Churches throughout the diocese are caring for creation and responding to our current environmental crises in many different ways, including through the Eco church scheme and developing paths to reach carbon net zero by 2030 in line with the goal of the Church of England as a whole.
On this page
On this page you will find resources to support churches to care for creation and to respond to pressing issues such as global warming, loss of biodiversity, and pollution. This includes thinking about worship and teaching, getting started on your church’s Eco journey, reducing your church’s carbon footprint and thinking a bit wider about engagement with your local and global community.
If you want to talk to someone about your church's next steps, contact your Deanery Environmental Advocate, or if your deanery does not have an environmental advocate yet, contact the Diocesan Environmental Officer, Rev. Sandra Eldridge.
Worship and Theology
Theology and worship underpin practical efforts to address our current environmental crises. The Church of England recognises that care for creation - God’s earth, it’s life and its creatures, including ourselves - is central to its theology and mission. The Church's understanding of contemporary mission is summarised in its five marks of mission. The fifth mark states that we will “strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth”.
Throughout the year there are specific Sundays and seasons when your church may wish to focus its worship and teaching on creation. These including the Season of Creation, Harvest, Environment Sunday, Rogation Sunday and many others.
You can find resources for these Sundays and seasons, alongside resources to help your church to embed creation and the environment more fully in its worship throughout the year, and resources to facilitate reflection on theology and the environment, on our diocesan environment pages on worship and theology.
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Questions about worship and theology to ask in your church
Does your worship, statements of belief and music acknowledge and celebrate God's relationship with, and work in, creation?
Does your church celebrate special days and seasons relating to creation care (eg Season of Creation, Harvest, Environment Sunday, Rogation Sunday etc)?
Does your church pray for global, national and local environmental issues and for those who work to safeguard and renew creation, and provide encouragement and resources for individual and community prayeron these themes?
Is creation care part of your church's work with children and young people?
Positive answers to these questions will help your church to start thinking about an Eco church award.
Getting started with Eco Church
The Eco Church scheme is a great way for churches to become more environmentally sustainable. It is designed to equip churches to express their care for God’s world in worship and teaching; in how they look after their buildings and land; in how they engage with their local community and in global campaigns, and in the personal lifestyles of their congregations. Thousands of churches, including many in our Diocese, have joined this scheme. It provides a fun and holistic way of bringing people together to look at the church's environmental credentials and making the church more environmentally sustainable.
Churches complete a questionnaire relating to the different aspects of church life listed above. Find out how Eco church works here. It is very easy to register. The scheme is run by A Rocha who provide a wealth of resources to support churches.
Once your church has agreed to be part of Eco Church it is very easy to register.
The "Questions to ask in your church" on this webpage are related to the Eco Church questionnaire so will help your church to get started with Eco Church. If you have made some progress with these questions, you may want to contact your deanery environmental advocate to talk with them about next steps or, if your deanery does not yet have a deanery advocate, you could contact the Diocesan Environmental Officer, Rev. Sandra Eldridge.
You can also watch a Church of England video on getting started with Eco Church below.
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Questions about environmental leadership to ask in your church
Has the leadership in your church made a formal commitment to considering the environment more in its life and worship and made a commitment to A Rocha UK's Eco Church scheme?
Has your church established a group or individual to champion your church community becoming more environmentally sustainable, including helping to implement and monitor net zero carbon plans?
Positive answers to these question will help your church to start thinking about an Eco church award.
Getting started - understanding net zero carbon and tracking progress
The major environmental crisis we face is global warming. The main reason for global warming is the emission of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide. As part of its commitment to creation, the Church of England has committed to reach net zero carbon by 2030. But what does net zero carbon mean and how does the Church know whether it is on track?
The Energy Saving Trust explains what net zero carbon means.
The Church of England has developed a Routemap to reach net zero carbon by 2030. For the Church as a whole, and this Dioese, to track progress on reaching net zero carbon, data on carbon footprints of all buildings the Church has responsibility for (churches, church halls, offices, voluntary aided church schools) - and of work-related travel - are needed. The more complete these data are the more accurately progress can be tracked.
