Monthly Grants: kick-starting exciting projects

Monthly Grants: kick-starting exciting projects

Published: 20 September 2023

We’re delighted to award over £280,000 in our latest round of monthly smaller grants. Churches and charities across the UK and Ireland are benefitting from this recent funding boost.

Our monthly grants support a range of projects across our Community Impact and Building Improvement grants programmes. See the types of projects we’re helping to fund:

Community Impact Grants

The Warehouse Church, Newport

The Warehouse Church sits in the south of Newport, in an area which is diverse but also disadvantaged. The area is one of the most deprived wards in Wales, with high levels of unemployment, health issues and low levels of academic achievement.

The church’s aim is to operate a music studio to train young people in the art of music and video production. Partnering with local schools, the studio will offer work experience opportunities for pupils experiencing personal problems or struggling with anxiety and mental health. Alongside the work experience, the pupils will also receive counselling and advice to equip them to deal effectively with their problems.

A £5,500 Community Impact Grant will kick-start the project by supporting the employment of a production leader to take charge of the training programme.

Living Hope (Skye and Lochalsh), Kyle of Lochalsh, Highland

Living Hope was set up to support those struggling with alcohol and substance abuse through recovery groups and outreach work, working in rural areas where access to addiction services is limited and addiction is prevalent.

In 2021, the charity found a permanent base at the Lighthouse Centre in Kyle. Through a community Café, the Lighthouse provides an open door and a safe space for all ages, running a 'pay it forward' scheme so hot food is available at no cost. As well as running addiction support, The Lighthouse provides a hub that hosts related charities with the aim of increasing access to services, social inclusion, and community interaction in a post lockdown era.

A grant of £4,600 will help to fund a part-time manager, so that the Lighthouse is sustainable and able to develop and grow into new areas of community support.

three men stood outside The Lighthouse Centre

Daniel's Den, Sudbury, Middlesex

Parent and Toddler groups have many benefits for families, and Daniel’s Den believes there should be one within walking distance of every family across the UK. Safe spaces such as these are where friendships are formed, and feelings of loneliness and isolation decrease. NHS research shows that 50% of parents experience some form of anxiety, while 20% will suffer from perinatal mental illness. Attending groups links families to the wider community where they can access local support services, advice, and signposting.

With the support of £6,000 funding, Daniel’s Den will recruit a new project leader to develop a new London network, which will be responsible for promoting the need for church-based parent toddler groups and will deliver training and workshops for group leaders and volunteers.

Building Improvement Grants

St Germain's Church, Birmingham

St Germain’s is a Grade II listed Arts and Crafts church built in 1917, with several historically important features. It is a growing church, well-used by the local community and worshippers. However, since before the pandemic the church hasn’t had a heating system and for the last two winters the congregation has had to gather in marquees inside the nave. As the congregation grows, this will no longer be possible and so the church is at risk of closure.

A £12,400 grant will help keep the doors open by funding the installation of air source heat pumps, boilers and heaters.

St Matthew’s Church, County Armagh

St Matthew’s is undertaking a major project to maintain and preserve its historic church building which was built in 1778. The church is used for worship and hosts regular community events, so its preservation is vital.

The tower, transept and vestry will undergo work, and a £4,000 Building Improvement Grant will help with phase one of the project to urgently repair the roof.

Congregation in a service at St Germain's Church

St Germain's Church, Birmingham

Monthly Grants: a funding boost in the lead up to Christmas

05 December 2023

Planning meeting for the redevelopment of the temporary church site at St Catherine's in Coventry

New life for a derelict church site in Coventry

22 November 2023

Equipping churches in bereavement support

25 October 2023

A church with a 250-year history of social action

18 October 2023

Ready to apply?

Once you've identified which grant is right for you, taken a look at how to apply and formed a project plan, it's potentially time to start your funding journey

Apply now

Children wearing life jackets sitting on a boat

Benefact Group's work

As a Trust, our ability to support and fund so many worthwhile causes, is made possible by the hard work of the award-winning specialist financial businesses that make up Benefact Group – which gives all its available profits to the Trust, sustaining our giving. As a part of the Benefact Group each business, whether it be in specialist insurance, investment management, broking or advisory shares the Trust’s ethos of giving back.

Discover more about the Benefact Group >