Last month the Church of England announced it would provide £15 million for dioceses to help churches struggling to pay energy costs. The Energy Costs Grant will be distributed to dioceses to enable them to help Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) cover the increased cost of heating and lighting church buildings this winter. The Norwich Diocesan Board of Finance Ltd (NDBF) has received a grant of £428,000 from the Archbishops’ Council as part of the nationwide scheme to support parishes with rising energy costs.
The intention is to direct this funding to support the mission and ministry of parishes. These one-off grants will be given at the discretion of the Bishop’s Council of Trustees after review by members of the Finance Committee. The funds will be provided on the following basis:
- A payment will be made to every PCC who applies and provides their bank details to enable payment
- An amount of £300k will be set aside to provide assistance based on the energy costs for church buildings, including halls, as reported in the annual accounts for 2021
- An amount of £100k will be set aside for those providing Warm Hubs or other social action activities that might be at risk without support
- The amount provided in these two categories will be dependent on the number of applications received by the deadline
- Any remaining funds will be held in a discretionary fund for use in cases of exceptional hardship.
If the PCC is experiencing significantly increased costs for the church building/s and would like to be considered for a grant, please complete the questions on the application form where you can also find more information.
Your Incumbent, Churchwarden(s), and Treasurer should receive an email with this information and application form.
The deadline to submit applications is Friday 9 December 2022.