The first ever National Church Awards to celebrate churches and the people who use and look after them are now open for entries. The awards are open to any church, chapel or meeting house in the UK and are free to enter. Nominations will be judged by a team of church and heritage professionals.
Winners will include churches from each of the four nations - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - as well as UK wide.
The National Church Awards will culminate in a high-profile ceremony, including a glorious high tea, to be held at the historic Mercers Company Livery Hall in the City of London in October 2022.
Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust, said: “Churches, chapels and meeting houses are impressive, exciting and surprising. We want to keep them open and in use.”
“Our new National Church Awards bring together all that is brilliant about the work happening in and around church buildings. Architecture, conservation, maintenance, supporting volunteers and providing a great welcome are all hugely important to the future of our churches.”
The church architecture awards are run in partnership with the Ecclesiastical Architects & Surveyors Association (EASA). They honour excellence and creativity in church architecture.
The closing date for entries to the Church Architecture Awards is Friday 8 July 2022.
The categories for the 2022 awards are:
• Church architecture
• Church maintenance
• Church volunteers
• Church tourism
Churches can enter as many categories as they wish.
Full details can be found here The National Church Awards