Belonging
Faith: the golden thread in society #MyManifesto
I was invited to a local community group last week. I spent time talking to a mixed group of people, ranging from an older man who suffered from schizophrenia to a 15-year-old school refuser (let’s call him Tommy) both of whom had discovered a sense […]
5 million people in the UK – are you next?
There are now 13 local authorities who have adopted the Faith Covenant created by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Faith and Society (of which FaithAction is the secretariat). That means 5 million people are covered by the faith covenant in; Birmingham Leeds Northampshire […]
A Connected Society: one year later
It was one year ago… …that the government launched its loneliness strategy for England: A Connected Society: A Strategy for Tackling Loneliness. After committing to take forward a number of recommendations made by the cross-party Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness, and having already appointed a […]
Becoming butterflies
Our amazing volunteers often find that helping others also builds their own skills, confidence and connections in the community. Here’s one volunteer’s experience of how Creative English helped develop her own confidence. Before I started on Creative English, I didn’t get out much. I was […]
The Kindness of Strangers
In 1990 I was visiting Karachi, Pakistan. I was in a rickshaw with two other female friends and we were heading into town to meet up with some male friends who had gone off in a separate rickshaw. We had seen the other rickshaw go […]
How I Learned to Enjoy the Ride
For many parents and children, the long summer holidays can be a challenging time. This has led to many schools, charities and faith organisations responding through the provision of holiday activities for children and families. Creative English is no exception, and the end of term […]
Rodie’s parting words: What I’ve learned about faith in action
This is my last blog for FaithAction – the time has come for me to move on. So it seems a good moment to reflect on what I’ve learned over the past five-and-a-bit years. Here’s what will stay with me the most. Faith-based organisations are […]
The challenge that never was
Before joining FaithAction, I had worked and volunteered at various community arts organisations, the majority of which worked with vulnerable groups or young people. This included puppet making with domestic abuse survivors, exploring theatre with children experiencing social exclusion and discussing social issues through art […]
Translating for Mum and Dad
Last week, I was listening to Translating for Mum and Dad on BBC Radio 4. It was a very interesting programme; Dr Humera Iqbal from UCL explores some of the experiences of the thousands of children and young people in the UK who act as […]
Celebrating the impact of Creative English
Our updated infographic below shows the success of Creative English learners who have participated in the programme under the MHCLG funded Community-based English Language programme from November 2013 to March 2019. While over 10,000 people have participated in the Creative English programme over all, 8,500+ […]