At Clergy Support Trust, we've been walking alongside clergy and their families, in their lives and ministry, for over 370 years.
As part of our new 2026-28 Strategy, we are ensuring that the households in the most need, who rely on our grants and services for the essentials of everyday living, are supported. This includes those in severe financial difficulty, or in receipt of ill health state benefits.
The level of need that we have seen from our applicants has grown exponentially in recent years. In the past five years, we have provided over £30 million in grants to clergy and their families; that's double the £15 million we provided in the previous five-year period.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu famously said:
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
That's why both our public advocacy and the behind-the-scenes conversations with key leaders in the national Churches are so vital, and played an important part in General Synod's decision to increase both the stipend and clergy pensions. We're delighted that many households in the Church of England will benefit when these increases are implemented in 2026.
This is one of the reasons that we will be making changes to our Eligibility Criteria, when we reopen for applications on Wednesday 7 January 2026.
We will be decreasing our household savings threshold from £200,000 to £100,000. We will also be changing our criteria in relation to owning multiple properties, and making a number of smaller changes to several of our grants, which may affect you regardless of your savings or property ownership. These changes are to ensure that our vital support reaches the households in the greatest need.
If you have more than £100,000 in household savings, or if you own more than one property, you will not be eligible for our grants and services from 2026.
If you are planning on applying to us in the near future, even if it's for a grant that you have received before, we would encourage you to double check the web page where the grant is listed.
Please note if you are being supported by our Visiting Caseworker service and these changes affect you, our team will be in touch shortly.
A brand new service
Applicants have long told us that they would like more self-service support, covering a range of subjects, including personal development, dealing with difficult relationships, financial planning and mental health.
The next three years will see Clergy Support Trust launch a major expansion in this area, including courses and webinars, with a dedicated team building a free-to-all ‘Clergy Support Portal’ on our website.
We will invest significantly in self-service support, accessed through this new online platform, enabling clergy to access the support they need, when they need it. We hope to launch this Clergy Support Portal in the summer of 2026.
FAQs
Why are you updating your criteria?
Clergy Support Trust has been walking alongside clergy and their families, in their lives and ministry, for over 370 years. As part of our new 2026-28 Strategy, we want to ensure that the households in the most need, who rely on our grants and services to support them with the very essentials of everyday living, are supported. This includes those in severe financial difficulty, or in receipt of ill health state benefits.
What changes are you making to your criteria?
We will be decreasing our household savings threshold from £200,000 to £100,000. We will also be changing our criteria in relation to owning multiple properties.
If you have more than £100,000 in household savings, or if you own more than one property, you will not be eligible for our grants and services from 2026.
We are also making a number of smaller changes to several of our grants, which may affect you regardless of your savings or property ownership. If you are planning on applying to us, we would encourage you to double check the web page where your grant is listed.
What do these changes mean for me?
If you do not own multiple properties, and you do not have more than £100,000 in household savings, it is unlikely that you will be affected by these changes.
However, if you are planning on applying to us, we would encourage you to double check the web page where your grant is listed, even if this is a grant you have applied for previously.
When are you making these changes?
Our new criteria will come into place when we reopen to applications and verifications on Wednesday 7 January 2026, 9am.
I have more than £100k in savings, and/or I own more than one property. How will these changes affect me?
If you own more than one property and/or have more than £100,000 in household savings, you will not be eligible to receive our grants and services.
In 2026, we will launch a new Clergy Support Portal, offering a range of free guides and resources, which we would encourage you to explore.
If you have multiple properties and/or more than £100,000 in savings, but feel you have special circumstances, such as additional ill health needs, please contact our team at grants@clergysupport.org.uk
Can I talk to someone about my financial situation?
While we will be closed to Verifications from Monday 1 December, and closed to Applications from Monday 8th December, we will have limited capacity to discuss any concerns you have about these changes until Friday 19 December.
Please email us at grants@clergysupport.org.uk, and we would be happy to respond and arrange a pre-booked call, as required.
We will also have a very limited capacity to process any grants for emergencies during this period. If you find yourself in a financial emergency, you may wish to reach out to your Archdeacon, Bishop or representatives from your diocese.
Are you creating any new forms of support in 2026?
Yes. In 2026, we will launch a new Clergy Support Portal, offering a range of free guides and resources, available to all of our applicants, which we would encourage you to explore. Keep an eye on our website for further announcements.
What about other factors, like equity or if I need more than one property for specific reasons?
As part of our new 2026-28 Strategy, we want to ensure that the households in the most need, who rely on our grants and services for the very essentials of everyday living, are supported.
This includes those in severe financial difficulty, or in receipt of ill health state benefits. In 2024, we provided over £1.3 million simply to cover the basics that many cannot afford, like appliances and beds for growing families.
If you have more than £100,000 in household savings, or if you own more than one property, you will not be eligible for our grants and services from 2026.
We appreciate that everyone’s situation is different. If you would like to discuss your financial situation and your eligibility under our updated criteria, please email our team at grants@clergysupport.org.uk