The Energy Footprint Tool
Carbon footprints (the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by use of the church building) of churches buildings are collected annually through the Energy Footprint Tool (EFT). Read more about carbon footprints.
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Completing the Energy Footprint Tool
It is a good idea to have a designated person whose job it is to complete the tool every year. This could be anyone. It does not need to be the Vicar, the treasurer, the churchwardens!
To complete your Energy Footprint Tool you will need your church's utility bills for the relevant year (if you are completing the tool in 2025 you will need the bills for 2024). You will also need an estimate of the age of your heating system.
If you have solar panels, you will need information on their generation over the preceding year.
If you have a separate church hall you will need to enter the data for this too. If you want to exclude an area which is permanently rented out to tenants and sub-metered, you will want this information to hand.
To enter data into the Energy Footprint Tool login to Parish Returns.
If you have trouble logging in contact the Diocesan statistics team.
You can find a video explaining how to complete the Energy Footprint Tool here.
Completing the Energy Footprint Tool is also an essential element of Eco church and a basis for starting to think about reducing your church’s carbon footprint.
Watch a Church of England Video on the Energy Footprint Tool:
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Questions about the Energy Footprint Tool to ask in your church
Does your church know, through completing the Energy Footprint Tool every year, what its carbon footprint of energy use in the church is?
Does your church report progress towards net zero carbon to the PCC regularly?
Positive answer to these question will help your church to start thinking about an Eco church award.
Getting started - green energy tariffs
We all need to reduce our carbon footprints. The carbon footprint of most churches is dominated by the use of fossil fuels in heating. Moving away from using fossil fuels is one way to reduce carbon footprints. If your church is not able to do that immediately its carbon footprint can be reduced in the meantime by using green or renewable energy tariffs.
A green tariff means that some or all of the electricity you buy is 'matched' by purchases of renewable energy that your energy supplier makes on your behalf.
Switching to a green energy tariff will reduce your church's environmental impact and actively support investment in renewable energy and ethical companies.
The Church of England recently comissioned work to define a green tariff and identify how far different companies satisfy the definition. This video explains a bit more about this process.
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Switching to a green tariff
The Church of England is encouraging churches to switch to a green tariff via their Great Switch campaign.
You can find a short guide to the Church of England's Great Switch campaign here. This includes a list of companies considered to provide at least a basic green tariff.
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A question about green tariffs to ask your church
Is the electricity and gas (if used) supplied to your church premises generated from renewable resources or do you use a green tariff?
A positive answer to this question will help your church to start thinking about an Eco church award.
Getting started - reducing, reusing and recycling
"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is a phrase often used in relation to becoming more environmentally friendly. This website explains what it means.
You can think about reducing reusing and recycling anything that your church regularly throws away, for example, printed paper and disposable cups and plates.
More recently, Bea Johnson, author of Zero Waste Home, introduced the 5 "Rs" of waste management: "Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot (compost)".
- Refuse what you do not need.
- Reduce what you do need (and cannot refuse)
- Reuse what you consume (and cannot refuse or reduce)
- Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse
- Rot (compost) the rest.
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A question about reducing, re-using and recycling
Does your church have a waste and recycling policy or practice that ensures everything possible is reused or recycled so that waste goin to landfill is minimised?
A positive answer to this question will help your church to start thinking about an Eco church award.
Getting started - church-yards
Not every church has a church-yard but if your church does, it is a great place to start thinking about how to care for God's creation.
Organisations such as Caring for God's Acre have some great resources, alongside the resources that A Rocha provide.
Many churches are now actively trying to encourage eco-systems and biodiversity through planting wildflowers and not mowing some of the grass as often as previously.
Caring for God's Acre provide a helpful guide to what to plant in churchyards.
Essex Wildlife Trust also provides some information about the benefits of wild flowers and what to plant.
The National Church also has some good resources on welcoming nature in your churchyard here.
