Submitted by george.somers@… on

Clergy Support Trust has temporarily suspended new applications until 12 noon, Tuesday 16 January 2024.

Following valuable feedback from our applicants, we're taking the time to update our application system, to provide the best possible user experience for every Anglican clergy household that comes to us looking for support.

"We provided over £4.96m in grants and services to clergy and their families last year. We are privileged to offer a range of support to our applicants, in times of need.  In order to continue to offer a high standard of service to the growing number of clergy who reach out to the Trust, we need a system which is fit-for-purpose for both our applicants and our charitable services team."

- Sarah Davies, Director of Charitable Services

Why are you temporarily closing your application system?

Thank you to every grant applicant who has taken the time to give us feedback on how we can improve the application process.

We want to ensure that applying to the Trust for a grant or service is as easy, accessible and user-friendly as possible. However, in order to implement these changes, we will need to temporarily suspend applications to give this our full attention.

Among other essential updates, on the new system:

  • You won't need to input the same personal information multiple times
  • You'll be able to monitor the progress of your active applications
  • You'll be able to view your past application history

What if I need urgent support?

If you are in need of urgent support during the temporary closure, or during our Christmas closure, we recommend you refer to the alternative sources of charitable support.

You may also want to visit our Benefits Calculator, provided by the financial hardship charity, Turn2Us.

Read our FAQs on our temporary closure.

What happens next?

Our team will be working throughout November and December, processing applications that have already been submitted and making payments, including any approved financial support grant scheduled payments.

The team will be contactable by phone on 0800 389 5192, or by email at grants@clergysupport.org.uk during this time. However, we will only be able to provide limited assistance and we are unable to guarantee our usual level of response, while we complete as many applications as possible and close our existing system.

What about your other services?

Many of our key services for Anglican clergy and their families will remain open during the closure period. These include:

Please note that our Counselling Service with JR Corporate Health is funded through our Health grants offering, and we will therefore not be accepting new applications for counselling at this time. If you are already receiving support via our Counselling Service, don't worry - any sessions you already have booked in will continue as normal.