The Church of England is committed to improving accessibility so that all who wish to attend churches, whether for worship or community activities, are able to do so.

Parishes may apply to the Parish Accessibility Fund for up to £50,000 or a Small Grant of up to £5,000 for project proposals to improve the accessibility features covering structural alterations such as the installation of an accessible toilet, step-free access and production of large print texts. More information on the Parish Accessibility Fund is available here: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/barrier-free-belonging/parish-accessibility-fund
The Diocese of Lichfield’s ‘Enabling All initiative’ offers support for its 540 churches including those in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire to become more accessible.

'Enabling All' offers web pages, online training, open drop-ins for individual questions, a church officer who can advise and an award scheme, all of which support churches to increase their accessibility. More information is available here: https://www.lichfield.anglican.org/inclusion/enabling-all/

The Church delivers community projects across the country to support individuals and families with the cost of living. Across the country churches are delivering around 31,000 community projects, including 8,000 food banks, 4,000 parent and carer groups and 3,000 community cafes.

In Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire, the Newcastle Foodbank operates a network of distribution centres hosted in local churches, such as Newcastle Congregational Church, operating under the Trussell Trust. Many local churches across the Diocese also operate as Warm Spaces to help vulnerable individuals and families save on their domestic energy bills. Through its Transforming Communities Together initiative and partnerships with organisations like the Church Urban Fund, the diocese supports practical courses (such as Money Talks and debt-relief guidance) to help individuals manage their finances. More information is available here: https://lichfield.anglican.org/transforming_communities/

Many churches across the Diocese of Lichfield are involved in initiatives to help those in poverty, including offering Warm Welcome Spaces, foodbanks, and school uniform banks. Such initiatives are developed according to locally identified needs and available resources in parishes.

St Thomas’ Church in Kidsgrove, St Luke’s Church in Clayton, and All Saints Church in Madeley are three of the six local distribution points for the Newcastle-Staffs Foodbank. These churches work with other denominations in Chesterton, Silverdale and Newcastle town centre to provide this service to the local community in Newcastle under Lyme. On the 22nd May, the Foodbank published data to show that in one year, it had provided 8,720 emergency food parcels to people in need. 3,018 of these parcels went to children across Newcastle under Lyme. More information is available here: https://newcastlestaffs.foodbank.org.uk/2025/05/22/end-of-year-stats-2/

The Diocese of Lichfield Strengthening Communities team works with communities and individuals, churches and other faiths across Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, the Black Country and north Shropshire, to support community building and improve lives. More information about the work of the diocese can be found here: https://www.lichfield.anglican.org/about-us/strengthening-communities/ For further information do please contact the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, or the Archdeacon of Stoke, the Venerable Megan Smith. Contact details are available on the Diocese of Lichfield website.

Nationally, the Church of England has committed to three priorities: to develop and grow more disciples, to develop a mixed ecology of churches and to grow a younger and more diverse congregation. More information about the national work is available here: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/vision-and-strategy

A key priority for the Diocese of Lichfield in its Diocesan Strategic Framework is to reduce the age profile of congregation members. Various work strands are being developed to achieve this, including building on already strong relationships between churches and schools. Across some parishes good work is taking place ecumenically on initiatives that support younger people in their explorations of faith and build their confidence within the church.

In 2024, the Diocese of Lichfield was awarded £837,608 grant funding from the National Church Institutions Strategic Mission and Ministry Board (SMMIB). The Diocese has recently been awarded further SMMIB funding for new work beyond 2025, specifically operating in Stoke to establish new worshipping communities focused on those aged under 40

For further information do please contact the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, or the Archdeacon of Stoke, the Venerable Megan Smith. Contact details are available on the Diocese of Lichfield website.

The Diocese of Lichfield has licensed clergy ranging in age from 32 to 72 years. The most recent Ministry Statistics held by the National Church Institutions were published in 2024 and cover the years 2022-23. See: https://www.churchofengland.org/about/data-services/resources-publications-and-data#na The information can be found on sheet M in columns BA and BB of the 2022 data.

This data indicates that the Diocese of Lichfield has a total of 244 clergy in active ministry, including bishops, clergy, curates and non-parochial clergy. 17% of stipendiary clergy are under 40, with 50% being 40-59 and 33% being aged 60+. This is roughly comparable to the national landscape where 16% of stipendiary clergy are under 40, 55% are between 40-55 years old and 29% are aged 60+. It is not possible to say what age bracket the self-supporting clergy are, as this information is not held centrally.

For further information do please contact the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, or the Archdeacon of Stoke, the Venerable Megan Smith. Contact details are available on the Diocese of Lichfield website.

The National Church Institutions are supporting the dioceses of the Church of England with a variety of initiatives to assess vocations and recommend people for training. More information about this work can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/diocesan-resources/ministry-development/vocations

The Diocese of Lichfield has received £5,980,655 funding between 2022-2025 from the National Church Institutions via its Lowest Income Communities Fund, to support ministry in parishes which would otherwise not be able to maintain it. This is further to the Diocese of Lichfield being awarded £6,230,837 during 2020-2023, and £6,590,111 during 2017-2019

The Diocese recognises that, along with many dioceses across the Church of England, it is facing challenges recruiting clergy to vacant parishes. This has been exacerbated by a recent spike in retirements occurring at the same time as a reduction in the number of new ordinations.

The Diocese is taking action to address this by proactively taking steps to increase the number of those coming forward for licensed ministries, both lay and ordained. They are working hard with individual parishes through the recruitment process to help them assess vocations and attract the right candidates. For some parishes, finance is an issue. Where this is the case, the Diocese works with them to find the best way forward for both missional and financial sustainability. More details about the strategy of the Diocese of Lichfield are available here: https://www.lichfield.anglican.org/shaping-for-mission/#:~:text=From%202024%20to%202030%2C%20Lichfield%20diocese%20will%20be,overwhelmingly%20at%20the%20Diocesan%20Synod%20of%20March%202024

For further information do please contact the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Michael Ipgrave, or the Archdeacon of Stoke, the Venerable Megan Smith. Contact details are available on the Diocese of Lichfield website.