Welcome Message From The Chairman,
Richard Halsey MBE

Welcome to the website of the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust!

We exist to help congregations in Cambridgeshire with the repair and enhancement of their historic places of worship by offering grants and loans; the Grants dropdown tab above gives details of what we help with and how to apply.  We also want to bring the beauty and purpose of these buildings to the attention of the general public and so hold a Conference in April and four guided Church Tours in May-August each year.  Details can be found under Events.  We are also a membership organisation (at a bargain £10 per year!) and details of how to join can be found under the Join us tab.

We celebrated our 25th Anniversary in 2008 and the Trust will not let up in 2009 as we help the diocese of Ely celebrate its 900th anniversary.  Our focus will be the Garden Party at the Bishop’s House in Ely on Friday June 26th, by the kind invitation of Bishop Anthony.  All members are invited and there will no charge, but we will be asking for donations.  We also hope to arrange some short guided tours of items of specific interest in the Cathedral that evening too.  Members need to register their intention to attend at the Conference on 25th April or by letting the Secretary know by the end of April. 

The Trust raises funds from its membership and from sponsorship of riders and walkers on the annual Ride and Stride day, this year on September 12th.  Please do consider taking part, by riding your bike (or horse!) or by walking from church to church, or by manning a church to welcome riders.  Half the money you raise will go to your church or chapel and half to the CHCT (or wholly to CHCT if you wish).  This event is a great excuse for families or groups of friends to have a fun day together, getting a bit of gentle exercise in the early autumn sunshine (we hope!).  As it is the same weekend as Heritage Open Days, you may also get to see some other historic buildings specially opening to the public.

Our AGM will be on October 24th when we will revert to the usual format of visiting some churches after the formal business.  Details will be posted on this site once they have been confirmed.

Since 1999, we have offered almost half a million pounds in grants funded by WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental Limited).  Trustees are most grateful for their support over the last ten years.  Unfortunately, their generosity will inevitably decrease, as the need for landfill sites reduces - a sad fact for CHCT, but it is at least good news for the planet.

Please join us!  and help CHCT to support the congregations in maintaining the historic places of worship in Cambridgeshire.

We hope you find this website useful and we look forward to meeting you at one or all of our events

Richard Halsey MBE

Chairman