Places of worship under Martyn’s Law sit in a distinctive position: they stay in Standard Tier regardless of attendance, but the range of premises the duty applies to is wider than almost any other sector. From large cathedrals to small community premises, from well-resourced urban centres to volunteer-led village churches, the Act asks for proportionate preparation across all of them.

This page walks through what that looks like in practice.

Faith premises in scope span an enormous variety:

• Large urban cathedrals and mosques with ticketed concerts, major services, and substantial operational budgets.
• Mid-sized parish churches and community mosques with regular services exceeding 200, volunteer governance, and modest budgets.
• Small community premises that only exceed 200 once or twice a year at Christmas, Eid, Diwali, or a major festival, often with no paid staff.

All of these are in Standard Tier. All have the same four procedures to prepare. What varies is how the “reasonably practicable” standard applies to each.

Large urban faith premises

• Four procedures with written detail specific to the premises, including different approaches for services, concerts, and open-door access periods.
• Training for staff, regular volunteers, and event teams.
• Annual exercise with tabletop rehearsal of likely scenarios.
• Evidence managed through a platform, linked to event management.
• Integration with existing security arrangements where applicable (for example, established security practice in some faith communities).

Mid-sized places of worship

• Four procedures, written clearly for the premises and the roles of volunteers who are on site most.
• Training during existing volunteer rotas or alongside existing safeguarding training.
• Annual tabletop exercise with the leadership team.
• Evidence maintained centrally, kept simple but current.

Small community premises

• Four procedures, straightforward and kept proportionate to the premises’ scale.
• Training integrated with existing volunteer orientation.
• A basic exercise once a year (this can be a walk-through during a quiet period).
• Evidence maintained in one place, updated annually.

The Act doesn’t require small community premises to replicate what a cathedral does. It does require both to have prepared, trained, exercised, and evidenced in proportion.

A characteristic of places of worship is volunteer governance. Most faith communities don’t have paid safety or compliance officers. The Martyn’s Law duties sit with the governance of the premises (parochial church councils, mosque committees, synagogue boards, temple committees), but the day-to-day preparation falls on volunteers.

Three things tend to help:

1. Clear role assignment. One person (not everyone) is responsible for maintaining procedures and records. Without this, things fall through the cracks.
2. Integration with existing volunteer activity. Training during already-scheduled volunteer sessions is easier than creating new sessions.

A platform that handles evidence automatically. Volunteer time is scarce. Anything that reduces admin burden protects the preparation.

Different faith traditions have different service patterns, different volunteer structures, and different existing safeguarding frameworks. The four Standard Tier procedures apply universally, but how they’re implemented varies:

• Churches with regular Sunday services and mid-week activity.
• Mosques with daily prayers, Friday congregations, and Ramadan patterns.
• Synagogues with Shabbat services, High Holy Days, and community events.
• Gurdwaras with daily programmes, langar service, and festival observances.
• Temples with regular puja and festival-specific attendance spikes.

Prova Risk supports this variety. Our platform is built to flex to the patterns of different faith premises rather than force a one-size-fits-all template.

Some faith communities, already have established security practice developed over many years. Martyn’s Law doesn’t replace this. The duties under the Act are specific to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, but existing practice can integrate:

• Governance structures that carry across.
• Training cadences that incorporate Martyn’s Law content.
• Existing relationships with security advisors that feed into procedures.
• Evidence captured through the platform but shared where appropriate with existing partners.

The fastest way to know is our free Am I in Scope? tool. A handful of questions, a clear answer, no account needed.

If you already know you’re in scope, Get Started with Prova Risk to prepare your public protection procedures, train your staff, and keep the evidence you’ll need if inspected. £399 per year per site.

• For Places of Worship
• Are Places of Worship Exempt from Martyn’s Law?
• What Are Public Protection Procedures?
• Standard Tier vs Enhanced Tier
• The 200-Person Threshold Explained