The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme is provided free of charge by the Home Office to protect mosques and associated Muslim community centres.

Who can apply

You can apply to the scheme if you are:

• a mosque
• an associated Muslim community centre (a faith-based community centre that is run by or located near a mosque and where regular worship takes place)

You will also need to be a registered charity (or exempt from registering as a charity).

You should apply if:

• you have experienced hate crime at your mosque or community centre
• you feel that your mosque or community centre is vulnerable to hate crime
• there has been hate crime in your local area towards other places of worship or people who attend them

What the scheme covers

You can apply for one or both of these security measures:

• physical security measures, such as CCTV, alarms, secure fencing and gates
• security personnel services (guarding), providing visible security staff at your location

Your site will be surveyed to assess your security needs and what measures are appropriate.

All security measures are provided for free by the Home Office. For some physical security measures, this includes any maintenance costs for one year from the installation date.

How to apply

You should only complete one application form for each mosque or community centre in each round of the scheme.

If your mosque and community centre are located on the same site, you only need to complete one application form.

You will need to provide details about your site including:

• the name and address of your mosque or community centre
• the registered charity number of your organisation, or a letter confirming your organisation’s exemption from registering as a charity
• the contact details of a responsible person who will be your site’s point of contact
• a summary of any security concerns or hate crime experienced at your mosque or community centre, and the impact these have on the people who use it

You can save your application form and come back to it later.

Apply now

Application guidance

To help with the assessment of your application, you should:

• clearly explain why your place of worship and its community are at risk of hate crime (incident)
• provide detailed evidence of any hate crime incidents - for example, photos of graffiti or police reports (evidence)
• describe how these incidents have affected your community - for example, fear or reduced attendance (impact)

Applications that do not include strong evidence or do not explain the risk clearly are unlikely to be successful. Additionally, applications that detail anti-social behaviours without linking it to hate crime are also unlikely to be successful.

Successful application example

Place of worship: Mosque 1

Incident: In March 2024, offensive graffiti was sprayed on the front wall of the Mosque. The graffiti included specific anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Evidence provided:

• photos of the graffiti
• police report and crime reference number
• statement from a worshipper explaining they felt unsafe and stopped attending prayers

Impact: the incident caused distress in the community, especially among elders and children. Attendance dropped by 30% in the weeks following the incident.

Unsuccessful application example

Place of worship: Mosque 2

Incident: We feel unsafe due to general tensions in the area. We experience people throwing litter on our site.

Evidence provided: none.

Impact: not explained and no material consequences outlined.

Why it was unsuccessful: the application did not include any specific incidents or evidence relating to these incidents, and they only listed anti-social behaviour as a concern. They also did not include an explanation of how the community is affected.

Things to consider

If you install physical security measures yourself, you will not be reimbursed. Measures must be installed by the Home Office approved supplier (or their chosen sub-contractors).

You may need planning permission or other approvals, for example, for listed buildings. Planning restrictions and permissions are not covered by the scheme. Planning permission is the responsibility of the applicant and you will need to check if further permissions are needed for the work to be carried out.

Data protection

To find out more about how we process and protect your information, and your rights in relation to this, see the privacy information notice.