Bats in Churches Study Training (module 2)

Module 2: Contacting your chosen church

You've registered and selected a church. The next step is to contact your chosen church to ask permission to survey and arrange a date between June-August.

Before making contact with a church representative it is important to be prepared for different reactions towards bats use of churches, and to understand that there are a variety of perspectives and opinions.

Activity 1: Perspectives around bats in churches

When contacting and working with churches it is important to listen to their perspectives and be understanding. It's useful to know some of the worries and difficulties associated with having bats in the church. Here are interviews with a few of the dedicated volunteers working at some of our project churches. They discuss their perspectives and church situations. You'll be asked to reflect and write down your thoughts, so have a pen and paper ready.

Activity 2: Explore the project resources

Our project resources include an official project letter & email template to contact your church here. This video briefly talks through the practicalities of contacting your church.

There are different resources for the Church Bat Detective Survey and National Bats in Churches Study. A reminder of the differences between the two surveys can be found here. You can check which survey your church falls into on your My Churches page of the survey portal. 

Additional information:

• For more detail and advice to best communicate and help church communities with roosting bats, please see our e-learning course Working With Churches.
• Useful contacts - For questions about building works please do provide details of the FREE National Bat Helpline (0345 1300 228) for advice. The earlier in the process they contact the Helpline the better.
• Please also feel free to give the project details. We can help by support those struggling with roosting bats in the church, or alternatively provide resources and information for those interested in learning more about their winged residents. We can help support or talk through our current work to find sustainable solutions, provide advice on heritage cleaning and conservation advice, and discuss potential funding opportunities. The best contacts are the project Engagement Officers who work for Church of England.
  

  Rose Riddell	Midlands & the North	rosemary.riddell@churchofengland.org
  Honor Gay	London & the South	honor.gay@churchofengland.org
  Diana Spencer	East Anglia	diana.spencer@churchofengland.org