Blackpool Food Partnership are using the Crowdfunding Platform MyDonate

 

Methodist Action NW are raising money for a new van for the Blackpool Food Partnership using the Crowdfunding Platform MyDonate to do it – we are interested to see how it might work out….hopefully successfully. 

Nikki Hart, our project manager for the Partnership is co-ordinating this, and would really value your support in letting everyone in your address book know about this request…and obviously yourselves if you are feeling generous!  If you need any further details they will be on the website - https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/blackpoolvan

Please share or circulate this request widely... and have a look at using MyDonate  as a way of bringing in some funding for your own projects.

 

Poverty Sunday

Please consider this for your worship resources for 21^st June.(or some other Sunday reasonably close to that date)...It would be great if your church can offer some funds to CUF .. but for those who are not Anglican... or have other favourite projects and charities who work to tackle poverty locally.. there are ideas and resources on the web site that could be useful..

 

You can also ask Greg Smith or Gill Beeley from Together Lancashire for help in planning a service or other event along the lines of Poverty Sunday

 

 

 

If you are having problems reading this e-mail please click here

Poverty Sunday: Help Transform Lives with a Frugal Lunch Poverty Sunday is a national initiative encouraging local churches and community groups to reflect, raise funds and respond to issues of poverty affecting communities in England. We are inviting you to take part in a Poverty Sunday Service followed by a Frugal Lunch on Sunday 21st June, or a day or time that suits you. The Frugal Lunch is a great way to encourage people to share, identify and pray together about issues affecting deprived local communities. It is also a way to encourage and motivate others in your community to respond in a practical way to the issues of poverty in England by donating the cost of their normal Sunday lunch to the work of the Together Network and Church Urban Fund. The website is now live and accessible here The programme of activities and resources is available to download for free on the website and include: Church Resources: we have produced sermon notes, worship reflections and prayers.  Frugal Lunch Resources: Poverty Sunday placemat and poster  Video Resources: Mel's animation story, explaining the work of the Together Network and CUF, and Dave's story of healing through a church project in Southwark Diocese  General CUF Presentation: briefly outlining the work of CUF and the Together Network  Children's Resources: Placemat for Frugal lunch (to come) and KS1,2,3 Lesson Plans, Youth Group Session and Form Reflections that concentrate on explaining the Web of Poverty to different age groups. Spread the word! We are excited about the potential that Poverty Sunday has to get Christians around England reflecting on and acting to tackle issues of poverty in our country.   To find out more visit www.povertysunday.org.uk  and register to download your FREE resource pack, or email hello@cuf.org.uk to request a resource pack.       Forward this email to someone else   Follow us on Twitter    Become a friend on Facebook    Visit our Youtube page      Church Urban Fund, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ T 020 7898 1647    F 020 7898 1601    E enquiries@cuf.org.uk    W www.cuf.org.uk Registered Charity number 297483. Want to unsubscribe?

What a Difference Faith Makes... to Homelessness

 

Faith Action Net are pleased to launch the first in a new series of reports that explore

the role of faith groups in public health and service delivery.

Homelessness is a public health issue and it is an issue that many of our members take

action to support. 

What a Difference Faith Makes... to Homelessness is their story...

 

http://www.faithaction.net/portal/faith-and-health/our-projects/homelessness/

Job Vacancy Family Worker

 

Are You Passionate About Families?

Are You Great at Connecting with People?

Do You Display An Outward Passion for Jesus?

If your answer is yes to all of the above then you may be the
person that God is calling to King's Church

King's Church is based in Penwortham which is a beautiful suburb of
Preston City in Lancashire. Penwortham has a population of
approximately 20,000 people and is a community focused area with
many young families living here. King's Church is an informal, friendly
and relaxed "Word and Spirit" church. On a Sunday we gather
between 100 to 120 people of all ages. For families we provide a
weekly thriving toddler group and kids club. On a Sunday we offer
children's groups and a family service every quarter.

King's Church family worker will be expected to worship regularly at
King's Church and take an active part in church and community
activities. There is a genuine occupational requirement that the post
holder is a Christian.

Deadline for applications: Tuesday 19th May
Interview Date: To be decided upon shortlisting
Salary: £12,000
Location: Penwortham, Preston, Lancashire
Contract: Part time, one year fixed term contract
(with a view of being extended after 12 months)

Contact: For an application pack please contact office@kingschurchfm.org.uk
or Pastor Mike for an informal discussion on 07505 234992.
For more information visit www.kingschurchfm.org.uk

Poverty in the UK is as bad as the 1940sOur study shows the poor are being demonised and welfare support dismantled. We need politicians to be brave and shape policies to create a kinder, more equal society

 

Our study shows the poor are being demonised and welfare support dismantled. We need politicians to be brave and shape policies to create a kinder, more equal society

 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/27/poverty-study-uk-bad-1940s

Collecting stories of holes in the welfare safety net

FROM CHURCH ACTION ON POVERTY

 

could you help them with supplying stories from your casework?  Please contact

Niall Cooper

Director
Church Action on Poverty

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

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

 

 

We're currently working on a report to highlight the increasing numbers of holes in the welfare safety net – to be published in late May (soon after the Election).  We're currently looking for case studies of people affected in the past couple of years to include – don't know if you might be able to help?

