Sandford St Martin Trust
Why religious broadcasting?
In our increasingly divided and fast-changing world, understanding what people believe has never been more important.
Religion – whether you’re a believer or not – shapes not just how the vast majority of the world’s population view their place in the world, but also how they view yours.
At the Sandford St Martin Trust we believe religious literacy is a basic skill every citizen needs. Thought-provoking, high-quality media that engages with faith, ethics and spirituality are essential to building a healthy, informed, and cohesive society.
Discover why leading media figures and past award winners like Jimmy McGovern, Frank Cottrell Boyce, and Lyse Doucet think religious broadcasting is important. Read our blog for more or watch the 2026 awards ceremony overture below to get a flavour of the inspirational content championed by the Sandford St Martin Trust.
Advocacy
On 1 October, the DCMS Select Committee published its report on BBC Charter Review with a hole at its centre: religion and belief. If the BBC’s mission is to help audiences understand one another and counter misinformation, how can it do so without recognising the importance of religious literacy. Read more about what the Sandford St Martin Trust considers missing – and what is essential the next Charter addresses.
The Sandford St Martin Trust advocates for balanced, thoughtful media that reflects the diversity of belief shaping our world. Through events, public submissions and partnerships we’re building evidence, dialogue, and new ways of evaluating public service media in the digital age.
We need broadcasters, policymakers, and audiences to take action:
- Recognise faith and ethics content as essential public service.
- Prioritise it in commissioning and strategy.
- Support work that builds understanding across communities.
Together, we can ensure UK media continues to reflect the full richness of who we are.
The Sandford St Martin Awards
For almost 50 years the Sandford St Martin Awards have celebrated excellent broadcasting about belief, ethics and spirituality; you can peruse our impressive roll call of past winners in our awards archive here. Our judges are particularly interested in content which promotes religious literacy and a deeper understanding across communities—whether religious or not.
Catch up on the winners and the highlights from the 2026 awards ceremony, including photos from the ceremony and messages from our winners, or see the full list of shortlisted entries with links to watch and listen again. And if you’ve made inspirational content exploring belief or ethics that was broadcast during 2026, #sandford2027 opens for entries in November! Sign up to our newsletter to be notified.