Tag: Birmingham

Fantastic Artwork Raises Awareness of Malaria

Written on . Posted in Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

Last night was the official opening of the fantastic Art4Action exhibition at MAC in Birmingham.

Art4Action is the brainchild of Faiths Act Fellows, Immandeep Kaur and Steve Hirst who have been based at the Springfield Centre working both with the centre and with The Feast since last September.

Faiths Act Fellows are part of the Tony Blair Foundation and as part of their work they are asked to raise awareness of and raise funds for the fight against malaria. Steve and Immy’s response has been Art4Action – a competition to engage children and young people in the issues and to develop creative and imaginative responses.

Steve and Immy have worked tirelessly delivering workshops about malaria is schools, nurseries and colleges across Birmingham. Through the workshops they have interacted with around 2,500 children and young people and ended up with 400 entries into the competition.

Yesterday we were privileged to see a selection – they were really fantastic. I am afraid the photos from my phone really don’t do them justice. The exhibition runs at the MAC til April 28th and there is a special family fun day this Saturday. You can find out more at www.facebook.com/Art4Action.

The special photobook is a real gem and my congratulations goes to the inter-faith judging panel that managed to make some really hard decisions.

We are really pleased that Near Neighbours could fund this project – fantastic work, Immy and Steve.

Olympic Torch Visits Near Neighbours Areas

Written on . Posted in Near Neighbours.

The route for the Olypmic Torch Relay has been announced and will be in Birmingham on the evening of 30th June and early morning on the 1st July. Much of the route passes through areas earmarked for Near Neighbours funding, so it’s a great chance to get together with people in your area to see the flame pass and have fun.

Details of the route are available on the London 2012 site along and a detailed list of the roads being used and timings can be found on the BBC website.

Jessica Foster, the Near Neighbours Coordinator, said ‘This is a great opportunity to be part of the Olympics by getting together with neighbours to see the Olympic Torch. The fact that it passes through Near Neighbours areas is an added bonus, as grants could be available for groups who organise a joint celebration or event on the day’

Read more about the Near Neighbours programme and grant process.

Birmingham Projects Scoop more than £40,000 of Extra Government Cash.

Written on . Posted in Near Neighbours.

Extra Government cash has been given to the Near Neighbours small grants programme this week allowing projects across the city to be funded for activities that bring people of different faiths together – turning neighbours into friends. Thanks to the extra funding there will be music in Moseley, laughter in Sparkhill, parties in parks, football in Washwood Heath and mosaic-making in Highgate. The cash will also be used to fund an interfaith event at Birmingham University and to support a new interfaith group based in Highgate.

The latest cash boost means that £57,000 has been given away to 14 projects in Birmingham in 2012 on top of the £100,000 (99,808 to be precise) given away in the last four months of 2011.

This year 22 groups have applied for Near Neighbours funding but by mid-February all the money for small grants was fully allocated until the end of the financial year (March 31st.) Applicants were told they would have to wait until April to receive their funding if their application was successful. The extra money means events in March and early April can now go ahead and there will be more money to distribute to new applicants in the coming financial year.

On hearing the news about the extra cash the Right Revd David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, said: “This is awesome. It is really exciting when people of faith come together and work together to transform their communities. People find they have so much in common when they meet to build community, care for people who are vulnerable and tackle poverty side-by-side.”

Applications continue to be imaginative and creative as well as practical and effective and we are really pleased to be able to distribute this extra cash to people who will use it well. More applications are always welcome and we’ll help with the application process at every step on the way. Do check out the main Near Neighbours website www.near-neighbours.org.uk or e-mail me, jess@nearneighbours.com.

Near Neighbours on TV

Written on . Posted in Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

The work of Near Neighbours in Birmingham and Leicester was featured on ITV Central News on Wednesday 1st February. The clip features projects funded by the Near Neighbours small grants progranmme and an interview with the Right Revd David Urquhart the Bishop of Birmingham.

The clip has now been posted on youtube and you can watch it by following this link: Near Neighbours Video

Near Neighbours, The Feast and the Faithful Neighbourhoods Cetnre also featured on the Nikki Tapper show this week when Jessica Foster and Jenny Creasey of the Feast were interviewed on the WM Gospel Lounge. The interview starts at 16 minutes into the show which you can listen to by following this link to the Gospel Lounge.

The Bishop of Birmingham has been working hard to promote Near Neighbours. He also gave the work we do in the community a good plug in his monthy Bulletin that is sent to clergy and other church workers in the Diocese of Birmingham. You can read his article by following the link to the Bulletin here.

Birmingham Interfaith launch for Near Neighbours

Written on . Posted in Dialogue, Near Neighbours.

A £5 million fund was launched in Birmingham city centre today as part of a series of events to mark inter-faith week. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Anita Ward, welcomed more than 40 faith leaders and voluntary sector representatives to the event in the Council House.

She was joined by the Dean of Birmingham, the Very Revd Catherine Ogle and the Bishop’s Director of Inter-faith relations, Dr Andrew Smith.

Dr Smith said: “Near Neighbours aims to strengthen existing interfaith networks and build new friendships at a local level by uniting faith communities to transform their neighbourhoods.

“Grants of up to £5,000 are available to charities and faith communities to help them start a new project which will bring people from different faiths and ethnicities together. Since the end of September, more than £40,000 has been given out to groups across the 13 eligible wards.”

The fund is also supporting the work of the Christian-Muslim forum, the Nehemiah Programme and The Feast, a charity which brings young people of different faiths together to share their beliefs. Three Nehemiah community workers are due to take up posts in the city after Christmas.

