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Bats in Churches is a unique project, bringing together partners across the heritage and conservation sectors. The project runs until 2023 and we hope that the discoveries made will help churches and historic buildings confronted with similar challenges, to live happily alongside their bats.

The project seeks to safeguard the future of protected bat roosts sheltered in England's churches, whilst reducing the negative impact on the fabric of these historic buildings and the people who use them.

To do this, we are bringing together experts and volunteers from across the natural and cultural conservation realms to investigate and put in place practical solutions to the problems caused by bats in historic churches and to help church communities to live alongside their bat populations.

As part of the project, we are running the Bats in Churches Volunteer Survey which everyone can get involved in. The findings from this unique study will help us to understand how and why bats are using churches across the country. Click below for more info on how to get involved.

The five year project will work with some of the most severely affected churches to support them to serve their communities without restriction and we will help them to protect their historic spaces without harming bat habitats.

The partnership will recruit hundreds of volunteers to help care for their historic churches and the bats who live in them, while thousands more will be able to get involved in an exciting Volunteer Survey, education programmes and community-led bat and church events.