Enabling greater social impact
Benefact Trust’s Community Impact Grants Programme supports projects that will make a positive and transformative impact on lives and communities.
This programme empowers Christian organisations across the UK and Ireland who are doing incredible work tackling major issues in society.
At the same time, our Community Impact Grants help churches to grow their congregations and promote the Christian faith.
The programme is open to applications from churches, cathedrals, denominational bodies, Christian charities, and schools and educational institutions with a clear Christian ethos*.
The programme supports direct capital and/or revenue costs for new or expanded activity, and funding is available under the following programme areas:
(1) Growing congregations and Christian communities
Projects which focus on growing church congregations and communities by encouraging numerical growth and growing faith and spirituality across all ages. Typical areas of support are likely to include:
- Outreach and wider engagement focused on mission, growth and faith development
- Projects aiming to engage more young people with faith and the church community
- Church planting projects
- Construction of new chapels for hospices or other charities
(2) Addressing social challenges facing communities
Projects focusing on addressing, or building the capacity of Christian organisations to address, the following types of issues:
- Food poverty
- Debt / financial issues
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Children and families
- Young people
- NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training)
- Older people’s needs
- Homelessness
- Refugees & asylum seekers
- Offenders / Ex-offenders
- Addiction / substance misuse
- People with disabilities
- Modern Slavery / human trafficking
- Inclusion
(3) Enabling wider community use of church buildings
Projects resulting in a clear increase in use of church buildings by the wider community (beyond the immediate congregation). Please note that requests for essential building improvements should come through our Building Improvement Grants programme unless they are a small part of a larger project clearly focused on enabling wider community use.
The types of projects likely to be supported, include:
- Redevelopment, expansion or improvement projects resulting in new or improved facilities for wider community use or community benefit beyond the immediate congregation
- Re-ordering of existing church facilities to enable increased community use
- Other activities or resources to support a sustainable transition to increased community use (e.g. a new staff member to undertake programming/coordination of community spaces)
(4) Schools and educational institutions
For schools and theological educational institutions with a clear Christian ethos, the following types of projects will be considered:
- New spaces or facilities to improve collective worship or spiritual reflection among students (e.g. chapels, outdoor worship spaces, prayer gardens, etc)
- Repairs/refurbishment of a chapel or other worship space used by students for worship or spiritual reflection
How to apply
Please read the Programme Guidance in full before making an application to the Community Impact Grants programme. This document will answer any questions you may have about the application process.
To apply to the Community Impact Grants programme, you will need to complete this online application form. You will also need to complete a Community Impact Grant Project Budget template and submit this with your application form.
If you have further questions about Benefact Trust and our funding, take a look at our FAQs on our How to apply page.
*Schools and theological educational institutions are only eligible to apply under area four: Schools and educational institutions.
