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Here are the questions we are asked most often, with answers, which we hope will help. If, having read them, your question is still not answered, then please contact us.
Our project involves both structural repair and facilities. Which form should we use, or should we fill in two?
If the costs are integrated, it is fine to submit a general application form (repairs) detailing the total cost as requested, with a breakdown of costs allocated to individual works within the whole project. If there are two distinct projects, one involving repair and the other improvements to facilities, please complete a form for each and we will consider each separately.
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We’ve applied for grants from other sources, but haven’t received responses yet. Do we have to wait until we get these to apply to you?
If you have applied for an English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund Repair Grant, we would recommend that you do not apply to us until you have received an offer or refusal from them. If they indicate that an application to them will not be successful, please send us a copy of any correspondence to this effect with your application to us.
Applications to other bodies such as county trusts or local authorities do not delay a decision from us. If you know the outcome of any other applications at the time of completing our application form, please enter them. If you do not know, you can write “applied” or “will apply” in the relevant box on our form.
We haven’t applied to English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund. Can we still apply?
Yes, but please clearly state your reasons for not applying to English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund in your application to us.
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We might not get Faculty/relevant permission for a few months. Can we still apply?
Yes. Grants are paid out on the basis of having written permission from your DAC or relevant authorising body, but may still be offered pending that permission. Once a grant is offered, churches have 3 years in which to claim payment.
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We have some money in our accounts. Will this prejudice your decision?
This depends on the circumstances of each individual case and the amount of money concerned. We need to see the annual accounts and the accounts for any Friends’ organisations. If money is tied into restricted funds, or allocated to other projects, then please inform us of this in your application. We do not expect applicants to expend every last resource on a project before we will consider awarding a grant.
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We were given a grant from you last year for a separate project. Can we now apply again?
Yes. We will accept applications for each new phase of works.
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We were given a grant from you but our project costs have increased. Can we be considered for additional help?
Yes. Please contact the National Churches Trust office if the costs have risen, or if new work has been uncovered during repairs.
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We need to start the project a.s.a.p. How will this affect our application to you?
We ask that we are in receipt of completed applications before work commences. Exceptions are made in cases of extremely urgent work authorised by English Heritage or your Archdeacon or equivalent authorising body. Please provide a copy of correspondence or documentation confirming that the work was carried out as an emergency. If, by the time the application comes before our Grants Committee, the work has already begun, this will not affect our decision.
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Part of our project involves work you list as ineligible under your current policy. Can we still apply?
Yes. Please submit an application detailing the total cost, with a breakdown of costs allocated to individual works within the whole project.
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How much will we get?
This varies. A number of factors are taken into account, but for general guidelines as to how we fund, please see the ‘About Us’ and ‘Recent Grants’ pages.
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How often are grants awarded and are there deadlines for applications?
Our Grants Committee meet quarterly to consider grants under our Standard and Cornerstone categories, and a Sub-Committee meets to look at grants under our Foundation category at regular intervals. We are therefore happy to receive grant applications throughout the year and will process them for consideration as soon as we can.
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How soon will we know if we have been successful?
We try to reply with a decision within two to three months of receiving an application. Delays will however occur if we have received an unusually high volume of applications over a short period, if requested information is missing, or if the Committee wish to visit the project before reaching a decision.
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I have received a grant offer. How do I claim payment?
You can ask us to send you a cheque as soon as you have an architect’s interim certificate, a certificate of progress payment, or a certificate of final completion for the work. Where the certificate shows an amount, this should be equal to or more than the grant we have offered. You should also send in a copy of a certificate or other piece of correspondence showing that permission to carry out the work has been given by the relevant body. For Church of England and Church in Wales churches this means sending in a copy of the Faculty for the work. For Methodist Churches, a document showing permission from the Methodist Property Office is required. Other denominations will have equivalent permissions or Trustees who have authorised work. Please also tell us the name of the church’s account, to whom we make the cheque payable.
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