St Gabriel’s is open for public worship and private prayer.
Please make sure to follow us on social media for up to date news and information.
The latest edition of our monthly magazine is available to download here:
The new Quarterly Magazine is now available here:
National Churches Trust Social Value Calculator Summer 2026
Written by Anne Pickering
In March, I attended a seminar about the National Churches Trust Social Value Calculator. This has been developed following a programme of research by The Benefact Trust to quantify the economic and social good of churches to the UK. It has long been accepted that churches benefit the local community; this research aims to place a monetary value on the contribution made by each church excluding its core activity of being a place of worship and prayer, but instead looking at the church’s
value to local councils, the local voluntary sector and to parishioners above and beyond that. Newcastle had been selected as the pilot diocese.
It had already been estimated that the 38,000 churches of all denominations in the UK, none of which get guaranteed funding but all of which rely on donations, save our country billions of pounds per year. Church costs are rapidly rising, at least 1,000 churches are at risk of closure and many are in crisis with deteriorating buildings. It is thought that clergy and congregations should be able to return to their aims and mission, not have to be spending so much time and energy on fund-raising for
essential running costs and maintenance. It was hoped that this calculation would help to get the best results when making funding applications. Churches are the biggest providers of volunteers in the UK with 850,000 people volunteering at least once a week; volunteering is recognised as being good both for the area and for the volunteers.
It is estimated that churches provide the country with £55 billion worth of services annually, saving the NHS alone £8 billion a year. Churches are impacting on society by being the safety net below the safety net, running / contributing to food banks (there are more food banks in the UK than branches of McDonald’s), helping with addiction and mental health crises, organising youth groups, promoting and offering opportunities for music and social activities, fund-raising for charities, running classes and courses in wide-ranging subjects including dance, exercise, art, drama, yoga and Pilates, discussion and debate, local history, philosophy, religion and many more, on offer to people of all ages. Many of these health –related support services would cost the country billions of pounds a year to deliver without churches. Frequently, churches are also places of beauty and peace, sanctuaries of tranquillity in our hectic world.
The House of Good:Local has been developed to calculate the value that each church provides for local people, either directly or by allowing community organisations to use the buildings and grounds. Using figures provided by each church about, for example, the total number of attendees at the main Sunday service, the average church expenditure, the total number of volunteers in a year, the total number of people who participate in a choir or music group at least once a month and the total
number of people who attend a youth, children’s or community group at least monthly, the calculator takes this information, multiplies it by the unit values and converts it into a monetary equivalent. It is collecting details about everything that would not happen if the church building was not there, so all churches’ good work is not lost. The unit values in the calculator are based on rigorous economic analysis, using national survey datasets and a wellbeing-based approach endorsed in HM
Treasury’s Green Book.
Social value looks beyond financial returns to measure how churches make life better for people and communities. By putting a monetary value on wellbeing, it is to give it an equal footing with financial metrics. The aim of social values is not to reduce our impacts to money, but to make a credible investment case in a way funders understand.
Each church in the Newcastle Diocese was being encouraged to participate. I offered to collect and submit the information for St Gabriel’s on behalf of the PCC. It took some time to complete the questionnaire, for example collecting the number of people who volunteer here at least once a month. This included those who run / assist with all the uniformed groups, the PCC, those who polish and clean, launder and garden, arrange flowers and collect toys, are involved with the Choir, Choir Club,
Babies and Toddlers, Parish Breakfast, Welcome, Readers and Intercessors, Missions, Christian Aid and the Children’s Society, Safeguarding and the Pastoral Team, write the Prayer Diary, collect and deliver to Simonside House and the Food Bank, produce the Magazines and so many more activities which “just happen”! The total, unfortunately as directed and only counting each person once even if they volunteer in six different roles, was 196! I am grateful to all those who supplied details, and to
Jeni for inputting the data.
The outcome of the Social Value Calculator amazed me. It is calculated that the social value of St Gabriel’s is £1,462.402! Yes, we are providing almost one and a half million pounds worth of social and economic good to our local area every year. Please know how much everything you do is valued by so many. Be motivated to continue all you do and spread the word to those you meet.
In 2024 we were supported by the National Churches Trust.
They were able to set aside a grant of £4,000 pounds for us to go towards building maintenance in particular areas of the church roof.
They too rely on voluntary support and donations. You will find more information at https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/friends
Robin Long
May 2024