 

Below is a list of the kind of 'holes' we are talking about:

 

·         Delays or errors in assessing or transferring people between disability benefits (eg ESA, PIPs)

·         People who have been assessed as fit for work but have difficulty claiming JSA (or other benefits)

·         General delays, errors or underpayment of benefits

·         Sanctions, suspension of benefits and related problems

·         Problems or inability to get benefit advances or emergency payments

·         Any other general insecurities resulting from the way people are treated within the benefits system!

 

Ideally a story/case study would be up to 200 words in length, including a bit about the person, the nature of the holes/problems they experienced and the impact it had – ideally in the first person, or including a quote from them with their view/opinion on how they felt/feel about their experience.  Shorter quotes/stories would also be fine..

 

We could do with their first name (though anonymous is acceptable), age (at least to the decade) and the place they are from. If they would be willing to be photographed or videoed, or potentially be willing to be interviewed by a sympathetic journalist that would be even better – but quite understandable if not.

 

We're aiming to get all the text for the report together by the end of April – so if you could let me have anything by Thursday 30 April that would be fab…

 

We'll obviously be happy to reference/cite the organisation providing the case study in the report as well!

 

Best wishes

 

Niall

 

 

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.

 

Grants for Children's Summer Play schemes

 

Each year the trustees of the Woodward Charitable Trust set aside funds for summer playschemes for children between the ages of 5-16 years.

Information available here

http://www.woodwardcharitabletrust.org.uk/playschemeguidelines.html

(proabbaly very competitive.. but if you don't apply you have no chance)

Faith, Progressive Localism & the Hol(e)y Welfare Safety Net is available to download now

 

Published today my ebook for the William Temple Foundation

A pre-election analysis of the British welfare system takes a candid look at the role of faith-based organisations, asking how and why these groups have tried to plug service gaps. With case studies from local authorities in North West England, Greg Smith brings together and builds on some of the most significant research on religion, poverty and the welfare state from over the last decade. "Faith, Progressive Localism & the Hol(e)y Welfare Safety Net is available to download now." Kindle version £2.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Progressive-Localism-Welfare-Safety-Temple-ebook/dp/B00W1SLFW6/

Shalom

Greg Smith

Development Co-ordinator Together Lancashire / Preston Christian Action Network

BIBLICAL BASES OF SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION

 

Back in 1986 I wrote this paper on BIBLICAL BASES OF SOCIO-POLITICAL ACTION

 

Some people might be looking for something like this today.

 

The URL http://gregsmith.synthasite.com/resources/BIBLICAL%20BASES%20OF%20SOCIO.pdf

 

 

 

Greg Smith  Co-ordinator  Preston Christian Action Network

 

 

Blog Malfunction

 

Sorry we have been having some problems with the blog pagre layout today..

 

Hope it is temporary

 

 

 

FRom CUF ... Together Network News

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Church Urban Fund

 

