WILTSHIRE churches are being urged to put activities they are running in for a share of a £20,000 prize fund to reward innovation in local religious communities.

The money is the South West's share in a national competition run by insurance company Ecclesiastical, which aims to find and reward the best community engagement activities run by churches.

Michael Angell, church operations director at Ecclesiastical, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the entries we have received. The activities that churches across the country are undertaking to support people in their local communities and the dedication of the people involved in the projects is humbling and inspirational.”

The prizes on offer include a first prize of £10,000 and five runner-up prizes of £2,000 each.

The entries must be clearly aimed at supporting, helping or reaching out to local communities, not just primarily for fundraising. Churches are being encouraged to enter any size community projects that they have carried out in the past 12 months. They don’t have to be active projects, so could be one-off community outreach projects or an ongoing campaign. The competition is open until August 31. Application forms and full terms and conditons are available online at www.ecclesiastical.com/churchcomp.