Church buildings survey
A critical number of church buildings in the UK need support in undertaking repairs and maintenance, according to the National Churches Trust Survey.
The survey, open to all of the estimated 47,000 churches, chapels and meeting houses in the UK, found that while most buildings are in good or fair condition, 8 per cent are in poor or very poor condition.
Urgent repairs cost an average of £80,000, to those buildings in the survey sample that are in need of them. The most commonly required repairs identified as urgent are to roofs, heating and rainwater drainage.
The survey also found that more than 90 per cent of the UK’s church buildings hold a service at least once a week. Nearly 80 per cent are used for other purposes, including community activities. More than half are regularly open to the public beyond their worship services.
Some 1.4 million members of church congregations volunteer in some capacity in their church building, along with an estimated further 200,000 people from the wider community.
Andrew Edwards, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust, said, ‘The survey shows that open, accessible church buildings provide communities with a significant resource. Voluntary action that takes place locally often needs a physical space in which to happen, and it is clear that church buildings help fill that need’.
