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Clergy Wellbeing and Support: Grants and Expenses

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Grants for clergy and their households

There is a wide range of support available for clergy at every stage in their career. For a general overview of the variety of financial support that is available, please read through the Clergy Terms of Service and check out the resources listed below.

In general, requests for discretionary CMD grants in the region of £100-£200 will be considered by the ADM/CMD officer. Grants are given for approved courses, conferences and other training and development. Enhanced grants are available for longer courses of study, training and personal and ministerial development, including further degrees. Normally, this will be up to £750, in consultation with the ADM/CMD officer.

Additionally, all licensed clergy may apply for a three month period of study leave after ten years in ministry. Generally, up to £1500 is available for this. For clergy new in post, information about removal, resettlement and first appointment grants is available here, and the application form is downloadable here.

Clergy Support Trust (previously Sons and Friends of the Clergy): www.clergysupport.org.uk

Who can apply for a grant? The charity supports the following beneficiary groups:

  • Serving* and retired Anglican clergy and their dependants.
  • Divorced and separated spouses and civil partners of eligible clergy.
  • Widows, widowers and surviving civil partners of eligible clergy.
  • Anglican ordinands training for ministry in the UK or Ireland.
  • *’Serving’ means beneficed or licensed clergy (whether stipendiary or self-supporting), or those with Permission to Officiate (PTO).

The relevant clergy must be working in or have worked in the:

  • United Kingdom.
  • Republic of Ireland.
  • Diocese of Sodor and Man.
  • Channel Islands.

We can consider help for Anglican clergy in the Diocese in Europe or who currently work abroad (supported by a UK-based mission agency). However, our help in these cases will be limited to unforeseen crises and not where any structural shortfall in finance or healthcare provision could have been anticipated prior to the posting. All support is provided by our small and friendly team of grants officers and is completely confidential. Please do contact them with any concerns about eligibility on 020 7799 3696 or grants@nullclergysupport.org.uk

 

Frances Ashton’s Charity: http://www.francesashton.co.uk

The Frances Ashton Charity provides one-off grants to serving or retired clergy of the Church of England and to their widows and widowers in cases where there is an exception or urgent need. If you or someone you know may benefit from the support of the Frances Ashton Charity, please contact the charity for advice or download an application form. Email: francesashton@nullhotmail.co.uk  Call: 07775 717606

 

Society for the Relief of Poor Clergy: http://www.srpc-aid.com

Founded in 1788 to aid evangelical ministers and their dependants in times of financial distress due to sickness, bereavement or other difficulties, the Society makes grants to evangelical clergy and evangelical accredited lay workers in the following categories of need:

  • Bereavement
  • Illness
  • Removals
  • Family support to enable young people to participate in a ‘ministry experience’ during a gap year before university
  • Family support to enable children/young people of evangelical ministers to attend Christian camps, for their spiritual benefit and to develop leadership potential
  • Other special needs (at the Trustees’ discretion)

Grants are also made when needed to the widows and widowers of evangelical clergy. The Trustees have the discretionary power to consider other circumstances but only where these are giving rise to exceptional hardship. Grants are not made for educational purposes or towards normal travelling expenses.

The Trustees also administer grants from J F W Deacon’s Charity for ordained and lay persons in Christian ministry who have special needs as a result of times of illness or stress, or who are facing unusual and unforeseen difficulties. (Such grants are not included in the accounts to which these notes relate). For more information, please contact the Society. Email: srpc@nullcpas.org.uk  Call: 01926 334242

 

Pyncombe Charity

Income of about £10,000 applied to assist needy serving clergymen in financial difficulties due to illness or other special circumstances within the family. Applications to be made through the Diocesan bishop. Please contact the Charity for more information. Email: joeandrita@nullvfast.co.uk  Call: 01797 212028

The Women’s Continuing Ministerial Education Trust: https://www.churchofengland.org/more/diocesan-resources/ministry/wcmet

The Women’s Continuing Ministerial Education Trust (WCMET) exists to support the ministerial development of women in the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church. We administer the provision of grants to female clergy, female accredited lay workers, and religious sisters in England and Scotland in need of financial support for their continuing training.

Foundation of Edward Storey: http://edwardstorey.org.uk/

The Foundation is able to offer a certain number of grants and repayable grants each year to financially unsupported (single) applicants in need. These can be awarded to:

  • Women living within the county of Cambridgeshire and over 40
  • Widows, widowers, divorced or separated spouses of clergy who have served in the Church of England, the Church in Wales or the Scottish Episcopal Church
  • Clergywomen, deaconesses, missionaries or other women professionally connected to the Church of England.

