Faith In Partnership

This September, we’re bringing back Faith in Partnership Week! Running from 7th to 11th September, Faith in Partnership Week is a dedicated moment to recognise and celebrate what becomes possible when faith communities and government bodies work side by side. These collaborations show up in […]

Creative Wellness Wonder, a Muslim-led community group in Barking and Dagenham, were one of the projects delivering support for their communities as part of the Barking and Dagenham Faith Leaders Network Health Inequalities programme. in this blog, founder and Managing Director Khushnood Ahmed shares what […]

On Tuesday afternoon this week, we gathered in Westminster with faith leaders, local authorities, charity leaders and national government partners to launch the anticipated new research into the effectiveness of the Faith Covenant: Ten Years of the Faith Covenant: An Independent Evaluation. The Faith Covenant, […]

I want to start this blog by recognising that we were wrong! And it’s important that we must also apologise for being wrong. Alas, I’m sorry to disappoint—this is not actually an apology. This has all been prompted by my recent appearance before the COVID […]

As a group of faith communities from across the borough, the members of the Barking and Dagenham Faith Leaders Network are united by a desire to meet local needs through practical acts of service. Barking and Dagenham is one of London’s most deprived boroughs, so […]

FaithAction is proud to be a member of the Health and Wellbeing Alliance, bringing the perspective and expertise of faith and community organisations to help shape more inclusive, accessible, and equitable health services. Through this partnership, we work to ensure that community voices inform policy […]

As we approach the end of the year, we’re taking some time to reflect on our work throughout the past year – and to celebrate the partnerships that have made it all possible. We’re delighted to introduce our 12 Days of Impact, a special seasonal […]

Faith groups working in partnership play a unique role in helping people access the support they need. But why? Participants and volunteers at some of the organisations running Creative English give some powerful examples from their experiences: Trusted spaces, trusted people Accessing support in a […]

As we come to the end of Faith in Partnership Week, we’ve seen some fantastic examples of where faith and statutory bodies have worked together, and where they could work together in the future.

From the Faith Covenant—which solidifies relationships between faith groups and local authorities—to Family Hubs and social prescribing—which both use the unique relationships of faith groups to link people into wider support, these opportunities, and many like them, provide faith groups the ability to do what they do best: support and build up those around them and those they serve.

On day four of Faith in Partnership Week, we are excited to hear from the ChurchWorks Commission, who are running an online webinar this afternoon, about the fantastic work faith groups could play partnering with statutory bodies in the Family Hubs programme and through social prescribing. We’re at a pivotal moment for local faith groups, community centres, and grassroots organisations. With the new Labour government promising to devolve power from Westminster and invest in preventative services, the spotlight is firmly on “community power.” But these structural shifts will only succeed if government partners effectively with the organisations already rooted in local communities – the ones who have built trust and delivered change on the ground. Encouragingly, this is being recognised through the adoption of the civil society covenant, which commits both national and local government to listening to the voices of frontline organisations.