Social Responsibility

Asylum Seekers/Refugees
Parishes and individuals have supported asylum seekers and refugees since they began arriving in large numbers at the beginning of the millennium.

The majority of asylum seekers live in Stockton, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside and Darlington.

Individuals befriend asylum seekers, support them through their appeal processes, and often help them to take their place within the life of the church.

Churches are involved in campaigning against the government policy that leads to destitution for failed asylum seekers

Church projects that have been established to support Asylum Seekers include:

Justice First (based in Stockton)
S.T.A.R.C.H (South Tyneside Asylum Seeker and Refugee Church Help)
St. Mary’s drop-in (for asylum seekers in Sunderland)

For further information contact:
N.E.R.S (North of England Refugee Service) www.refugee.org.uk

Church Urban Fund
The Church Urban Fund (CUF) provides grants to church projects that are serving the most deprived communities and disadvantaged groups in our diocese.

Examples of the kind of work that has been funded include:

Woodhouse Close – Luncheon Club
The Key Project – supported tenancy for young people
Action Stations – One Stop Shop
First Stop Darlington – Homeless Young People
Green Lane Oasis – Healthy Living Allotment Project

In 2006 the Diocese became grant-making i.e. it set up its own panel who award the grants at a diocesan level. This development gave birth to the Faith in Our Community (F.I.C) project. F.I.C enables parishes to reach out to their communities by employing local people and training them to become church based community development workers. The individuals, management groups and parishes are supported by a Project Development Officer – Bernadette Askins

Projects have been established in ...

Stockton – Hardwick
Stockton – Newtown
Shildon
Pallion – Sunderland
Houghton-le-Spring
Hetton-le-Hole

For further information contact the C.U.F Link Officer, carolinedick@btinternet.com or visit the C.U.F website www.cuf.org.uk

Partnership working with Local Authorities
In 2001 the government required all Local Authorities to set up Local Strategic Partnerships (L.S.P’s) They represent the coming together of three separate strands of government policy: the Partnership agenda, the Civil Renewal agenda and the Public Reform agenda.

The creation of L.S.P’s has brought new opportunities for churches to work in partnership with L.A’s as they seek to improve the lives of their residents.

Some church leaders are prominently involved in their L.S.P e.g. Canon Stephen Taylor chairs the L.S.P in Sunderland, others sit on themed groups e.g. environment, transport, crime and disorder, and seek to make a difference at a local level.

Others have worked on partnership projects e.g. South Tyneside Churches Together have a service level agreement with the Local Authority that has enabled them to establish the Happy at Home project – a befriending scheme for elderly isolated people. Partnership working in South Tyneside has also produced an on-line directory of faith based community facilities.

For further information see: www.southtyneside.info/applications/2/fbo2/default.aspx

DFW Adoption
DFW Adoption is a registered charity based in the diocese of Durham, operating throughout the North East of England. It is the adoption agency for the Church of England in the diocese, but it works with people of all faiths and none, and with all sections of the community. The agency is supported at parish level by parish contacts who promote the work of the agency and organise fund-raising activities.

The Bishop of Durham is the patron of the organisation and the Archdeacon of Sunderland is Chair of Trustees.

For further information see: www.dfw.org.uk

Inter-faith
Inter-faith work in the diocese is co-ordinated supported and developed by the North East Regional Faiths Network (NERFN) This body is currently part of the Churches Regional Commission (CRC)

Canon Caroline Dick holds the inter-faith brief for the diocese and she is an active member of NERFN. Revd Stephen Fagbemi is her deputy.

There is an encouraging level of inter-faith engagement across the diocese e.g.

County Durham Faiths Network
Gateshead Inter-faith Forum
Across Communities: Young People’s Project
People to People
Council of Christians and Jews
Darlington inter-faith group
South Tyneside Faiths Development Worker
NERFN will shortly be launching its own website

For further information contact: carolinedick@btinternet.com

Challenging Poverty
The Diocese campaigns for an end to poverty in this country by supporting a number of initiatives e.g. in 2007 CUF showcased their Challenging Poverty campaign at a meeting of the Diocesan Synod.

'Making Ends Meet' Poverty Hearings have been held in South Tyneside and Sunderland and a Church Action on Poverty ‘Images for Change’ project involved the parish of Rekendyke in South Tyneside.

GET FAIR is a national coalition campaign calling for an end to poverty in the U.K
Poverty and Homelessness Action Week (31st-8th Feb 2009) is a major part of the GET FAIR campaign.

For further information see: www.getfair.org.uk and www.actionweek.org.uk