Faiths4Change: Multi-Faith, Environment & Community Cohesion in NW England

Harnessing the support and commitment of faith communities and agencies from all sectors, F4C provides free Project Officer support, training & small scale grant funding to faith communities to enable people of faith & goodwill to create partnership projects that transform local environments and communities in mainly urban areas in England's North West.

Director Annie Merry said:

"Faiths4Change draws on the core belief of creation care shared by the world's faith communities. Utilising this belief and the resources of the faith communities; volunteers, buildings, skills and land, Faiths4Change facilitates active participation - with local residents who have a vested interest in caring for their neighbourhoods.
Working together to transform their neighbourhoods enables local people to turn their ideas into reality, using their own knowledge whilst being supported to enhance their skills, develop partnerships with agencies from all sectors and build relationships at the same time.

Launched in July 2007, following Operation EDEN, a successful Merseyside based multi-faith pilot project, we have Project Officers based in faith community owned buildings in Liverpool, Manchester, Preston & Burnley.

We've had a very busy first year! To date we have supported 19 small scale partnership projects including:

Ø Young & older community members @ risk of social exclusion are designing & creating window boxes together, (Liverpool). Partners include Christ Church Norris Green, Liverpool Anti-Social Behaviour Unit, Parents Against Drug Abuse & Cobalt Housing Association.
Ø Muslim & Christian young people from local schools creating a garden in a park together (Preston). Partners include Sacred Heart Church, Friends of Haslam Park & Preston United.
Ø Mosques & Churches supporting an initiative to create a community farm in Burnley. The first phase is a 'Mobile Farm' where local residents are given grow bags & seeds and share their experiences & produce at a community event. (Burnley). Partners include Burnley Food Links, Living Allotments, Calico Housing, Elevate, Building Bridges, Clegg Street Mosque, Ghousia Mosque and St Matthews & St Andrews Churches.
Ø Franciscan Nuns supporting local unemployed young people to grow food for a community café (Ordsal, Manchester). Partners include St Josephs RC Church & Barrack Cooperative.

We work with a wide range of partners in the North West including the North West Regional Development Agency, Environment Agency, Job Centre Plus, UK Public Health Authority, Mersey Travel & Myerscough College.
We've contributed to a number of initiatives such as designing & delivering Action Learning Sets to support community development in Liverpool, Manchester, Burnley & Preston for North West Together We Can and currently, Merseyside Coalition for Equality & Human Rights Cultural Diversity & Economy programme.
F4C is currently working with five faith communities in the North West - a Mosque, 2 Churches, a Chinese Buddhist Temple & a Gujarat Hindu centre to support a volunteer led project to consider retro fitting appropriate renewable energy technologies to their buildings to challenge fuel poverty.

If you'd like to find out more, we'd love to hear from you:
Faiths4Change, St James House, 20 St James Road, Liverpool L1 7BY
Tel: Marjorie (Administrator) 0151 705 2111

E mail: faiths4change@liverpool.anglican.org

Website: www.faiths4change.org.uk