Search is on for the Church of the year

Scottish churches could be in line to win as nominations open for the UK’s first National Church Awards.

The award, which describes itself as the first ever nation-wide to ‘celebrate churches and the people who look after them’, are looking for church-goers to send in submissions.

The National Church Awards will culminate in a ceremony 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 that part of the initiative was to encourage churches to remain ‘open and in use’.

“Our new National Church Awards bring together all that is brilliant about the work happening in and around church buildings,” she said.

“Architecture, conservation, maintenance, supporting volunteers and providing a great welcome are all hugely important to the future of our churches.

“Judges will also be choosing the UK’s Church of the Year, a very special award which will go to a church that makes an outstanding difference to both the congregation and also the wider local community.”

Run in partnership with the Ecclesiastical Architects & Surveyors Association (EASA), there are four categories up for grabs.

The categories include architecture, maintenance, volunteers, and tourism, with the Church Maintenance Awards to see winners from each of the four nations.

Full details and how to apply can be found here.

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