The amount of any award will depend on the type of help required, and all decisions are at the discretion of the Board of Trustees. Occasionally, we also award annual grants, or regular support payments, to older applicants, normally over 60. These are reviewed annually. Any applicant for a grant will automatically be considered for an annual grant. For more information, please contact the Foundation. Email: info@nulledwardstorey.org.uk  Call: 01223 364405

 

The Buttle Trust: http://www.buttleuk.org/

  • Child support grants – for an item or service which is critical to the wellbeing of the child.
  • School fees grants – to help meet the costs of schooling for children with acute needs that cannot in practice be met with the state education system or where there is a strong need for the child to be found a place in a boarding school.
  • Grants for students and trainees – to provide assistance with the acquisition of academic, trade, professional or vocational qualifications to young people facing severe social, emotional or health problems.

For more information, please call: 020 7828 7311

 

The Rustat Trust: closing date 1 December 2019
The Trust makes grants in cases of hardship for the maintenance of the children of Church of England clergy (including deceased clergy) while at school. There are no restrictions on the clergy (or families) who may apply, but in the absence of special circumstances, grants are not made towards the payment of school fees. Applications from clergy beginning their ministry will be especially welcomed. For more information, please get in touch. Ms Ellie Hargreaves, The Dean’s Secretary, Jesus College, Cambridge, CB5 8BL. Email: e.hargreaves@nulljesus.cam.ac.uk

 

Working Families Tax Credit: https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/tax-credits

A clergy family with two children and a small second income may fall within the threshold.

 

Family Action: https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/grants/

Support for some of the poorest families in the country. Provides grants as well as social work support to people of all ages, working with them to help them solve their own problems. Not specifically church related.

 

Lawrence Atwell’s Charity: www.skinners.org.uk/grants-and-trusts/atwell/

Grants are available for young people living in England and Wales from low-income backgrounds, to help them gain vocational, accredited qualifications. Grants of up to £1,500 for people aged 16 to 26, to take courses (up to level 3) that will help them move into employment.

 

Newton’s Trust

Newton’s Trust is established to provide financial assistance to the widows, widowers, separated or divorced spouses and unmarried children of deceased clergy of the Church of England, the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church. Please contact the Trust for more information. Email: newtonslichfield@nullgmail.com

Dr George Richards’ Charity

For the benefit of clergymen of the Church of England who are deserving of assistance and have through age or infirmity become incapable of performing their clerical duties or are in need of assistance in the performance thereof. In the payment of pensions of such amount as the trustees think fit. For more information, please call: 020 7588 5583

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust: http://www.wcmt.org.uk/

Would experience overseas enhance your effectiveness in your career or field of interest? Could this bring real benefits and positive change to your community, the UK and yourself? If the answer is ‘yes’, check your eligibility, look at examples of previous projects, and register to receive an email alert when applications reopen. Grants cover return and internal travel, daily living and insurance.

 

Fellowship of the Maple Leaf: http://www.mapleleaf.org.uk/

The Fellowship of the Maple Leaf (FML) exists to promote links between the Church in Canada and the United Kingdom by furthering mutual learning in our engagement with each other’s cultures. To achieve this, grants of two kinds are awarded: Individual bursaries to clergy, ordinands and lay people for study and cross-cultural experiences for Canadians visiting the UK and for people from the UK visiting Canada. These may be for extended placements lasting three months or more, or for short term placements lasting less than three months. Grants for projects. Examples of projects include for the:

  • Development of ministry.
  • Fields of Christian education and training, social responsibility, cross-cultural communication, and pastoral work.
  • Indigenous people of the ‘First Nations’ in ‘Assisted Dioceses’ in Canada.

The Trustees meet twice a year in March and September, to transact the business of FML and approve grant allocations. Applications for grants may be made at any time; arrangements are in place for allocating grants in the periods between Trustees’ meetings where this is appropriate.

 

Philip Usher Memorial Fund: http://www.philipusherfund.org.uk/apply.html

The Fund was set up in memory of The Revd Philip Usher, to establish a scholarship to enable a student to spend a period in a country in which part of the population practises the Christian religion according to the doctrine and ritual of the Eastern Orthodox Church, in order to study the outlook and mode of life of such part of the population.

The Diocese’s policy on study leave is available here, with additional resources as listed below.

Gladstone St Deiniol’s Library: https://www.gladstoneslibrary.org/contact/about-the-library

The library offers its guests the possibility of individual reflection, as well as social interaction. With an evolving programme of courses and events, the priority is to build and nurture a wide network of writers and thinkers in order to maintain Gladstone’s legacy of engagement with social, moral and spiritual questions, helping people reflect more deeply on issues and ideas that concern them. The Library is a completely independent charity.

