Funding scheme opens

News from the Archdiocese Development Team


Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme Opens for Bids

The Home Office is providing a total of £3.2 million in grant funding this year to help places of worship who feel they are vulnerable to hate crime to install more secure gates, locks, alarms and CCTV in order to deter and prevent hate crime attacks.

Places of worship in England and Wales, including churches, gurdwaras, mosques, temples and associated faith community centres, can apply for Home Office grants of up to £56,000 per place of worship. Applicants will need to demonstrate they have sufficient funds or are able to secure the funds to contribute 20% of the total cost of the security measures (you will be asked on the form how much you can contribute). If successful, this will need to be paid in advance of the installation of the security measures.

The funding can cover the costs of up to three security measures from the following list:
• CCTV (fixed cameras, not pan-tilt cameras)
• Fencing and/or railings (no more than 2.1m high)
• Manually operated pedestrian and vehicle gates or Automated vehicle gates
• Security doors and locks
• Reinforcing single glazed windows (with anti-shatter film or bars/grilles)
• Intruder alarms
• Access control (fob or keypad)
• Video intercom systems
• Lighting (building mounted)

The funding only covers the provision and installation of these security measures. It does not cover other associated costs such as licensing and planning permission, or ongoing costs such as charges for annual service, maintenance and monitoring.

There will be an expectation on the applicant that the building is structurally sound and that existing building fabric including doors and windows are functional and intact. The scheme does not cover the blanket replacement of windows, the building of external or internal walls, or the creation of new doorsteps in the Place of Worship.

To bid you need to:
1. Before starting your application, collect evidence to show that your place of worship or associated faith community centre is vulnerable to hate crime. See below for details of what sort of evidence you might provide.
2. Complete the online application form and submit your evidence. If you require any assistance with this, please contact Steve Baylis at the Diocese – [email protected] or call 07919 386 628.
3. If your application successfully demonstrates your vulnerability to hate crime, you will be contacted by our central contractor, Esotec Limited, to arrange a quotation assessment appointment. This appointment will be jointly undertaken with a local Designing Out Crime Officer where possible.

Evidence of Hate Crime 
A ‘hate crime’ can be defined as any crime that is motivated by hostility on the grounds of race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity - for this scheme, we are focusing on religion. As part of your application, you need to provide evidence of vulnerability to hate crime that targets people because of their religion. This could include, for example:

• photographs/reports of incidents at your place of worship/associated faith community centre or nearby
• police reports of a hate crime or incident at your place of worship/associated faith community centre or nearby
• a letter or email from your local police force confirming that your institution is in an area where there has been high incidence of religiously motivated hate crimes
• evidence of particular tensions in the community, for example, from a local authority community coordinator, Police Community Support Officers or similar.

This list is not exhaustive and any reasonable evidence that you provide will be considered. You will need to upload your evidence (maximum 10 files) as part of the application process, so make sure you have an electronic record of everything. 

The deadline for applications is 23:59 on 9 August 2020.
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