Sent: Monday, April 13, 2015 12:00 PM

Subject: Together Network News

If you are having problems reading this e-mail please click here

13 April 2015 Birmingham CEO Sleepout Local and national charities are joining forces with Thrive Together Birmingham to give business executives the opportunity to do their part to tackle poverty, deprivation and disadvantage throughout their cities. Leading business figures will come together to sleep outdoors for one night and raise vital funds for the poorest and most marginalised.  The sleepout is being held at Villa Park on Thursday 14th May, take a look at the blog.  Get involved: We are calling all business leaders throughout Birmingham to take part in the CEO Sleepouts. Get in touch with Elissa Flindell at Church Urban Fund, or call 02078981091, to find out how to participate.  Give: Sponsor Fred Rattley, from Thrive Together Birmingham, or Jon Miles, from CUF, who are both taking part in the sleepout. Click on their names to see their JustGiving page and support them.  Spread the word: Let people in your area know about this event  Pray: That many would get involved and give generously, raising important funds to continue the transforming work of the participating charities. Getting By? The 'Getting By?' report, sponsored by Together Liverpool, has just been published. The report focuses on the struggle of 30 families over a year, charting the depth of poverty amongst working families in Liverpool, and through this aims to show the realities facing the UK's 5 million low paid workers. The report sets out how working people earning below the Living Wage have been driven into inescapable debt, forced to use food banks to feed their families and are suffering anxiety, and sometimes depression, as a direct result of their financial stresses. The 160 page document will be presented to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty on Tuesday 14th April.  Visit the website for more information or download the report here. Volunteering in Churches - what's going on? What volunteering do people do within their churches?  What volunteering do they do for their wider community?  Is there a difference in how each is set up and does that make a difference to how volunteers feels about what they are doing? Julia Hill, CUFs Volunteer Development Coordinator, is doing a small piece of research on volunteering to share with the Voluntary Sector Studies Network in May.  If you or your church would like to get involved, the survey can be accessed here.  Individual responses are useful so do feel free to forward this survey to other people, but Julia is also keen to gather some wider church information, so that the responses can be put into a bit more context. So if you know or run a church where 10 or more people might be willing to complete the survey and a church leader would be willing to have a less than 30 minute chat about context then please let Julia know.  The surveys need to be completed on or before 19th April – very soon! New Parish Conference UK Birmingham, on 2-3 October, will host this years 'New Parish Conference', an annual UK gathering bringing diverse Christians together to help re-imagine and encourage all kinds of parish-based mission and community building.  UK based activists and thinkers Ash and AnjiBarker, Jenny and Andy Flannagan, Jonny Baker, Al Barrett, Mike Royal, Imandeep Kaur and Lou Davis, plus a host of others will lead sessions, workshops, worship and story telling at New Parish Conference.  The theme of this 'New Parish Conference' will be 'Placed and Linked in Hope'. It will explore in creative ways how God places us in our neighbourhoods for a purpose, but also enables us to link more broadly with others to see God's shalom come for the whole world.  To find out more please New Parish Conference brochure  To book tickets, go to the link here.  #ToYourCredit #TOYOURCREDIT is the Archbishop of Canterbury's initiative to create a fairer financial system focused on serving the whole community, where everyone has access to responsible credit and savings and other essential financial services. The To Your Credit website is a great resource for finding out more about the problem of financial exclusion, and how to be a part of the wider movement of those seeking to tackle it. The ACT page of their website gives examples of different ways to get involved, with details of specific organisations to get in contact with.   Urban Bulletin - a resource for urban mission The Urban Bulletin is a joint information resource on urban mission and ministry, from the Christian Coalition For Urban Mission (CCFUM). The bulletins contains a roundup of stories, articles and book reviews relevant to mission in urban contexts, and contributions come from across the CCFUM member organisations. You can download the most recent Urban Bulletin no.28 here, which contains a features on working with gang members, youth work and the effects of austerity, resources for the general election, and reviews on several recently published books. You can find previous editions of the bulletin here. Keeping the Faith - a resource from CUF Keeping the Faith" is now available on the Church Urban Fund website, alongside several other resources for churches. This resource contains theological reflections on the importance of distinctively Christian community work. It looks at the principles and pressures facing community projects and the practical challenge of enacting those principles.  Visit the CUF website to download the Keeping the Faith resource. Forward this email to someone else Bookmark with: Facebook Twitter Google+ Follow us on Twitter    Become a friend on Facebook    Visit our Youtube page    Church Urban Fund, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ T 020 7898 1647    F 020 7898 1601    E enquiries@cuf.org.uk    W www.cuf.org.uk Registered Charity number 297483. Want to unsubscribe?

Urban Bulletin - a resource for urban mission

I can thoroughly recommend this publication... I was the first editor of the ECUM bulletin in the 1980's out of which the Urban Bulletin emerged....Shalom

 

Greg Smith  Preston Christian Action Network

 

 

http://i.emlfiles1.com/cmpdoc/3/6/9/6/files/285066_ccfum-urban-bulletin-28.pdf

The Urban Bulletin is a joint information resource on urban mission and ministry, from the Christian Coalition For Urban Mission (CCFUM). The bulletins contains a roundup of stories, articles and book reviews relevant to mission in urban contexts, and contributions come from across the CCFUM member organisations.

You can download the most recent Urban Bulletin no.28 here, which contains a features on working with gang members, youth work and the effects of austerity, resources for the general election, and reviews on several recently published books.

You can find previous editions of the bulletin here.

The hierarchy of needs and the web of provision.... where churches fit in.

 

My new blog reflecting on churches, food banks, soup kitchens, Maslow and the residual welfare state.

 

http://theprimitiveranter.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/the-hierarchy-of-needs-and-web-of_10.html

 

Shalom

 

Greg Smith
Co-ordinator  Preston Christian Action Network

 

 

TV DOCUMENTARY

Some of you may be... or know.. folk who would be willing to share their stories on TV..