Sometimes there can be resistance from others about the way churchyards look with less mowing and more wildflowers. Putting up signs to explain what the church is doing and why can help. You can make your own signs or you can buy them on-line from a number of different companies.
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Questions about the church-yard to ask your church
Does your church encourage wildlife in the church-yard?
Does your church manage mowing in a way encourages wildlife?
Does your church leave untidy areas during the autumn and winter that support over-wintering wildlife?
Does your church encourage people to access and enjoy the church land?(eg benches/seats, good accessiblity, display boards or leaflets)?
Positive answers to these questions will help your church to start thinking about an Eco church award.
Getting started - involving others
Encouraging others to join you in your church's Eco journey can sometimes feel a bit daunting. Here are a few ideas that others have tried that may help:
Start with worhsip and teaching:
In an event in the Cathedral in 2025, Roger McFarland, Eco lead at All Saints, Springfield, one of our Gold Eco Churches, was asked waht his asvice woyuld be to a church at the start of its Eco journey. He said "Start with the worship and teaching. It's when you have that shared understanding that caring for Creation is a must for Christians that people will come on board. Loving our neighbour must include tackling the climate and nature crises because of the harm they are doing to our neighbours, human and non-human, across the world."
Use a noticeboard display:
Using a noticeboard to display photos and interesting material can be eye-catching, make people want to learn more, and let people know that there are those within the congregation who really care about Creation.
Put something in your Pew Sheet or Church Newsletter regularly:
There are always some ideas in the monthly environment newsletter (sign up here) but here are a few more ideas from another of our Gold Eco Churches, St John's Moulsham.
Use a short survey to find out people's views:
This survey can be adapted to find out about the views of members of your congregation, and help you understand where you are starting from.
Policies and plans
In thinking about caring for God's Creation, your church may find it useful to write a short Environmental Policy and this is also useful if you want to progress with Eco Church who ask about policies and plans that your church has developed. Here are some examples:
Environmental Policy from St Peter's, South Weald
Environment Policy template and more examples from A Rocha
Energy Management Plan from All Saints, Springfield
Churchyard Management Plan from All Saints, Springfield
Planning to reduce your church's carbon footprint
The Church of England has developed a wide range of resources to support churches in reducing their carbon footprints:
- a short video,
- a bank of webinar recordings and other guidance,
- a practical path to net zero guide for churches to use (updated in 2025),
- a searchable bank of case-studies to illustrate the steps that churches throughout the country have taken to reduce their carbon footprints.
Different churches will plan to reduce their carbon footprints in different ways. Plans may depend on how much your church (and hall) are used; what they are used for and when; and the types of buildings. For most churches an energy audit is an important start. This is an inspection survey and analysis of energy use in a building. It may include recommendations to reduce energy use, while seeking to maintain appropraite levels of heating and lighting (see section below).
Watch the Church of England video on reducing your church's carbon footprint
Energy Audits
What low cost steps could your church take to reduce its energy bills? Are solar panels an option for your church? If you heat your church with gas or another fossil fuel source, how can you move to a renewable source? If you are asking these sorts of questions an energy audit is a good place to start.
An energy audit is an assessment of your Church's energy use with recommendations and advice on the main energy and cost savings you could make as you move towards carbon net zero. The audit identifies steps you could take, starting with free and inexpensive changes such as closing doors, turning down thermostats and adding draft excluders, through to big investments such as obtaining renewable heat sources. For more detail about what these steps might entail, see the Church of Engand resources above.
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Obtaining an energy audit
You will need to choose a company to do your audit. The rough cost of an audit is around £500.
At the moment Parish Buying are offering subsidised audits. A subsidy of £175 on each audit is being paid by the Church of England, so that the current cost is £275+VAT.
Green Journey are a company similar to Parish Buying that provide an energy basket for churches but use fully green energy. They also do energy audits.
You can also get an energy audit from Inspired Efficiency, a company dedicated to helping organisations reduce energy use and carbon emissions.
