Author Archives: Dr Anne Smith
Café Connect – Welcoming Hong Kongers
We have been thrilled to see Café Connect groups launch in three regions of the UK to welcome Hong Kongers into the UK, by providing a place to practise conversational English, make friends, meet local people, find out about systems and services and learn about […]
Café Connect: Welcoming new arrivals from Hong Kong
FaithAction are very pleased to announce we have been awarded three contracts as part of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Welcome Programme from the Regional VCSE Grant Scheme. The programme will be run through partner organisations in […]
Celebrating the Successes of Our Community Champions and Capacity Building Programme
2021 saw our amazing Community Champions advocating vaccine take-up and shaping national policy and strategy by sharing the concerns and barriers faced by their communities with central government. In addition, many of them engaged (or nominated organisations to participate) in our COVID recovery capacity-building programme […]
Faith’s response to the Afghan refugee crisis
Faith-based organisation and places of worship have been quick to respond to the needs of Afghan refugees. In one example, Bushey United Synagogue was “swamped” with 3000 parcels of aid being donated in 3 days following what started as a small, private group Facebook appeal. […]
What brings togetherness?
As we look beyond the pandemic, much discussion centres on how we keep the community togetherness that’s emerged through the crisis. The pandemic has brought strangers and acquaintances together, finding creative solutions to meet immediate needs in terms of food, medication and loneliness throughout the […]
Taking Creative English online: combatting loneliness
When we embarked on the first lockdown, we knew it was going to be really important for people’s well-being to find ways to continue to connect. One expression of this has been adapting our Creative English programme to run online. Little did we know, when […]
Building Back Better: FaithAction’s Conference
On 26th November, FaithAction hosted an inspiring three-part conference, Building Back Better. It examined the themes of faith and social cohesion, the role of faith during the current crisis and looked forward to the role of faith in the future. In the first session, Madeleine […]
A ‘New Deal’ proposed between Government and faith communities
Danny Kruger MP has released a report, Levelling Up Our Communities, which proposes a new ‘social covenant’. Following consideration of 500 written responses and “dozens” of phone interviews, the report results in 20 recommendations, inspired by the extraordinary response in communities to meeting the needs […]
“You can still come with me!” — seven tips for encouraging a sense of integration and belonging in the ‘new normal’
Despite its (many) challenges, this extended lockdown has resulted in an increased sense of belonging for many vulnerable individuals. Communities rose to the challenge of supporting practical needs and the help of neighbours and organisations helped many to feel visible, valuable, and connected. For others, […]
“You just do it online” – The challenge of digital exclusion and COVID-19
COVID-19 has placed a spotlight on the huge level of digital inequality that exists in the UK. As school work, social events, religious services, information sharing, work meetings, application processes for reporting problems and applying for support move necessarily online, significant sections of society remain […]
