Read the results of our 2025 survey below.

Measuring the effectiveness of chaplaincy has always been a challenge. Counting the number of chaplains, how often they visit and how many people they speak to, gives one measure of what we do. But it doesn’t tell us what difference we make. In 2019 we devised an approach to remedy this, a qualitative survey using a questionnaire, which asked those involved, both those providing and receiving chaplaincy, how it had made a difference to them.

We completed this just as the first COVID lock-down started in 2020, and received lots of feedback – mostly very positive.  It was our intention to use this to establish a baseline, and repeat the exercise after two or three years. As a result of COVID this timescale grew. But I am glad to report that, some five years after that initial piece of work, we have now completed our second Chaplaincy Impact Survey.

The delay meant we completed the survey just before a significant change for FWW, as we become a completely volunteer-led and delivered mission. This has been fortuitous, as it provides some real time data to help guide us as we adjust to continuing chaplaincy with fewer resources – people and time. It helps us concentrate on the most important aspects of chaplaincy.

We used the same approach as before; a questionnaire survey of three groups of people –

Click on the links in the above list for separate detailed reports of the questions asked, and the answers given, for workers; chaplains; and FWW supporters.

One difference this time was that, for the chaplains and supporters, we used an online form, rather than an interview. For those at work who receive chaplains we, once again, visited and spoke to people one to one, recording their responses. Each group had its own set of questions. We collected some data about those who took part in the survey (gender, ethnicity, age, whether they were a manager or an employee, time working in the location or being a chaplain etc.) and asked open questions about their experience and understanding of chaplaincy.  For chaplains, and supporters from their churches, we also asked about how they used the FWW monthly prayer guide.

A detailed summary of the anonymised responses of all three groups can be found on our website, including quotes and examples that people gave.

So, what did people tell us, and what did we learn?

Those workers whom chaplains visit, generally:

  • welcome the visits of chaplains and the idea of chaplaincy
  • often have stories of how the chaplain has made a difference by being interested in them, when no one else is, and by listening.
  • have all sorts of family, personal challenges and needs they worry about, as well as issues that arise at work.
  • always met the chaplain in their workplace, so their work is a key part of the conversation.
  • are, like most people, not engaged with organised religion, and sometimes suspicious of it.
  • in a very few cases, connected or re-connected to a church because of getting to know a chaplain.

Many were quite passionate about the positive impact a chaplain had made. One person said,

‘When I faced a bad time in my life I was able to speak to the chaplain for a long time. She listened and was fantastic.’ 

Another, referring to a bad experience at work said,

‘I always remember one Christmas, when customers tend to be ruder and work is stressful, I was having a worst of days ever. The Chaplain arrived to listen, empathise, as a human act of kindness.  My day improved immediately; stress stopped, like a reset, and put things in perspective, and made it feel worthwhile.  It was the kindest thing someone could have done at that moment’.

Not all comments were positive. Asked if they found chaplaincy useful, 18% were negative, 20% neutral (not feeling they personally would likely engage with a chaplain, but seeing how it helped others) but 62% positive or very positive.

When asked for suggestions for how to improve what we do, one area that came up frequently was the need to provide information to workplaces about their chaplain, and how to make contact outside the times of their visits. Posters and leaflets for staff rest areas would be reminders of the chaplain, and also reach those workers who had never met a chaplain – for example those who only worked at weekends, or part-time on days the chaplain did not habitually visit.

Another theme that was raised by some was how the chaplains were links between their business and the community, including the church. More could be made of this two way link. Two quotes that illustrate this are the person who said, ‘It feels one sided – we take, and the chaplain gives.’ And added, ‘It would be useful if, as well as the chaplain asking how I am, she would pass on news about what is happening in the community and church’.

Chaplains, asked about how being a chaplain had impacted them, said being a chaplain:

  • Helped them put their faith into action in a very practical way, being a Christian caring presence, and seeing God at work in the world.
  • Provided an opportunity to meet people they otherwise would not easily meet, which they enjoyed, and the privilege of getting to know them as friends who confided in them about often deep questions and issues.
  • Provided a positive experience of fellowship, prayer, and learning, with the local team of chaplains they were part of.

What chaplains found difficult included:

  • Dealing with those occasions when they were not welcomed, or workers were not interested.
  • The high turnover of staff in retailing, which meant they were always starting again, to build relationships with workers.
  • Occasionally feeling out of their depth with the enormity and the challenges some people face in their working and personal lives – and not feeling they had much to offer or words to help.
  • How their home church was not really engaged with them about their chaplaincy, and often didn’t seem interested.

Those who were supporters rather than chaplains were:

  • Knowledgeable about what chaplains did, and welcomed it as an important part of their church’s mission, but felt that their church could be more active in their support of the chaplains, and of FWW.
  • Were pleased chaplains visited, because it was one thing which encouraged their church to look outwards into the community when, most of the time, the attention and energies of the church were mostly engaged in keeping the church going.
  • Helped them, as church people, better appreciate and understand the experience of those who were not part of the church.

We asked chaplains and our supporters about the FWW Prayer Guide, which has now been produced monthly for nearly five years. We currently circulate this to more than 130 individuals, encouraging them to pass it on to others. Of those who responded about 65% said they read it when it arrives, of which about half said they used it to guide their own prayers, or when they lead intercessions in their church (or have heard others using it this way).  Each month, on the first Wednesday, the guide forms the basis of a prayer meeting online.  This is usually attended by between 3 and 6 regulars.

One theme that was touched on was when conversations turned to religious topics, including belief in God, spirituality, perceptions of the church, and prayer. For chaplains an important motivation in being a chaplain was putting faith into action, and deepening their faith. One chaplain said, ‘The rewards [as a chaplain] are very simple, yet compelling because the connection that can be made feels like being connected to God being at work in the world’. Another said  ‘[I feel] especially privileged when those I visit seek me out to pray for them at times of need’.

For some workers, having a chaplain visit changed their view of what Christians were like. One said, ‘The chaplains are lovely people, have a sense of humour, are great listeners, really care and are non-judgemental. This is unlike some other church people who condemn me because of my beliefs’.

What lessons do we take from the survey?

1.      That there are simple things we can do to improve connections with workers, such as those mentioned above – the use of posters and leaflets in workplaces, and developing the role of chaplains as community champions.

2.      One key lesson is how much the ministry of our chaplains is valued by those they visit, but how little the chaplains themselves appreciate this.  Just being able to give chaplains the results of our survey should encourage and uplift them in their ministry.

3.      Informed prayer for those at work, and about economic issues, has grown in the last 5 years, both by chaplains and FWW supporters. Prayer, shared with the wider church ecumenically, is now a key foundation for what chaplains do, and as part of the response to the people chaplains meet, and for the issues in the economy they face.

4.      Whilst more people in churches are aware of chaplaincy than previously, it continues to be seen in many places as a peripheral activity to what the church actually does and is for. There is much scope for continuing to seek to engage churches in chaplaincy, and see it as a central part of its mission in its own community.

5.      To help chaplains feel more confident in workplaces, we need to continue to develop our refresher training and support – one to one, in local teams and to all chaplains, in skills development, theological reflection and safeguarding.