Once you have decided on a company to do the audit you will need to give them some information about your buildings, your utlity bills and how the buildings are used.
The company will come and do an inspection and provide you with a report that identifies all the actions you can take and puts them in order of priority.
Insulation
Insulation can be complex and expensive but many churches can start simply and cheaply.
Glyn Pritchard & Lyn Brown from St. John the Baptist Church,Thaxted,explain: "Our large, 600yr old Grade 1 listed building is at the heart of the community. It contains historic items susceptible to fluctuating temperatures and humidity and is home to a colony of bats. It was very draughty. Taking advice, we assessed each area individually. We reused and recycled materials wherever possible. Our own team of stitchers made curtains and draft excluder cushions. A thermal curtain for the huge West Door was made in situ and tremendous cold downdrafts from the doors to the roof were addressed by refashioning heavy, lined curtains, donated by a local firm. Bulbs in regular use were replaced with LED’s. A bulb illuminating a clock face 24/7 was replaced with a sensor LED, giving immediate savings. Overall costs were about £300. Energy use has reduced by an amazing 40%. Community events held to raise awareness also resulted in increased sales of energy saving items in our local hardware shop!"
This simple type of insulation can be important alongside more expensive and sophisticated methods.
Paul Thomson, our net zero carbon officer explains: "the ‘heat gradient effect’, also known as the ‘chimney effect’, sees warm air rising increasing temperatures by 2.5 degrees Celsius every metre. Where there is a significant temperature gradient with the outside on cold days, this causes the interior warmed air to push out through openings in the upper parts of the building envelope (at the roof and upper exterior walls), which is called exfiltration. At the same time, there is a negative or reverse air-pressure difference at the lower parts of the building, which induces air to flow inwards through gaps and cracks in doors, windows and walls which is referred to as infiltration. The sort of work undertaken at Thaxted reduces the infiltration impact."
A Rocha also provide some guidance for insulating churches here. Note that careful planning and professional advice are essential, particularly when working with historic buildings, to avoid issues like harmful condensation and moisture build-up.
Solar panels
Church of England Guidance on installing solar panels
Watch a short video about the installation of solar panels on York Minster.
Watch a Church of England video about solar panels.
Some people are concerned about the the ethics of sourcing the materials that go into solar panels.
Ethical Consumer is a magazine designed to help people use their money to make the world a better place. They have produced a shopping guide on solar panels. You do need a subscription to see the detail of the different brands and how they are rated, but other information is visible.
Community Energy England have a page on solar panel supply chain and ethics.
The Church of England will be doing their own piece of work looking into this issue and when that is complete we will add it here.
Electric vehicle charging points
If you are thinking about installing electric charging points at your church, the Church of England has some general advice here. This includes links to further reading and webinars.
Funding for NZC work
For most churches, the question of how to fund NZC work looms large. This section provides a list of possible funders and information about what they fund and how to apply. Below are lists of national and local funders.
National Funders
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The Beaverbrook Foundation (Charity Number 1153470)
The Beaverbrook Foundation
Address: 19 Crown Passage, LONDON SW1Y 6PP
Phone: (020)704 29435
Website: Home - Beaverbrook Foundation
Charity registration (1153470)
History
Founded by the British-Canadian newspaper proprietor Lord Beaverbook in 1954 to pursue charitable objectives which he closely supported.
Grant Activity
Awards a total of between £480,000-£680,000 in grants each year.
Current Grants
Grants can include capital expenditure, i.e. to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as buildings, fixtures and fittings, machinery, furniture and other equipment; for revenue/running costs; and for special projects.
Scope of Grants
Grants are made at the discretion of the trustees for charitable purposes including those that would have reflected the interests of the first Lord Beaverbrook, including:-
- The erection or improvement of the fabric of any church building
- The purchase of books, papers, manuscripts or works of art
- Care of older people or sick people
Potential Awards: Range from £5,000-£300,000.
