New Report from CUF : Fullness of Life Together: Reimagining Christian engagement in our communities

Thousands of churches around the country are working to support people in their communities, providing activities ranging from food banks and debt advice, to night shelters and job clubs. 

Both Church Urban Fund and Livability work to support churches as they engage with their communities and have contributed to the development of a Christian response to local life for many years. Given the impressive scale and diversity of Christian community engagement, it is all the more important that we continue to reflect upon the nature of that work and its impact.

In this new report Fullness of Life Together, Reimagining Christian engagement in our communities we have joined together to reflect on the way in which churches engage with our communities. In it we ask questions about the dominance of service delivery models in Christian community engagement and offer alternatives drawing on Co-production and Asset-based Community development.

Using case studies from around the country, theological reflection and questions for discussion we invite Christians seeking to impact their communities to reflect with us on how we might do this in ways that build community and result in life in all its fullness, shared together. 

Click here for the Executive Summary.

Click here to read the full report.

DWP bulletin.. how sanctions affect Housing Benefit - they shouldn't..

Please circulate

 

Worth reading the attached if you are unclear about the impact of benefit sanctions on Housing Benefit..  (If you can understand the DWP jargon you may be clearer - but the email below does state it more simply! )

 

From: Paul Connery [mailto:paul.connery@homelesslink.org.uk]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 4:15 PM
Subject: Sanctions & Housing Benefit

 

dear Colleague

 

Homeless Link and partners have been lobbying behind the scenes for the past two years for DWP to put out a definitive circular to all local authorities explicitly saying that Housing Benefit should not be suspended as a result of a JSA or ESA sanction, which we know has been happening in practice.

 

This has now been done, see attachment

 

thanks

 

Paul Connery

Strategy & Partnership Manager

North West

07798631340  | Homeless Link, Gateway House, Milverton Street, London, SE11 4AP

www.homeless.org.uk

Follow me on twitter: www.twitter.com/paulCnw

 

 

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Together Lancashire Stories and Refelctions - A new Blog post

Thursday, 8 October 2015

Daring Greatly through mission... with the courage to step outside the box

Sandra Crawford writes:

Daring to walk alongside…

I have heard too many stories recently of Christian teenagers who have taken their lives (or attempted to) because they are struggling with their sexuality and think the church, their family and God will reject them.  Whatever our theological position on sexuality, if we are leading young people to kill themselves then we are wrong.

 

Read more here....

 

http://tlstoriesandreflections.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/daring-greatly-through-mission-with.html

Concluding JRF Family Poverty series

 

Some more more good research from JRF and the Tavistock Institute

 

http://www.tavinstitute.org/news/concluding-jrf-family-poverty-series/

 

 

 

Fw: A right to good food? Beyond Foodbanks? North West consultation, Manchester 23 November

 

Sent: Friday, October 02, 2015 4:28 PM

Subject: A right to good food? Beyond Foodbanks? North West consultation, Manchester 23 November

Dear all - you are all invited to attend and publicise accordingly!

The right to good food? Beyond foodbanks?

Tackling the scandal of food poverty in 21st century Britain

 

Hosted by Feeding Manchester, Merci, Manchester 
Monday 23 November, 3.00pm - 5.00pm

To book your free place visit: http://feedingmanchester.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=3824&reset=1

• Do you care passionately that no one in the UK should go hungry?

•  

• Do you think that Government could do more to tackle food poverty?

•  

• Do you want to be part of building a food justice movement in the UK?

The explosion in food poverty and the huge numbers being forced to turn to food banks undermines the UK's commitment to ensuring that all its citizens have access to food – one of the most basic of all human rights.

Whilst hundreds of thousands of people have had to turn to foodbanks in recent years, emergency food aid cannot be a long-term solution.  A growing list of organisations including Church Action on Poverty, Oxfam, the Sustainable Food Cities Network, Trussell Trust, the Feeding Britain Inquiry have all called for stronger and more coordinated national and local government to take action to reduce food poverty.

Come and hear about the findings of the Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty - due out at the end of October – and have your input into shaping the growing campaign to tackle food poverty and hunger in the UK…

This is one of a series of events being organised across the UK to explore the potential for bringing together a broad range of groups across the country to build a more powerful national campaign to end food poverty and hunger in the UK in 2016.  

To book your free place visit: http://feedingmanchester.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=3824&reset=1

Niall Cooper
Director

Church Action on Poverty

Dale House, 35 Dale Street, Manchester, M1 2HF

0161 236 9321  
niallc@church-poverty.org.uk 
www.church-poverty.org.uk

 

Church Action on Poverty is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales with No. 3780243. Charity No. 1079986.