Community

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 […]

Holy Alliances – should faith groups partner with secular organisations?
Shelter for rough sleepers. Discussion groups for transgender teenagers. Coffee mornings to combat loneliness among the elderly. These are but some of the many social action projects happening in churches across the country. Over the past decade, we have seen a much-discussed up-tick in church […]

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+ […]
“Having a go – that’s my superpower!”
“My son says speaking English is my superpower! Now I can make everything ok!” This child viewed his mum’s newfound ability to speak English as her breakthrough talent, but in talking to her it was the willingness to ‘have a go’ that had made the […]

Serving our local communities
The thing that all faiths have in common is the recognition of the need to reach out to the “widows and orphans” in our society: those who find themselves in a difficult position and who need some support to get back on their feet again. […]