Author Archives: Dr Anne Smith

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-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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

Standing at a bus stop recently, the lights in the studio flats in the block opposite were on. As a result, I could see inside a number of the tiny apartments.  In each there was a lone individual and every single one was sat alone, […]