Applications: Grants - Beaverbrook Foundation
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The Benefact Trust (Charity Number 263960)
Benefact Trust Limited
Address: 2000 Pioneer Avenue, Brockworth, GLOUCESTER GL3 4AW
Phone: 0345 777 3322
Website: Home - Benefact Trust
History
The Benefact Trust is a Not-For-Profit financial services group which includes Ecclesiastical Insurance. Initially the Allchurches Trust, the Benefact Charity was formed in 1972.
Grant Activity
Starting as the Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office in 1887, before becoming the Allchurches Trust and since 1972, the Not for Profit Benefact Trust has awarded over £256 million to churches, Christian charities and the communities they serve, including £100 million in the last 5 years alone.
Current Grants
Building Improvement Grants (BIG)
Community Impact Grants
Heritage Skills for Christian Buildings Grant
Roof Alarm (theft of metal) Grants
Scope of Building Improvement Grants
Energy efficiency/renewable energy measures e.g. heating/lighting upgrades, solar panels, etc. which improve the sustainability of church buildings/facilities and enable their continued use.
Essential, one-off repairs or other capital works to ensure the continued use or viability of a building.
Works or equipment to improve disabled access or meet operational requirements e.g. essential operational equipment, AV equipment, hearing loops, ramps/handrails, lifts etc.
Conservation or restoration of historic features e.g. stained glass, carvings, interior furnishings, clocks, tower bells, organs etc) which contribute to preservation and appreciation of a building’s heritage.
Aesthetic enhancements (e.g. interior decoration/furnishings or public realm improvements) to improve indoor or outdoor spaces for users.
Scope of potential Awards
The Trust receives a high volume of applications for Building Improvement Grants, and the Trust aims to support as many projects as possible. Grants are typically a small contribution to the overall project costs. In 2023, a total of 644 Building Improvement grants were given. The average grant size for projects with total costs up to £1m was £3,300. The average grant size for projects with total costs over £1m was £46,000.
Potential awards: £750 to £100,000
Applications: Grant Application Form
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Garfield Weston Foundation (Charity Number 230260)
Garfield Weston Foundation
Address: Weston Centre, 10 Grosvenor Street, LONDON W1K 4QY
Phone: 020 7399 6565
Website: Home - Garfield Weston Foundation
History
Established by Canadian Businessman W Garfield Weston in in 1958, the trust is an offshoot of Wittington Investments which controls Associated British Foods, British Sugar and clothing discounter Primark and has grown to be one of the UK’s largest charities.
Grant Activity
The Foundation distributed £91M in 2022/23.
Current Grants
The Foundations grants funds
Capital projects
Operating Costs
Specific Projects
Capital Project Grants include funds towards basic amenities and for restoration works to historic buildings such as roof repairs. The Trustees favour projects that benefit large numbers of people and are inclusive.
Scope of Grants
The Foundation supports a wide range of charities that are felt to make a positive difference across different sectors in the UK, including welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith.
Scope of Potential Awards
Grants vary from £1,000 to several million and depend on the scope of the work and the range of beneficiaries.
Applications: For grant applicants
No grant deadlines with applications taking 4-6 months to determine.
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The Georgian Group – The Cleary Fund (Charity Number 1183301)
The Georgian Group – The Cleary Fund
Address: 6 Fitzroy Square, LONDON W1T 5DX
Phone: 020 7529 8920
Website: The Cleary Fund | The Georgian Group
Charity registration (1183301)
History
Founder - The Cleary Foundation
Current Grants
At the discretion of Trustrees.
Scope of Grants
The conservation of Georgian buildings constructed between 1700-1840 is eligible for funding.
Scope of Potential Awards
Over the past three years the fund has awarded grants totally £30,000 each year.
Applications: Cleary Fund Eligibility Criteria
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The Albert Gubay Foundation – (Charity Number 1193970)
The Albert Gubay Foundation
Address: 3 Denmark St, Goose Grn, Altrincham WA14 2SS
Phone: 0161 703 7992
Website: Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation
Charity registration (1193970)
History
Albert Gubay was a Welsh businessman who founded the Kwik Save supermarket chain and was also a successful property developer before starting his charitable foundation.
