Living Alongside Bats in Churches Grant

Bats have always been in churches and places of worship – there are records of this dating back many hundreds of years. Even churches built in a non-traditional style, and places of worship from other traditions, can provide refuge for bats as well as people. However, the number of bats using churches and places of worship has increased in recent decades. Where there is significant loss or degradation of habitat, particularly woodlands and hedgerows, and loss of traditional agricultural buildings, churches are often stable features of the landscape. The Bats in Churches project found that approximately 55% of all Anglican churches across England have bats. This figure rises for older churches (pre-Victorian) and rises further still for ancient churches in areas where loss of habitat has been intensive. Therefore, we recognise the importance of bat management and assistance with this, that some places of worship may now need.

Places of worship in England are invited to apply for a small grant which should be spent on a small-scale solution that will help manage the bats in their building, such as;

• seasonal professional cleans
• pew covers
• catch trays
• modern cleaning appliances
• specialist heritage repairs of bat damaged items

The fund should help protect heritage and offer a clean space for communities to use.

Please note, the grant will not cover the cost of building works, bat surveys, bat mitigation works or any other structural work related costs. Please contact enquiries@bats.org.uk if your place of worship needs to carry out works as you may be entitled to a free roost visit.

At the bottom of this page, we have included some testimonies from churches who have seen huge improvements in their places of worship through small-scale solutions.

To receive the grant, we ask that your place of worship create a positive community engagement activity inspired by nature. Wildlife engagement activities help connect people to nature on their doorstep and encourage the community to interact with their local place of worship where they may not have done so before. You may use some of the funding to hold the community engagement activity.

To assist with this requirement, we have compiled a list of examples of the sorts of events and activities your place of worship could carry out. You can find this in the appendix of the guidance on the Church Community Engagement Activities page via a link at the bottom of this page.

Area: Your place of worship must be in England.

Fund size: Up to £1000

Length of grants: Projects need to be completed within 12 months of receiving the money.

Application deadline: 9am on the 28^th April 2025. You will find out if you have been successful in your application by the end of May 2025.

If you are not successful in this round, please do apply again. Please monitor this website for opening and closing dates. We will run the scheme twice a year.

Before applying, please ensure you have read through the accompanying guidance thoroughly. The guidance is available for download at the bottom of this page.

Please note, the grant will not cover the cost of building works, bat surveys, bat mitigation works or any other structural work-related costs. Please contact enquiries@bats.org.uk if your place of worship needs to carry out works as you may be entitled to a free roost visit.

Please apply online here: https://forms.office.com/e/ziTj3ZQY69

If you are unable to apply using the online form, please download the form here:

Living Alongside Bats in Churches Fund Grant Application Form

Submit the completed form to the Bats in Churches Advisor, Hazel Tocock, at churches@bats.org.uk

Should you have any questions, please contact the Bats in Churches Advisor.