Rachel Reeves ‘pulls rug’ from UK’s historic churches by slashing vital funding | UK | News

The congregations all over the country are struggling to shoulder the maintenance costs of Britain’s Christian churches, and volunteers begging to give more money to their protection with the government. Taxes of disabling taxes to citizens of countries such as Austria and Denmark are connected to the British’s first -class religious buildings portfolio financially to voluntary church guards and the generosity of the declining communities. Although the struggle to meet the high costs of maintenance business is nothing new, the guards, including Andrew Fearn, who controls the St Mary Magdalene in Newark, could request VAT back for more than 1,000 repairs through the worship programs listed since 2001.

The schema changed after the sacrifice of Rachel Reeves by Chancellor in Spring, but the total annual allowance fell from almost £ 23 million to £ 23 million and the new spending limits of £ 25,000 for individual claims. Andrew 74 -year -old Andrew had just begun a 4.5 million renovation project at St Mary’s and assumed that he could take back £ 7,000 from the government. “Instead, we’re open £ 600,000, Express said Express. “I felt like I was withdrawn from us.”

At the end of Parish, roof and wall repairs, heating plants and a new toilet and café area, including renovation plans ended to a great extent. It was only able to do so through a grant from the National Lottery Fund.

However, Andrew’s struggle to find enormous funds in a short time speaks to a larger issue faced by churches throughout the UK – the cost of repairing and maintaining some of the oldest religious buildings in the world, many of which is based on the Anglo Saxon period, falls into the shoulders of goodwill volunteers, and no direct financial support from the church or state.

The 85 -year -old Felicity Pinder gathered £ 19,000 for an organ renovation in the village of Fovant in the village of Wiltshire, and he has largely helped a generous donation from someone whose family has lived for decades, and when he learned a humid patch that cost thousands of pounds in the church.

“We don’t know the exact amount, but I feel that donation will be much more difficult,” he said. “We have money in reserves, but this is an uncertain position. The organ was a recognizable, 100 -year -old part of the church. A moist patch on the roof is perhaps more basic, but less attractive as a donation collection campaign.”

75 -year -old Peter Guy, Hampshire, Bowerchalke, the director of the Holy Triple Church, described the VAT relaxation in a restricted building last year as a “life -saving ve in a repair project of £ 40,000 and warned that the scaling of the listed worship plans will accelerate the closing of the church.

“In addition to having to find money for repair, we pay an annual congregation share to meet the costs of having a victory for the Church of the UK,” he said. “The amount paid by each area is evaluated according to its size, but this is not a insignificant amount. [with a population of 221 in 2021] And ours was about 17,000 £ this year. This is about the sum of all our collections brought together without doing anything for emergency repairs. “

In the Kington St Michael’s small congregation in Chippenham, which has a roughly 700 population, thousands of pounds of repair costs with gas, electricity and congregation shares are now only 18 pensions.

The 63 -year -old Alison Greenhalgh had to think outside the box to collect money for large -scale repairs, including a church porch of approximately 65,000 in total. So far, organ concerts, village supports and teddy bears have planned an event in which the roof of the church has been parachuted.

“This is too much responsibility, Al Alison said. “We are very proud of our 800-year-old church, but the meeting of the ends is becoming increasingly difficult. Historically, people would donate every month, but as our congregation ages, the pot is inevitably shrinking. We certainly feel a great weight on our shoulders.

Even the tendency to spirituality among young people did not balance the crisis. A survey conducted by Onepoll seems to use the church and the outdated institutional associations of young generations for the abstract ideas that are described as spiritual in some respects of 62% of Gen Z.

A study from the Bible society found that the rate of 18 to 24% of the age of 18 to 24, who thinks that the identification of Christian self, fell slightly below 40% below 40% below 40% below 2024 and 2024, or definitely a god or “slightly higher power” rose from 28% to 45%.

The tendency of young people who comfort from a turbulent world to religion are often not felt in the countryside of England, where inexperienced retired guards have to struggle with major deficiencies and often do not know where to help.

“The Head of Donation and Public Relations (NCT), which should be discussed by the offices (NCT), a charity, including helping the Parish to manage accounts and to apply grants (NCT),“ There are too many bureaucracy that bureaucracy churches need to deal with. ”

“It can be boring, difficult and confusing for people,” he added. “When they take the role, they are not what they register for, and they are often not aware of the existing funds. Last year we gave more than 300 grants to churches and we continue to grow in response to demand. But this is a full -fledged crisis and more support.”

Despite the growing secularism – churches continue to be very important sources of community with the participation of the church among adults, one third in 15 years. Research from NCT shows that the services offered in churches, including food banks and youth groups, receive a large amount of prints from NHS and otherwise provide support to the state to cost £ 8.4 billion.

However, the misunderstanding of who paid for church care continues among the wider people. While the Church of England organizes grant plans for the congregation throughout the country, hundreds of millions of pounds in their reserves are allocated to their wider mission rather than on -site works. This included £ 190 million for the net zero carbon program and £ 20 million to racial justice initiatives.

“The way the church is established means that he cannot spend money directly on such things,” I said. “What we really want is that the government steps before the government gets worse and takes the problem of the problem.

“Listed worship plans should be restored and permanently renewed as last year. He is currently operating from year to year, so there is no guarantee that he will continue beyond next March.”

“Ideally, there will be a wider, three -way approach for financing that includes the church, the state and the special philanthropy to solve what is essentially a heritage disaster,” he said. “The fall of these traditional community centers. Libraries went. Pubs went. Is it churches after that?”

“We need to change the way people think about churches,” he adds, Alison Milbank of The Parish Campaign, a base organization that pressure on the church to prevent the church and the state from staying away from the competing communities.

“These are large cultural and architectural important buildings. These are common memory as well as social worship places,” he added. “However, these buildings – coffee mornings or film nights by creating heating or space – it should be made by towns and villages without money to ejaculate.”

The spokesman of the Church of England said: uz We are very grateful to our private volunteers and clergy who work very much to ensure that church buildings are good repair, sustainable and hospitable.

“The National Church of the UK defends the advocate on behalf of community churches and cathedrals. We are working jointly with the building heritage sector and other sects, and for the existing border of £ 25,000 to put pressure on the government to make the worship grant program permanent.

“Church buildings, including the £ 11 million ‘mission for £ 11 million’ mission to pay the bishop to pay for small -scale ‘time -time’ repairs for churches, for churches, are also financing a church building support officers, as well as worship of community use as well as worship of community.

“A newly expanded 5 million pound fund, managed by the Church of the UK, provides grants directly to congregations to help protect special objects in churches such as stained glass, paintings, bells, organs and clocks.

“The Net Zero program saves thousands of pounds on energy bills every year and helps them become warmer environments throughout the winter through small -scale and relatively cheap changes to make their buildings more energy efficient.”

The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports: “Listing places of worship are important for faith communities and offer a series of more services. Many are architecturally and historically important.

“Between 2023 and 2026, the National Lottery Heritage Fund provided by the 100 million £ 100 million of the dcms and the other funds listed for the length bodies of our arm, as well as the other funds, as well as to demand the VAT costs of religious organizations for repair and renewal.”