MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
POVERTY ISN’T JUST SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES It exists in England, today With deep cuts in government spending and ongoing economic gloom, thousands of society’s poorest and most marginalised face a cold and difficult Christmas. They will struggle to keep body and soul together, let alone buy presents for their children. Our neighbours in every sense of the word, they need our help.
WHAT DOES KAYLA WANT FOR CHRISTMAS? Her house is damp and cold and sometimes there’s not enough food for them all. Her mum worries how she’ll pay the bills and it makes her cry. Kayla’s not interested in presents. She just wants her mum to be happy again.
SUPPORTING THE WORK OF CHRISTIAN HEROES Church Urban Fund has a mission to reach out to those trapped in the ‘web of poverty’, to help them transform their lives through the power of God. Christians already do wonderful work in their communities. They help struggling parents to build a better future for their children, the young and disadvantaged to get back on track, refugees and asylum seekers to mend their lives and others to rise above deprivation, unemployment and learning disabilities. These local heroes already achieve miracles but they can feel isolated and vulnerable and too often lack vital resources. Our task is to support and build on their work. You can read more at www.cuf.org.uk/ communityheroes
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR NEIGHBOURS Help us to inspire your congregation Christmas brings the problem of poverty home. There’s no better time to raise awareness, to help overcome prejudice and, most importantly, to share stories of lives transformed. It need only take five minutes. Use one of our compelling, free videos or invite one of our volunteer speakers to share their passion and commitment. Even better, we can help you organise a full povertythemed service and we have a full range of Christmas-themed resources for your church.
Help us with a proportion of your annual charitable mission giving Many of the Christian heroes doing such wonderful, transformative work are struggling in marginal and deprived areas with severely limited resources. Their work cannot continue without outside help. We will make sure that whatever you can give is used in the most effective possible way in the places where it’s needed most.
ACT NOW To find out how you can help us tackle poverty in England, please visit www.cuf.org.uk/churches To discover how we can support you with Christmas-themed and other resources, email enquiries@cuf.org.uk or call 020 7898 1667
What we and the Church are doing to help long term Those working with the poor and marginalised need our urgent support but the underlying problem of poverty demands a more sustainable strategy. Key to this are the new joint ventures between Church Urban Fund and local dioceses. They aim to: Make the work of churches and Christians in local communities more effective and more ‘joined-up’ and to improve their access to resources.
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Create a framework within which other Christians can respond to the problem of poverty by offering time and money, action and prayer.
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Provide a vehicle for raising awareness of the challenges of poverty and inspiring action from those with influence, locally and nationally.
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Joint Ventures: the story so far Joint ventures are already in operation in Cornwall, Birmingham, Newcastle, Lancashire, Bradford and Liverpool and more are in the pipeline. Together Lancashire brought churches together to establish a soup kitchen and provide meals for homeless people. They also supported three local churches in setting up work clubs for the unemployed using resources from Job Centre Plus. Thrive Together Birmingham brought together churches involved in daycare provision to share best practice and bid more effectively for public sector funding. They also brought together Christian community workers from city estates to learn from each other’s work. Transformation Cornwall hosted a gathering of county procurement officers and public sector funders to challenge perceptions of faith-based social action. A training course, bringing together the skills of workers from across the diocese, has so far been offered to 90 different groups.
MAKING YOUR SUPPORT GO EVEN FURTHER Joint ventures are true partnerships between Church Urban Fund and dioceses. They are designed to make the most of the support offered by individual Christians and local congregations, as well as raising funds from charitable trusts and other sources. Their success depends on mutual understanding and a shared commitment from everyone involved. For a clearer perspective, please watch our introductory video at www.cuf.org.uk/joint-ventures. To find out more, call us on 020 7898 1647.
Church Urban Fund Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ T 020 7898 1667 F 020 7898 1601 E enquiries@cuf.org.uk W www.cuf.org.uk Registered Charity number 297483