000
St Giles Graffham £5,000
St Mary, Hartfield £7,000
St Mary, Sompting £5,000
St John the Baptist Westbourne £8,000
St John the Evangelist Crowborough £5,000
Christ Church Blacklands Hastings £5,000
St Michael and All Angels, Jarvis Brook £1,000
For the latest news on awarded grants, click here.