A church project that offers hope and practical support to refugees and asylum seekers in Stoke-on-Trent is one of several to benefit from the Common Good Fund.
Funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government has come to local projects in the Diocese of Lichfield, thanks to its partnership with the Church Urban Fund.
The recently created Common Good Fund builds on the successful Near Neighbours programme which brings together people in religiously and ethnically diverse communities to break down misunderstanding, develop trust and help them to act to transform their neighbourhoods.
Sanctus St Marks in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, successfully applied for Common Good Funding for a Great Get Together event, in honour of murdered MP Jo Cox, at the church on Saturday (17 June). The family fun afternoon featured live music, dancing, a bouncy castle, face painting and much more. It also saw the creation of a striking and poignant piece of mirror-based art using pebbles which carried Jos message: We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.
Creative Missioner Frank McGregor explained: The idea was to create a piece of art to put up in church as a lasting reminder of the Great Get Together. The circular mirror represents a pond of water into which we see our reflection. We asked the Mayor to place a pebble into the centre representing Jo Cox. A pebble is a small thing but dropped into the water creates ripples. Jo's life, her words and actions had an enormous far-reaching impact on communities around Britain and the world. We placed coloured glass beads onto the mirror to create the ripples and to commit ourselves to following Jo's example of loving and respecting our neighbours and being people who will work together across all boundaries to strengthen our community.
The Common Good Fund recognises that it is local people that are the ones who are ideally placed to identify and develop solutions that can improve their communities.
It has four key objectives:
- Creating a common agenda seeing local people reach a shared vision of how to work together to improve their areas.
- Promoting a sense of personal responsibility recognising that everyone has something to contribute and should feel ownership over local initiatives.
- Increasing levels of participation and social cohesion the local community is strongest when everyone is involved in social action.
- Promoting an alternative to hate, tolerance, and prejudice meaningful relationships can develop where there is shared understanding, as well as trust and respect for each other.
Its work is coordinated in local communities by Transforming Communities Together, a joint venture between the Church Urban Fund and the Diocese of Lichfield.
Paul Hackwood, Executive Director of Church Urban Fund and Near Neighbours, said: The Common Good Fund is a recognition that we need to address recent and long entrenched tensions in local areas between faith and ethnic communities, where there are reported incidents of intolerance, to build connections and increase levels of trust and mutual support, as well as encouraging people to develop practical activities to bring about change.
I am very excited about the work Sanctus St Marks is doing with bringing people together within Stoke-on-Trent. The events that theyve hosted involve creating a safe space for people in the community, so everyone, including refugees and asylum seekers in the area, can learn from one another and form friendships.
The Great Get Together event followed a successful Nowruz Persian New Year celebration which brought people together earlier this year, also backed by Common Good funding.
The Revd Sally Smith, who founded Sanctus, said: Our Nowruz celebration was just amazing, as so many people learned about and experienced the Persian New Year celebration for the very first time. The food, the music and the dancing which we shared, broke down barriers, increased understanding and started new friendships.
Refugee Week runs from 19 to 25 June. Find out more here.