Grant Activity
Total of awards made in last two years: £17M and £26M.
Current Grants
The Foundation has three grants streams, two focused on Roman Catholic churches and a third with a wide range of general charitable objectives including places of worship, defined as:
Worship and associated community outreach: to ensure places of worship are energy efficient and watertight with an emphasis on wider community use of church halls or Church buildings where those buildings are redundant or too large and where the parish has a focus on non-conditional outward facing work.
Please be aware, The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation General Fund is currently closed to applications. The Foundation will reopen for general applications, please check back regularly for updates.
Scope of Grants
At Trustees discretion
Scope of Potential Awards
This is an example of funding - for St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Hardybutts.
Application Form: Albert Gubay Foundation applications
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National Lottery Heritage Fund
National Lottery Heritage Fund
Address: London & South East Office - 4th Floor, Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill
LONDON, EC4R 2YAPhone: 0330 236 6485
Website: The National Lottery Heritage Fund: Home
History
The National Lottery is a state-franchised national lottery established by John Major’s Conservative government in 1994. The National Lottery is currently operated by multi-national Allwyn Entertainment, owned by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, who took over the Camelot Group in 2022. The Heritage Lottery is one of the original five ‘good causes’ established in 1994.
Grant Activity
Since 1994 the National Lottery Heritage Fund have awarded over £1bn to more than 8,200 places of worship projects across the UK, with a further £100m committed over the next 3 years.
Current Grants
The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) offers two levels of grants for heritage projects in the UK: £10,000 to £250,000 and £250,000 to £10 million.
Scope of Grants
Places of worship are a current focus for the National Lottery Fund’s Heritage in Need strategic initiative.
The current website entry suggest that schemes qualifying for grants might include:
- exploring the building and bringing it to life through new interpretation
- necessary repair works to masonry, rain-water goods systems or roofs, enabling the building to be taken off the Heritage at Risk Register
- running heritage learning activities and community events, and creating space for them by carrying out minor alterations to the fabric
- exploring, conserving and interpreting the biodiversity of external spaces including graveyards and cemeteries
- providing better access to heritage using digital technology
- community events to involve people in recording the removal, repair and reinstallation of bells, organs, hatchments and benefactor boards, alongside the repairs
- opportunities for people to learn about the art in places of worship, alongside a programme of conservation, such as stained glass, memorials and monuments, wall paintings, statues, historic fixtures or graffiti
- discovery, conservation and learning about the creatures that live in the building, such as bats or birds of prey
- activities to help your group manage heritage more effectively, such as researching existing and new audiences, expanding your pool of volunteers, or trying new approaches to fundraising or income generation
- installing facilities such as toilets which can be shown to enable more inclusive use of the building in future
This list is expected to be revise in the light of a September 2024 announcement of a National Lottery Heritage Fund investment of £100M in Places of Worship over the next three years, with less onerous application requirements.
Potential Awards: £10,000 to £10million
Applications: How to apply | The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Local funders in Essex
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Biffa Awards (Landfill Tax Environmental Funder)
Biffa Awards (Landfill Tax Environmental Funder)
Phone: 01636 670000
Website: Home Page - Biffa Award
History
High Wycombe-based Biffa Ltd is one of the UK oldest waste companies, formed in 1912 to manage the disposal of ash and clinker from power stations and is now the UK’s second biggest waste operator. Biffa has had a succession of international owners and is currently owned by US-based Energy Capital Partners. Under Landfill Tax Regulations waste operators can channel some of their profits towards Entrust-registered environmental funds that support charitable objectives in the UK.
Grant Activity
Biffa Award grants-making is managed by the Wildlife Trusts and has awarded £156 Million to 65,000 environmental projects since its inception in 1996, and supports a range of environmental activity awarding around £5 million each year.
Current Grants
Alongside recreation, biodiversity and cultural facility funding, Biffa has a Community Buildings funding theme that aims to improve buildings at the heart of their communities, such as village halls, community centres and church halls.