Gladstone did not want anyone who would benefit from a period of study at Gladstone’s Library to be prevented from doing so by financial constraint. This is why we work so hard at keeping our prices as low as possible and why we offer scholarships and bursaries as an additional form of assistance.

 

St Boniface Trust: http://www.stbonifacetrust.org.uk/

The Trust is a small charity established to advance the Christian Religion in accordance with the principles of the Anglican faith in all parts of the world, especially for the provision of education and training of clergy and lay people by the award of scholarships and maintenance allowance or any purpose concerning their spiritual or temporal welfare. The Trust is governed by St Boniface Council and its trustees meet four times a year. The Trust’s aim is to allocate 50% of grants to individuals or projects overseas but support is also given for those undertaking ordination training, the cost of attending courses or who are planning a sabbatical or to take study leave. Applications must be accompanied by at least one letter of support, and all applications are given thoughtful and careful consideration.

Because of our limited resources, however, we cannot support ‘further’ degrees or work placements which form part of, or supplement, ordination training. To request a grant application form please contac us. Email: secretary@nullstbonifacetrust.org.uk  Call: 01985 216904 – evenings and weekends

 

St George’s Trust: http://www.fsje.org.uk/sgeorges.php

The Trust gives grants to Anglican clergy, seminarians and students. The awards are currently worth up to £350. Each year the Trustees set a budget for the total amount that can be awarded and distribution is made until the limit is reached. We therefore encourage application early in the calendar year. Clergy – The grants for stipendiary clergy are for those taking sabbaticals. For self-supporting clergy (for whom official sabbaticals are rarely given), grants are available for recognised study. The grant will customarily contribute towards travel and accommodation costs involved in study. A brief letter of confirmation from a cleric’s bishop, archdeacon or continuing education office is required to support the application.

 

St Luke’s College Foundation: http://www.st-lukes-foundation.org.uk/

Grants are awarded to individuals for research and taught postgraduate qualifications in these fields; and to eligible organisations for related initiatives and facilities. The Foundation does not finance buildings, or provide bursaries for institutions to administer; and it is precluded from the direct support of schools (although it does support teachers who are taking eligible studies). The “Awards” area of this website contains details about the various awards that the Foundation makes and it also explains how to make an application.

 

The Cleaver Ordination Candidates Fund: http://www.cleaver.org.uk/

Offers book grants for ordinands, book grants and library subscriptions for clergy ordained for more than ten years, grants to clergy for sabbatical projects and postgraduate study.

 

Ecclesiastical Ministry Bursary Awards: https://www.ecclesiastical.com/latest-news/ministry-bursary-awards/

Grants awarded annually for extended study leave. Entries for an award must fulfil the following criteria: Awards are open to individual clergy in the Anglican Church in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. All clergy applying for the awards must be in full-time stipendiary ministry in the Anglican Church and must have been ordained for at least 10 years. Applications are also open to church dignitaries – Archdeacons, Bishops and Deans. Awards are provided for extended study leave only and not for long term courses such as PhD or university fees (although fees for a course during an extended study leave will be considered). Entries must be made using the forms provided.

Eggbeer Trust: http://eggbeertrust.org.uk/Default.aspx

One of the objectives of the Eggbeer Trust is to provide free holidays for ministers of religion and missionaries of any Christian creed or denomination and their families. For this purpose they offer two lodges on the edge of Dartmoor. They are available all year round.

 

The English Clergy Association: http://www.clergyassoc.co.uk/content/home.htm

The English Clergy Association represents the interests of the English Clergy, and provides advice, legal information and modest grants for holidays for clergy. The ECA has not only clergy, but also lay members. Holiday grants are given, in many cases of a sufficient size to make a significantly helpful contribution to clergy (and their family’s) enjoyment of human life.

 

Mothers’ Union: https://www.mothersunion.org/projects/away-it-all

Away From It All (AFIA) is a Mothers’ Union holiday scheme, primarily funded by our members, to give the opportunity of a break to those who are experiencing stress in their family life.

 

Tranquillity House Trust

The Tranquillity House Trust is a grant-making charity whose particular function is to assist towards the cost of holidays for clergy, and in the making of awards it is required to have particular regard to those clergy who are for any reason in need. Nominations are made by the Bishop. For more information, please contact: The Grant Secretary: Mrs Ridgeway, Tranquillity House Trustees, 9 Merrivale View Road, Dousland, Yelverton, Devon PL20 6NS.

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