Church Consultant Projects and Experience

Planning Solutions Consulting is a specialist visitor experience and tourism consultancy working with churches, cathedrals, chapels and cemeteries across the UK. We have worked with clients including the Diocese of Winchester, St Albans Cathedral, Sunderland City Council and the London Borough of Lambeth to help religious and heritage sites develop their visitor offer, generate revenue, and access funding such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Churches, chapels and cathedrals are important spiritual, historical and community spaces. Alongside their role as places of worship, they act as venues for learning, events and exhibitions, spaces for quiet contemplation, and increasingly as key visitor ‘attractions’ in their own right. Balancing these different needs, and building financially resilient organisations that can fund the ongoing conservation of historic buildings, is where our church tourism consultancy work adds most value.

What our church tourism consultancy covers

Our church tourism consultancy work is usually focused on:

• Market assessments to test whether revenue-generating opportunities meet the needs of the marketplace, while recognising a church’s primary role as a place of worship
• Option appraisals to identify and evaluate development scenarios, often working alongside conservation architects on historic buildings
• Preparing visitor experience plans and visitor management plans
• Preparing the supporting business plan to test financial viability and support funding applications, including to the National Lottery Heritage Fund
• Stakeholder consultation with congregations, potential new users and local community gatekeepers

Projects we have worked on

• Lambeth Council: We were commissioned to advise on the development of the visitor experience, identifying key audiences and core operational considerations for West Norwood Cemetery, one of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries.    This supported a successful funding application to the Lottery
• Diocese of Winchester: Commissioned to work with the Church Wardens and Volunteer Stewards to develop a visitor experience and management plan for a church within the diocese
• St Alban Cathedral: Working with Nick Stead, a heritage consultant, our work focused on advising the client on the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of a wider project
• Southampton City Council: PSC worked alongside architects at 22 heritage assets to identify opportunities to enhance the visitor ‘experience’, this included Holy Rood Church
• Hampshire County Council: We completed a review of Royal Victoria Country Park, including the Chapel, where the parkland is Grade II listed, and the chapel is Grade II* listed. Our work focused on enhancing the visitor experience and building income streams
• Sunderland City Council: Prepared the business case for Hylton Castle and St Catherine’s Chapel, working with Castle in the Community and Friends of Hylton Dene
• North Soar Trails Syndicate: Feasibility study into the opportunity of creating a destination, initially based on the great outdoors and heritage assets, including a number of churches

Find out more about the church and other consultancy projects we have worked on.

The wider role of churches and cathedrals in tourism

Churches and cathedrals play a multi-functional role in their communities. They provide support for vulnerable people, host learning programmes for all ages (York Minster’s Ebor Lectures, delivered with the University of York St John, is a good example), and act as a key attractor helping destinations differentiate themselves. Ancillary facilities such as cafes can become an important revenue generator, attracting visitors who might not otherwise visit. Managing this alongside the ongoing cost of conserving historic fabric is an increasing challenge  and why more cathedrals and churches are taking a commercially-minded, innovative approach to sustaining their long-term future.

Talk to us about your project

If you’re responsible for a church, cathedral, chapel or cemetery and are considering how to develop the visitor experience, from a business plan to support a funding bid through to a full visitor management plan, we’d be happy to talk it through.

Get in touch with Richard Linington to discuss your project:

Phone: 07866 742628 Email: richard@pslplan.co.uk

We’re happy to have an initial, no-obligation meeting about your project before any formal proposal.