We are a small charity looking after a collection of over 60 historic places of worship in England and Wales. Since 1957, our mission has been the same: to save disused but beautiful places of worship from demolition (or unsympathetic conversion) and keep them open for everyone to enjoy.
Our daily work heavily relies on donations and grants. We only receive a modest statutory grant from the Church of Wales and Cadw for our churches in Wales, but no funding for the over 30 churches we look after across England.
By joining as a Friend (member), you can support our mission and receive regular communication about our work (our members receive biannual printed copies of members-only magazines and a monthly email newsletter).
From local history buffs and architectural historians to heritage enthusiasts and church crawlers, our membership is a growing community of like-minded people who think the ancient churches and chapels are places worth cherishing.
Our membership pack includes the latest copy of our members’ printed magazine alongside a special visitors’ guide. With its pocket-friendly format, information about location and access, it is a great resource for anyone visiting any of the churches in our care. You will also receive a set of three postcards featuring images from our beautiful buildings.
Our members’ magazine is a highly regarded bi-annual publication (summer and winter editions). Each issue features a biannual Director’s report about our ongoing work accompanied by articles by guest authors, who take a deep dive into the fabric of our churches, and reveal fascinating stories of the people, events, beliefs, customs, politics and physical landscapes that have shaped these places over the centuries. You can find out more about the most recent issue here.
Your membership can be paid by Direct Debit with an annual collection. Offering additional security with protection from the Direct Debit Guarantee, the Direct Debit collection happens automatically with no need for a manual renewal. We will send you an email confirmation informing you about the upcoming collection 10 days before the payment is due. We are so grateful for your support, but we know financial situations can change. Should you ever need to change or cancel your Direct Debit, you can easily do directly from your bank or by contacting us on membership@fofc.org.uk or calling 020 4520 4458.
Paying by Direct Debit is a simple and efficient way that allows Friends to keep our administration cost low, ultimately making your membership fee goes further directly benefitting churches in our care.
As a FoFC member, you will receive a print copy of our members-only magazine (currently published twice a year) alongside a monthly email newsletter containing more updates about our projects, events in our churches, and more. Members also get invited to our special events and our Annual General Meeting, which take place every September in one of the churches we look after and is followed by and Evensong and members’ tea.
In addition to the above, we hope our membership will offer you the satisfaction of joining our community – it is your support that helps us to rescue, repair and look after over 65 places of worship across England and Wales.
There are many ways you can pay your annual subscription fee. The easiest way to become a member is using our website – please note that we accept one-off and reoccurring payments using all major debit and credit cards (including VISA, Mastercard, and American Express) and payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
For those renewing or anyone wanting to set up an annual collection, we offer an annual Direct Debit. If you prefer to pay using another payment method, please contact us by email or phone and we will advise you on other possibilities.
For those wishing to become members from outside the UK, please note our system accepts payments in your local currency. Please follow to next question to learn more about joining us a Friend from abroad.
Thank you for considering joining us from abroad – we are delighted to have you as a Friend. To sign up as an Overseas member of the Friends, please click here.
You can pay using your usual card and the system will automatically convert the fee to your local currency. Sadly at present, we do not offer the Lifetime Overseas membership.
Yes, Friends of Friendless Churches claims Gift Aid on all eligible membership subscriptions. Using Gift Aid means that as a UK-registered, as a UK-registered charity, we can claim back 25p for every £1 you have given.
You can fill out a Gift Aid declaration when joining as a member by clicking here or contacting us by email or phone to request a paper copy.
If you are a FoFC member or donor you can update your contact details using the form online. You can also contact us by email or phone.
At present we do not offer the possibility to restrict a membership fee to a specific church.
With no statutory funding in England and a modest annual grant from the Church of Wales and Cadw, the Friends of Friendless Churches is a very small charity. We pride ourselves on keeping our administration costs as low as possible, allocating all remaining resources directly to our rescue and repair work. As of 2025 we are currently finishing conservation work at St Lawrence’s church, Gumfreston (PEMBROKESHIRE), St Twrog’s church, Bodwrog (ANGLESEY), and St James’ church, Llangua (MONMOUTHSHIRE). We will have six substantial restorations underway – at South Runcton, (NORFOLK); St Deiniol’s, Worthenbury, (WREXHAM); St Mary’s, Kenderchurch (HEREFORDSHIRE); St Tyfrydog’s, Llandyfrydog (ANGLESEY); Lightcliffe, Halifax (WEST YORKSHIRE); and St Mary of the Angels, Brownshill (GLOUCESTERSHIRE). In addition to this, we are planning to take seven more places of worship into our care.
Your support will mean we can rescue even more churches in the future.
No, each membership will run for 12 months from the date your payment is processed. If you paid for your subscription using a one-time payment, we will send you an email asking if you would like to renew your support approximately 6 weeks before the expiration date of your membership.