 

ITN Productions are filming an observational documentary series for Channel 5. We want to reveal how ordinary people across the UK live & survive in today's welfare system. Each programme tackles a different situation that people find themselves living in.

Are you claiming benefits? Are you having to pay bedroom tax? Have you been sanctioned by the job centre? Is the job centre making you work for free, to keep your benefit?

If yes to any of the above, then ITN would like to hear your story on the system. If you are interested to find out more please email mybritain@itn.co.uk

Call or text the production office on 07470 045 083

A Christian North West Disability Network in partnership with Through the Roof, Prospects and Urban Saints.

 

Please find here  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89023969/leaflet%20NWDN.pdf

 

 details of a free event that is taking place on behalf of the North West Disability Network in partnership with Through the Roof, Prospects and Urban Saints.

The morning is designed for those who are or who support people with disabilities in church, both children and adults.

The event will take place at St Andrews Church, Church Road, Leyland, PR25 3EL on Saturday 25^th April 2015 between 9.30am and 12.30pm and will include :

• Prayers for inclusive ministries

• Promoting opportunities for people with disabilities in the church

• Sharing good practice

• Looking at how we can support one another in the future

• Developing a North West Directory of expertise and training

There will also be presentations from Tim Wood, the CEO of Through the Roof and from the Good News Group for adults with learning disabilities.

Please see the attached information sheet for further details and to reserve your place on this informative session.

Yours faithfully

S. Waddicor

Suzanne Waddicor

Disability, Diversity and Inclusion Officer

pcan.org.uk or and

BLOG http://prestonchristianactionnetwork.blogspot.com/ (you can sign up there to receive news and information updates by email)

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Tackling the Poverty Premium on food poverty

 

Tackling the Poverty Premium on food poverty - read about creative solutions on Church Action On Poverty's blog:

 

http://blog.church-poverty.org.uk/2015/04/08/tackling-the-poverty-premium-food-poverty/

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Could your volunteers help with this survey

A colleague at Cuf  (Julia Hill) is doing some research on church linked volunteers... I'm wondering  if your church or church linked project has volunteers who would be able to help...Would you be able to circulate them with this?  Julia writes...

I have put together a short survey for congregations that I am asking a number of churches around the country to participate in.  I wondered whether your church might be interested in participating? 

We are researching the unpaid support people give to their church and communities. We would really appreciate you taking 5-10 minutes to fill in this survey.

There are 3 sections: About you and your church; things you do specifically for your church; things you do for the wider community. There may be overlap between church and community activities but please choose which category you think is the best fit. (For example a coffee morning run by church would be for the wider community but doing the coffee after a service would come under support for the church.) The information you give will be treated confidentially. Thank you for your help.

In an ideal world  The survey needs doing on or before 19^th April, by 10 or more people from a church. 

Please click this link to start the volunteering survey 

This is the link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9RY67W7

·        Would you be interested in helping?

·       

 Would appreciate a quick reply..

Shalom

Greg Smith

Development Co-ordinator Together Lancashire / Preston Christian Action Network

Death and resurrection of an urban church

 Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis has redefined what it means to serve its urban community. The approach is simple: See your neighbors as children of God. The church has closed many of its traditional helping ministries and created new ways to connect and support the community surrounding it.

 

 

https://www.faithandleadership.com/death-and-resurrection-urban-church

Food banks: benefit sanctions leave clients hungry for months

A new study finds that vulnerable people who fall foul of benefit rules can be plunged into reliance on food parcels for up to half a year.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/patrick-butler-cuts-blog/2015/mar/02/food-banks-benefit-sanctions-leave-clients-hungry-for-months

 

 

 

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About This Blog

• This blog is for anyone concerned with a Christian approach to tackling poverty together in Pennine Lancashire. You are welcome to send us news items to be posted here. Just email gillian.beeley@together-lancashire.org.uk
• You can find out more about Together Lancashire on our web page or by downloading our leaflet here

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    • Blackpool Food Partnership are using the Crowdfun...
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    • Job Vacancy Family Worker
    • Poverty in the UK is as bad as the 1940sOur study ...
    • Collecting stories of holes in the welfare safety net
    • Grants for Children's Summer Play schemes
    • Faith, Progressive Localism & the Hol(e)y Welfare ...
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    • Blog Malfunction
    • FRom CUF ... Together Network News
    • Urban Bulletin - a resource for urban mission
    • The hierarchy of needs and the web of provision......
    • TV DOCUMENTARY
    • A Christian North West Disability Network in partn...
    • Tackling the Poverty Premium on food poverty
    • Could your volunteers help with this survey
    • Death and resurrection of an urban church
    • Food banks: benefit sanctions leave clients hungry...
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