Community projects

	Most Sacred Land projects, like this one in South Manchester, involve working with the community that lives around the sacred site

Throughout history the most special and often the most beautiful place in any community has been the place of worship. From ancestor tombs through stone circles to mosques churches and temples communities have invested more emotionally and physically in their places of worship than in any other space.

These are the places to come to celebrate, to weep or just to be still – and the need for them today is as great as at any other time in human history.

This is why Sacred Land works with communities to create new sacred places as well as to help treasure the old ones and sometimes to rediscover what our forebears knew better than ourselves.

• In the East Midlands, Sacred Land has supported the creation of a landscaped garden surrounding a new Hindu temple in a desolate industrial area – despite protests by local residents. Find out more>

• Throughout Britain there are now 6,000 parishes where ancient wildflowers and native fauna have been allowed to return, simply by mowing just once a year and stopping the use of pesticides. These Living Churchyards are sometimes the most important eco-systems in their area. Find out more>

• Gorton Monastery in Manchester is one of the city's most important Victorian buildings. For years it has been forgotten, but now it is being restored as a place for the community. Find out more>