Every old church holds more than it can say
Waymarker helps historic churches and heritage sites tell their own stories, so anyone who visits can understand what they are looking at, and give something back to keep the place cared for.
Why we exist
Walk into almost any old church and you are standing inside centuries of work, belief and craft. There are saints in the glass, names worn smooth on the floor, carvings that took a lifetime to cut. Most of it goes unread. The doors are often open with no one free to show people round, the guidebook ran out years ago, and the one volunteer who knows every memorial cannot always be there.
We think every visitor deserves a knowledgeable guide, and every building deserves an easy way to be supported by the people who love it. That is what Waymarker is for.
What we do
Waymarker lets a church build a self-guided tour of its own building, stop by stop, in its own words. A visitor opens it on the phone already in their pocket, walks the route at their own pace, and listens to the story behind each thing they are looking at. When a place moves them, they can leave a donation before they go.
- Audio you can record on a phone, with photographs, video and readings for each stop.
- A floor plan with markers, so people can find their way around and see where to go next.
- A simple way for visitors to give, through the church's own giving link, so today donations go straight to the church.
- Nothing for visitors to download, and no account for them to create.
How donations work
Today, each church handles its own donations through its own giving link. Waymarker does not handle, hold, or take any share of the money. The church receives every donation and keeps all of it. There is no Waymarker cut.
We are working towards becoming a registered charity. We are not one yet. When we are, we plan to handle donations directly for participating churches, rather than each church using its own link, and we expect this to become the standard way it works. A donation would then become a gift to Waymarker: most of it would still support the church it was given for, and a portion would help fund restoration at other historic churches. Becoming a charity would also let us add Gift Aid, which increases the value of donations at no extra cost to the donor. We will share the details closer to the time, and nothing changes for your church until then.
For the people who care for these places
You do not need a film crew or a developer. If you can fill in a web form, you can build a tour. You record the words, choose the photographs, and place each stop. We handle the rest, so your building can speak for itself even when nobody is on the door.
For visitors
Visiting is free and open to everyone, whether you came to pray or simply to look. You can browse places to explore, follow a church to hear its news, and keep a record of what you have given. You never need a password to do any of it.
Our promise
We are here to serve the places, not to get in their way. We keep the experience calm and unhurried, we never sell anyone's data, and we try to make giving feel like what it is, which is a kindness rather than a transaction.