Your Church has exciting plans to play your part in caring for God’s creation, but where is the money going to come from?
Diocese Funding
The Leeds Diocese has three separate funds for building improvements, all of which can be used for Net Zero Carbon projects.
The Church Buildings Fund offers grants of up to £5,000 per parish to 
support churches with maintaining and improving their church buildings as vital centres of worship, community and mission. It has been designed to particularly to reduce the environmental impact of churches
The Buildings for Mission Fund has been provided by the National Church for churches across the diocese to do minor repairs; projects which will improve the functionality of our buildings for missional purposes; and projects that reduce the environmental impact of our buildings. Projects of up to £10,000 (£12,000 for listed buildings) are eligible.
The new Net Zero Carbon Quick Wins Fund will award up to £10,000 to help churches launch small scale decarbonisation projects as part of their journey to net zero. Projects should aligned to the guidance in the Practical Path to Net Zero Carbon for Churches.
All three grants are administered by the Diocese of Leeds. The next deadline for grant applications is 30th June 2025. Full information on how to apply can be found here.
Lists of Funders - Explore the Options
Environmental and sustainability projects take many forms. Some
funders have particular interests and/or fund in a very restricted area. Others are much more generalists. These two Dicoese of Leeds funding lists provide potential funders from both national funds and those that fund with in the diocesan area. These lists were updated in June 2024.
Funding Directory- Environment and Sustainability Download
Funding Directory - Net Zero Carbon Projects Download
Find out more about funding enviornmental projects on the Church of England Envionment Programme webpages here.
Tools for Funding Success
A strong case for support is the inspiration and the backbone for your fundraising appeal. You don’t want to waste time and energy on funding campaigns or applications that are unsuccessful. Read our guidance and use the template case for support:
Guidance: Your Net-zero Carbon Appeal Needs a Case for Support!
Template: Case for Support for Churches
Planning & Delivering Your Net Zero Carbon Fundraising Appeal
Got great ideas for carbon cutting lighting or heating projects or just simply insulating your church pipework? Now you need funding advice?
The webinar below is part of the Diocese of Leeds Saving Creation programme. It is designed to support parishes who have started on their journey to net zero carbon, have a net zero plan and are thinking about how to fund the projects needed to decarbonise your buildings. The Diocese of Leeds recognises that for many churches finding the funding to put into action a heating or lighting project to cut the carbon footprint can be the most challenging part of the net zero carbon journey.
In this webinar you will find out from Sean Tully, consultant from Action Planning, how to plan and deliver your Net Zero Carbon fundraising appeal:
- How to express the benefits of your project?
- Where to look for funding?
- How to plan and deliver your fundraising appeal?
Upskill Yourself
For a comprehensive overview of how to raise funds for an environmental project watch the two Church of England Environment Campaign webinars on environmental fundraising which are part of the Getting to Net Zero webinar series.
Seek Advice
Fran Taylor is the Net Zero Carbon Fundraising Officer and is availble to help churches find and apply for funding for environmental projects. She can be contacted on fran.taylor@leeds.anglican.org
The Diocesan Stewardship and Income Generation team can help in a number of ways. Visit their pages to meet the team and view their resources here.
The DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee) can provide advice and information on applying for a faculty for development work in churches.