Security for places of worship: preparing and supporting your community amid rising hate

Faith communities across the UK are feeling more vulnerable than they have in years. Religious hate crime has reached record levels, antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred have both risen sharply, and places of worship themselves have been targeted. For faith leaders and trustees, this raises a hard, practical question: how do we keep our buildings and our people safe — and how do we support a congregation living with real fear? This article covers both, because security and pastoral care are two halves of the same responsibility.

The picture, briefly

The scale is sobering. Recorded religious hate crime in England and Wales reached all-time record levels in the most recent year, and the Home Office found that 45% of all religious hate crimes targeted Muslims. The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in 2025 — the second-highest annual total it has ever logged — including, in October 2025, the first fatal antisemitic terrorist attack on British soil since CST began recording in 1984. Anti-Muslim hate monitors have likewise reported record levels, with mosques attacked and many worshippers — women and older people especially — describing a real rise in fear.

These are not abstract statistics. They translate into congregations who feel exposed simply gathering to worship. Naming that honestly is where a thoughtful response begins.

There is real, funded help — use it

One of the most important things faith leaders may not realise is that substantial government funding exists specifically to protect places of worship, and it is at record levels. For 2026–27, up to £73.4 million has been made available across three Home Office protective security schemes:

• Protective Security for Mosques Scheme — up to £40 million for mosques, Muslim faith schools and associated community centres. Applications are made directly to the Home Office on a rolling basis.
• Jewish Community Protective Security Grant — up to £28.4 million, managed by the Community Security Trust (CST), for synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres. Enquiries go through CST.
• Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme — up to £5 million for all other faiths (Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and others) in England and Wales, applied for through the Home Office.

These schemes can fund physical measures — CCTV, secure fencing and gates, intruder and panic alarms, reinforced doors, floodlighting, anti-ram bollards — and in some cases security personnel (guarding) during services and events. The mosque scheme now covers all four UK nations. (Figures correct as of mid-2026; funding rounds and amounts change — check the current position on gov.uk and with the relevant delivery partner before relying on them.)

A practical note worth knowing: to apply, your organisation generally needs to be a registered charity (or formally exempt) — another reason getting your legal structure and registration right matters. And applications succeed or fail on evidence: describe specific incidents, provide proof (photos of graffiti, police reports, crime reference numbers), and explain the impact on your community — fear, reduced attendance. Vague concern without evidence tends to be turned down; a clear, evidenced account of vulnerability is what wins funding.

Practical preparation — beyond the grant

Whether or not you secure funding, sensible preparation makes a difference:

• Do a security review. Walk your site and look honestly at entrances, sightlines, lighting, and points of vulnerability. The police and the schemes above can advise.
• Build a relationship with your local police before you need it — including any dedicated hate-crime or community liaison officers.
• Have a plan for services and large gatherings — the moments when most people are present.
• Train and brief your people — those who welcome, steward or lock up — on what to watch for and what to do, calmly and without alarm.
• Know how to report. Make sure incidents are reported to the police every time, and recorded — both because it matters in its own right and because it builds the evidence base for funding and for the wider picture.
• Plan your communications for if something happens, so you're not improvising under pressure.

The pastoral half: supporting a frightened congregation

Hardware protects buildings; it does not, by itself, calm fear. The pastoral response matters just as much, and it's where faith leaders are uniquely placed to help.

• Acknowledge the fear openly. People need to know their leaders see what they're feeling. Silence can read as indifference; naming it brings relief.
• Offer reassurance grounded in action. "Here is what we are doing to keep us safe" steadies people far more than general comfort. Visible, sensible measures reassure.
• Care especially for the most anxious — often women, older members, and parents worried for their children. Some may be withdrawing from communal life; gentle, practical inclusion matters.
• Hold the community together. Fear isolates. One of the most powerful things a faith community offers is solidarity — the felt sense of not facing this alone.
• Resist letting fear define you. Communities are strongest when they take threats seriously and refuse to let hatred shrink their life and worship. Both truths can be held at once.
• Watch for the toll on wellbeing, and help people reach support where the strain becomes heavy.

Solidarity across faiths

There is real strength in faith communities standing together. Anti-Muslim hatred and antisemitism are different, but communities facing them share much — the targeting of worship, the fear in families, the determination to endure. Relationships across traditions, and with the wider local community, are themselves a form of protection: they isolate the haters rather than the hated, and they send a message that an attack on one place of worship is felt by all.

For trustees: make this a governance priority

Trustees should treat security as part of their duty of care:

• Put security and safety on the board's agenda, and keep it there.
• Pursue the funding your community is eligible for, with a properly evidenced application.
• Integrate security with safeguarding — they overlap (see our guide to keeping safeguarding robust).
• Review regularly, as the threat picture and the funding landscape both change.
• Record incidents and decisions, both for protection and for accountability.

The bottom line

In a climate of rising hate, faith leaders carry a dual task: harden the building and hold the community. Take the practical steps, apply for the real and substantial funding that exists, work with the police, and — just as importantly — name the fear, reassure with action, care for the most anxious, and refuse to let hatred diminish the life of your community. Safety and solidarity, together, are how faith communities meet this moment.

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This article is general information, not advice. Security needs and funding schemes are specific and change over time. Check the current position on gov.uk, with the relevant delivery partner (Home Office or CST), and with your local police, or get in touch and we'll help.

A note on this difficult topic. Living under threat takes a real toll. If members of your community are struggling, help them reach appropriate support, and look after your own wellbeing too.

Sources verified (June 2026):

• GOV.UK, Record funding to protect faith communities (£73.4m across three schemes for 2026–27) — https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-funding-to-protect-faith-communities
• GOV.UK, Protective Security for Mosques Scheme (eligibility, how to apply, evidence) — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protective-security-for-mosques-scheme
• GOV.UK, Jewish Community Protective Security Grant (administered by CST) — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/jewish-community-protective-security-grant
• CST, Antisemitic Incidents Report 2025 (3,700 incidents; Heaton Park attack) — https://cst.org.uk/research/cst-publications/antisemitic-incidents-report-2025
• Tell MAMA / Home Office hate-crime statistics 2025 (record religious hate crime; 45% of religious hate crimes targeting Muslims) — https://tellmamauk.org/