Applications for projects in places of worship must be able to demonstrate wider community use and benefit. We cannot fund repairs to windows, spires, steeples, bell towers or any areas not accessed by the public.
Scope of Grants
Application value must be between £10,000 and £75,000 and will fund a range of building improvements including energy saving and generation works.
Scope of Potential Awards
Total project cost must be no more than £200,000 including VAT
The project site must be within five miles of a significant Biffa Operation or within 10 miles if this is an active Biffa Landfill Site of which there are two in Essex at Little Waltham, Chelmsford and Basildon (check the project postcode using the Biffa site’s Postcode Checker below)
The project site must ALSO be within 10 miles of any licenced landfill site in England and Northern Ireland (to find your nearest landfill site, telephone the regulator Entrust on 01926 488300).
Guidance Notes & Application Form
BOM156-Guidance-Notes-for-online-application-form-V10-1017.pdf
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Braintree District Council – Councillors Community Improvement Fund
Braintree District Council – Councillors Community Improvement Fund
Website: Councillors' Community Grant scheme – Braintree District Council
Grant Activity
The District Council has 49 Councillors providing an annual budget of £61.250 for Community Improvments.
Current Grants
Each ward Councillor has a maximum of £1,250 to give to local organisations. Multi-Member Ward councillors can pool their budgets to jointly fund projects within the ward.
Scope of Grants
You can apply for funding for a range of projects including:
- building improvements
- playground equipment
- vehicle purchases
- recreation facilities
- IT equipment
- sports equipment
- events costs
- energy efficiency measures
Scope of Potential Awards
See above.
Application Form
To apply for funding you must contact your ward Councillor to discuss your project proposal.
You can download and read full details of the scheme in the Council’s guidance booklet.
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Enovert Community Trust (Landfill Tax Environmental Funder)
Enovert Community Trust (Landfill Tax Environmental Funder)
Address: PO Box 3138, SLOUGH SL3 9ZH
Phone: 01753 582513
Website: Enovert Community Trust
History
Enovert was created in 2017 for the sale of its landfill and waste management activities by parent company Cory Environmental. Under Landfill Tax Regulations waste operators can channel some of their profits towards Entrust-registered environmental funds that support charitable objectives in the UK
Grant Activity
Potentially awards £2.5 Million each year.
Current Grants
Enovert makes awards across five grant categories including increasing public access to private land, improving existing parks, managing the impact of pollution and conserving biodiversity. The fifth category is most relevant to NZC and is focused on the management of religious buildings:
Category E - Helping to preserve, maintain, restore and/or repair a religious building or one of historical or architectural interest.
Scope of Grants
The project must fulfil one of Enovert Community Trust’s five funding categories (see above)
The project must be located within 10 miles of a landfill site operated by Enovert Management Limited, or within ten miles of a waste facility managed by the company. The Enovert website has a useful map indicating the location of the it’s three Essex Landfill sites at Mucking Landfill, Stanford Le Hope; Barling Landfill, Little Wakering & Bellhouse Landfill, Marks Tey.
Enovert places considerable value on the importance of projects which demonstrate an ability to manage carbon reductions.
Applications are considered on a quarterly basis.
Scope of Potential Awards
Enovert does not specify a grant value and places significance on the public value of the project.
Applications: ECT Application Form
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Fowler Smith and Jones Trust (Charity Number 1132249)
Fowler Smith and Jones Trust
Address: 3rd Floor, Marlborough House, Victoria Rd. South, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1LN
Phone: 01245 809899
Website: FSJ Charities
History
Not known.
Grant Activity
The Trust makes awards totalling between £650,000 and £800,000 each year.
Current Grants
Grants are not arranged thematically, and instead request applications for general charitable purposes with a focus outlined under the Scope of Grants section.
Scope of Grants
The Trust makes grants to groups and projects with specific Essex focus and benefits. The largest group of grants goes to support of community and / or youth schemes within Essex. There has also been increased support for the elderly and marginalised within our society.
