THE Church Urban Fund (CUF) has published a report setting out the impact of its community programmes.
The report, Impact Report 2024: Look Up, was published on Tuesday. It describes how, last year, the charity relaunched its Look Up Tool, which, it says, helps “churches better understand their communities” through “providing insights into local demographics and key social challenges such as poverty, housing and education.”
The Look Up Tool draws upon the Index of Multiple Deprivation (2019), census data (2021), and the Church of England parish boundaries (2023).
Between 1 September and 31 December, 1577 people registered for the CUF’s Look Up Tool. Thirty-one per cent of the registrants used the tool for mission planning: 16 per cent of these were incumbents and six per cent assistant curates.
The new features include interactive elements, which allow parishes to compare data with diocesan and national trends. CUF reports that users are now able to identify specific community needs, such as housing instability and food poverty.
In one case study, the leadership team of Church On The Corner in Islington, north London, initially used the Look Up Tool to “drill down into specific issues” of their area. They then used Growing Good Toolkit, in which CUF provides six free sessions to help churches to “explore the connection between social action, discipleship, and growth”.
Since the launch of the Growing Good Toolkit in 2021, 1900 people have signed up, more than 600 churches have used the resources, and 120 people have attended workshops.
Under its Near Neighbours scheme, to bring people together in multifaith areas, £152,7189 was awarded in 49 small grants to help to strengthen community relationships. The scheme is funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Windrush Day Grant Scheme, also funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, supported 27 community projects in a total of £459,690, an average of £17,026 per recipient. The scheme “celebrates the contributions and legacy of the Windrush Generation, ensuring that their stories and impact continue to inspire future generations”.
The Places of Welcome initiative, now ten years old, grew to 821 locations, reaching an estimated 22,167 people weekly supported by 4105 volunteers.
Last year, 42 micro-grants of £300-500 were awarded, under the Places of Welcome scheme, to help venues provide safe and hospitable spaces.
The Places of Welcome manager, Jo Holland, said: “It is heart-warming to see the creativity and hard work taking place in our network of over 900 Places of Welcome to bring together local people and inspire them to engage and expand their messages of support and friendship to the wider communities in which they reside.”
In November, CUF and the Clergy Support Trust hosted a retreat for clergy and lay leaders of communities affected by the summer riots (News 9 August), after the murders of three young girls in Southport (News 2 August). They report that 12 people attended, of whom nine were clergy and lay leaders, and three were from five dioceses.
Last year, the LifeSaver scheme, in which children are taught financial literacy, was expanded to include schools with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP). The charity now supports 154 new Lifesavers schools, with 41,377 children having accessed LifeSavers for the first time and 111,234 benefited from school programmes. In addition, 899 new teachers have been trained.
