In a year, 86 per cent of us visit places of worship. Repairing, maintaining and improving access to church buildings keeps them at the heart of communal life. 

Take St Jude's in Swansea, which received £40,000 for repairs to its roof. The church hosts its local primary school for an annual carol service, while the basement is used by community groups, including the Brownies, a youth club and senior citizens. At St Mildred's in Whippingham, on the Isle of Wight, it is not just the local community but also thousands of tourists who benefit from a £40,000 grant for repairs to the main tower and roof, as well as to stonework surrounding the windows. 

Visitors come for guided tours of this former Royal church, which Queen Victoria attended when she was in residence at nearby Osborne House. 

We may agree about the need to take care of our churches, but how well do we actually know them? A co-ordinated national fundraising effort such as the National Churches Trust's recent Ride and Stride saw thousands of cyclists and walkers getting to know churches beyond their immediate vicinity. Participants criss-crossed their counties from church to church, with the aim of visiting as many places of worship as possible. Churches set up rota systems to offer refreshments to the unprecedented flow of visitors. 

Churches are unique and central to Britain's heritage. They are also a large part of my own life — both spiritual and secular. The Trust's work reminds us that churches should be celebrated both as places of worship and as thriving, accessible centres of local history and community buildings in the fullest sense. Their neglect is quite unacceptable.