Scope of Potential Awards
Awards average at £2-3,000/each application, though larger request will be carefully considered.
Applications: There is no formal application process. Applications should include a brief description of the organisation involved (no more than 2 pages A4), including staff / volunteer numbers, together with project costings.
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Essex Heritage Trust (Charity Number 802317)
Essex Heritage Trust
Address: Essex Heritage Trust, Cressing Temple, Braintree, Essex CM77 8PD
Phone: 01376 583280
Website: Essex Heritage Trust
History
The Trust was launched in 1990, after the success of the Essex Heritage Year in 1989 and in recognition of the need to do more to protect the rich heritage of Essex.
Grant Activity
The Trust makes awards totalling between £51,000 and £81,000 each year.
Current Grants
Grants range from £100 to £10,000. Projects must be within Essex and for the benefit of the public.
Scope of Grants
Grants are available for restoration; research: publication and acquisition.
Scope of Potential Awards
Applications: To apply for funding, please email the Trust at mail@essexheritagetrust.co.uk in the first instance briefly describing your project. The trust will then contact you with further instructions.
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Friends of Essex Churches (Charity Number 236033)
Friends of Essex Churches Trust
Phone: 01799 523311
Website: Friends of Essex Churches Trust
History
A National Churches Trust, the Friends of Essex Churches was established in 1951, under the chairmanship of the Rt Revd Dudley Narborough, Bishop of Colchester, and was first registered as a charity in 1965.
Grant Activity
The trust has made total awards of between £130,000 and £215,000 each year for the past five years.
Current Grants
Grants are not normally given for:
- routine redecoration
- conservation of furnishings, fittings, organs, monuments, stained glass, bells, and works of art
- liturgical reordering
- new furnishings and fittings (unless as part of a scheme of improvements)
- the repair and construction of free-standing buildings in the grounds of the church, unless the facilities in such buildings make an essential contribution to the use of the church building.
Applications for improvements as well as repairs will be considered.
Scope of Grants
Grants are awarded to Christian places of worship of all denominations (Anglican, Roman Catholic, United Reformed Church, etc.) and of any age in the historic county of Essex (including the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock and the five London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest).
Scope of Potential Awards
There are several examples of projects funded on the website. This is particulalry relevant: Example of underfloor heating installation
Application Form
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Thameslink Trains – Your Station, your Community Improvement Fund
Thameslink Trains – Your Station, your Community Improvement Fund
Website: Thameslink - Your station, Your community Improvement Fund
History
2025/26 will be the third year of the Thameslink Trains ‘Your Station’ funding programme designed to improve both the environment and community cohesion in the immediate hinterland of Thameslink Trains stations.
Grant Activity
In 2024, Thameslink announced awards totalling £448,000 to 37 community projects (averaging £12,000 per project) associated with their stations, a 20% rise in funding based on the previous year.
Current Grants
The grant fund offers accepts bids in the categories of:
- Bids up to £10,000 – open applications
- Bids of £10,000 - £50,000 – please contact us to discuss your proposal before applying
There are also two Station Partner Support Grants open for application
- Arts/Creative projects - £25,000
- Horticulture/Environment projects - £25,000
Scope of Grants
Grants are made across five themes – enhancing station space; celebrating 2000 years of the modern railway; positive mental health; diversity & inclusion; employability & confidence building and environmental sustainability.
Environmental sustainability includes supporting environmental projects that address the climate crisis through:
- Programmes that help in reducing emissions and/or increase recycling, helping us get us to a carbon-zero future
- Conserving and restoring natural spaces
- Encouraging sustainable mobility shift to encourage customers to make greener choices to travel by rail and getting to our stations sustainably - by bike, bus, foot or electric car.
Scope of Potential Awards
Given the growing popularity of this grant programme, it is likely that a fourth round for 2026/27 will be launched later this year.
Applications (Fund currently closed).
Local funders in London
To be completed - but note that Friends of Essex Churches fund projects in east London.