Grant support for Listed Places of Worship

EMB Ltd administered the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) between August 2022 and March 2026.

Over a four-year period, EMB received and processed over 29,000 applications from Listed Places of Worship in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, of which over 94% (27,500) were approved for payment to a value of £111.9m.

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme operated between 2010 and 2026. After taking over administration of the scheme in August 2022, EMB developed and introduced a digital first web-based application form creating a contemporary, digital interface for application submission. Since introducing the online application process in June 2023, the number of online applications received to the scheme grew from an initial rate of 47% to over 70% by March 2026. To ensure that all applicants could access the scheme however, EMB continued to accept email and postal applications, and provided a telephone helpline service to applicants.

Through digitising the application process, EMB were able to introduce a system which provided applicants with automated updates on the progress of their application, helping to ensure exceptionally high satisfaction rates from service users.

Customer feedback received from grant applicants includes:

“I was super impressed by the new system and being able to make the claim electronically. The whole process was simple and super-efficient”

“I was very impressed by the emails I received to update me on the progress of our application, which were a big help to update me on its status”.

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was replaced by the Places of Worship Renewal Fund in April 2026. Delivered by Historic England, the Places of Worship Renewal Fund is designed to support the repair of England’s treasured places of worship and is targeted at places of most need.