The Long Work of Funding Church Projects
As part of marking 25 years of practice, we have been revisiting a number of projects and conversations that have shaped our work over time.
Recently, we spoke with Canon Annette Reed, who has recently retired after many years in parish ministry, during which she led a series of church reordering and repair projects across a number of communities.
Working with Archangel since the late 2000s, these projects have ranged from essential repairs to more substantial schemes, each shaped by a shared aim: to care for historic buildings while enabling them to be used more fully.
Our conversation focused not only on the buildings themselves, but on the work required to make them happen, particularly the challenge of securing the funding needed to move projects forward.
“I’ve always loved old church buildings… but they need to work for people as they are now.”
A lifetime of making projects happen.
Annette’s involvement with church buildings stretches back decades. Ordained in the early years of women’s ministry, she developed a strong interest in how historic churches could be cared for in ways that allow them to be well maintained and also adapted for community use. From her early work in Leicestershire to her long ministry in the Paxton Benefice, that instinct has shaped a series of projects, often beginning with the most basic of needs. To date, she estimates she has helped install seven church toilets. It may sound modest. In practice, it is often the starting point for everything that follows.
Starting with what’s needed.
In many churches, the starting point is not ambition, but necessity. Cold buildings. Limited facilities. Spaces that are difficult to use beyond a Sunday morning. That instinct has proved well founded.
In one of Annette’s earlier projects in Leicestershire, a post office was introduced into the base of the church tower at Sheepy Magna, bringing a vital local service into the building and drawing people in as part of everyday village life. People queued down the south aisle to buy stamps and collect pensions. Catering facilities were also introduced so that the church became a meeting place for villagers. It was a simple but powerful demonstration of what can happen when a building is opened up and used differently.
“These churches were not being used much. They were cold and damp… it seemed obvious. Let’s get these facilities in and people will come.”
Fundraising as a long process
Projects like these rarely move forward without funding. What begins as a simple idea, making a building more usable, quickly leads to the question of how the work will be paid for. In Annette’s experience, that process takes time. Grants have to be identified, applied for and, in many cases, revisited. Decisions are rarely quick, and projects often evolve as they go, with costs changing along the way.
One of the most significant moments came during the current project at St Leonard, Southoe, when a major grant was secured from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
“We were beside ourselves… with tears of joy on the phone!”
That funding did not remove the complexity of the project, but it made it possible to move forward, providing the foundation on which everything else could build.
“Be very patient… it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Building momentum over time
One effective approach has been to break projects into stages. At St James, Little Paxton, early work focused on a contained part of the building. “You build it step by step.” This allows churches to begin, even when the full scope of a project feels out of reach.
Involving the wider community
Fundraising is not only about grants. It depends on people. From early on, Annette has involved the wider community in shaping and supporting projects. In one case, local children were invited to design a simple logo for the project.
More recently, she has also set up a YouTube channel, sharing short video updates to show how work is progressing. Funders will often ask what evidence there is that a community supports a project. When people understand what is happening, they are more likely to support it.
A project of a different scale
Alongside these completed projects, Annette is currently involved in a more substantial scheme at St Leonard, Southoe. It is the largest project she has undertaken, bringing together repair, reordering and environmental improvements within a single programme of work. In many ways, it draws together the themes present across her earlier work. The same focus on care, use and long-term sustainability, but within a more complex and demanding project. It is a reminder that while the principles remain consistent, the scale of a project can change the nature of what is required to bring it forward.
Architecture with Spirit
At Archangel, we describe our work as Architecture with Spirit. Projects like this help to define what that means. They are not simply about repairing buildings or introducing new elements, but about enabling them to be used more fully, and to remain part of the life of their communities. Funding sits at the centre of that process. Not as a single hurdle to overcome, but as something that runs alongside the life of a project, shaping what is possible and when.
Annette’s experience shows that this work takes time, and often more than expected. It requires persistence, adaptability, and a willingness to keep moving forward, even when progress is slow and there are setbacks. But it also shows what that effort can achieve.
Buildings that were once underused become active again. Communities find new reasons to come through the door. And the long-term future of the church building becomes more secure.
