Churches facing budget cuts helped by Trust130

07 December 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak hit churches hard in many ways – and finances took a particularly serious knock.

St Marks & All Saints Churches in West Parley, in the Diocese of Salisbury, are typical – Treasurer Derek Warner was looking at a shortfall of between £15,000 and £18,000 for that year. Ecclesiastical Insurance’s Trust130 donation of £650 went into general funds, and was a welcome addition.

‘It was extremely tough,’ said Mr Warner. ‘We had no congregations, so no collections. But even more importantly, we lost all of our income from church hall lettings. We survived by eating into our capital, and I looked at ways of cutting our budgets for 2021.’

‘Donations such as the Trust130 money from Ecclesiastical Insurance are absolutely vital – they are really interested in helping churches and their communities and we’re very grateful to them.’

Trust130 was launched in 2017, to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the founding of the company. Under the scheme, in line with Ecclesiastical’s charitable ownership and Christian values, every time a new customer takes out a new home insurance policy with the insurer it offers to donate £130 to the church or cathedral of that customer’s choice.

It has been extraordinarily successful – to date, the company has given more than £460,000 to over 2500 churches around the UK. There is no limit on the number of donations which can be made, and, in the case of St Marks & All Saints, the amount of money given so far totals £650.

If your home insurance is due for renewal and you are interested in how Trust130 can benefit your church, please contact Ecclesiastical Insurance on 0800 7830 130.

Watering vine illustration