Near Neighbours is a Government-funded programme which operates in four locations: Leicester, East London, parts of Bradford, Oldham and Burnley and 13 wards in Birmingham. In Birmingham it is based at the Faithful Neighbourhood Centre in Sparkhill.

Development Worker, Jessica Foster, said: “We are delighted by not only the number of applications we are receiving but also by their creativity and the range of projects we have funded. At the moment I seem to be receiving one application every day but we are keen that word of the fund reaches every community within the eligible areas of Birmingham and we reach beyond the usual suspects to the grass roots of our neighbourhoods.”

The eligible areas of Birmingham are the 13 wards of Ladywood, Soho, Nechells, Lozells and East Handsworth, Aston, Washwood Heath, Bordesley Green, Edgbaston, Moseley and Kings Heath, Sparkbook, Springfield, South Yardley and Hodge Hill.

For more information please contact

Jessica Foster
Near Neighbours Development Worker
Tel 0121 675 1155 or 07817 853452

Faith Map launched at Birmingham Cathedral

Written on . Posted in Interfaith.

A map of Birmingham faith communities was launched in the city’s cathedral on Tuesday 22nd November as part of Interfaith Week.

The web-based map allows people to search by postcode, ward or constituency and by faith tradition. It includes 632 places of worship from all the major religions practiced in the city.

The aims are to connect faith communities, help people new to the city find a place of worship, open and maintain links between the Council and places of worship in Birmingham, support inter-faith activity and provide academics and other researchers with access to information about faith.

Speaking at the launch at Birmingham Cathedral, Councillor Alan Rudge, Cabinet Member for Equalities and Human Resources said: “This is a website that serves the need of all faiths and helps encourage the values of trust, harmony and hope between people.

“I value and recognise the important role that faith communities play within Birmingham. They are at the heart of the city and help to support the on-going cohesion and integration between communities.”

Also speaking at the event, the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart said: “I am delighted that we had the launch of the faith map in a religious building. Being in a secular society is one of the glories of living in our British society that has been replicated around the world.

“In a secular society religion should not only be respected but it should flourish. To be truly human, and to have a flourishing community of human beings, faiths must be allowed to flourish. With this kind of encouragement, that we have received today, people of faith will go on making their contribution, in a distinctive way, to making this city not one of the greatest, but the greatest, in the world.”

The faith map can be accessed at www.birminghamfaithmap.org.uk

New church-backed centre opens to connect communities

Written on . Posted in Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

launch of faithful neighbourhoods centre launch of faithful neighbourhoods centre launch of faithful neighbourhoods centre

Birmingham’s church leaders have launched a new centre which aims to build bridges between people of different religions and equip Christians to live out their faith in a relevant way.

The Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre in Court Road, Sparkhill, was opened on Tuesday October 11th by the Presidents of Birmingham Churches Together, the Most Revd Bernard Longley, the Rt Revd David Urquhart and Major Sam Edgar.

Guests and dignitaries were welcomed to the centre by the parish priest, the Revd John Self of St John’s Sparkhill. The three presidents were joined by Dr Andrew Smith, Director of the new centre, to cut a cake to mark the opening and guests heard about some of the organisations based within or linked with the Court Road building.

More than 50 representatives of some of the city’s faith communities, church leaders and inter-faith activists joined in the celebrations to mark the launch of the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre.

Dr Andrew Smith, the director of the centre and the Bishop of Birmingham’s adviser on inter-faith ministry, said: “We hope this will quickly become a place where people of all faiths and none can come together to deepen their understanding of one another and find ways of working together to improve and strengthen their local areas.

“It is really exciting to be the first director of the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre and I look forward to working with a wide range of people from Birmingham to ensure this city is a place of friendship, hospitality and generosity and all who live here find a welcome.”

The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart, said: “After the events of the summer it seems very timely that as one of the Presidents of Birmingham Churches Together I have opened the new Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre in Sparkhill.

“The new centre will help Christians in Birmingham live as ‘Good News’ in a multi-faith city, so that as followers of Jesus Christ we are equipped to build firm friendships and live out our faith in a way that strengthens communities, builds up belief and inspires other to seek the common good in our city.

“I am sure this centre will become a valuable shared space and the people who work in it will bring invaluable skills and expertise as we work together to make Birmingham a beacon of understanding and neighbourliness.”

The centre is a joint initiative between Birmingham Churches Together and the Church of England. It is one of four of the Church of England’s Presence and Engagement centres which aim to equip Christians for mission and ministry in a multi-faith society and build good relationships between people of different religions.

For more information please contact Jessica Foster, Near Neighbours Development Worker.

Saltley project first in brum to be awarded near neighbours funding

Written on . Posted in Christianity, Near Neighbours.

Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Sparkhill Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Sparkhill Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Sparkhill

An inter-faith project in Saltley is the first project in the city to be awarded funds by a new Government grants programme which aims to strengthen communities by building bridges between people of different faiths and cultures.

The Hub in Saltley has received £5,000 pounds this week from the Near Neighbours programme. The award was given to help fund the start-up costs of the £1.5 million project to open a new interfaith centre in Saltley Methodist church.

The Near Neighbours cash will also fund four community days to give local residents a chance to get to grips with the plans and talk about their vision for the centre.

Residents will be invited to the BIG Game’, ‘the BIG Feast’, ‘The BIG show’ and ‘The BIG laugh’, each of which will give people of different faiths a chance to get involved.

Chair of the Hub Board, Methodist Minister Andrew Smith said: “We believe this centre will really make a big difference to Saltley. It will be one of the few places people can come together in a shared space and will set the scene so trusting relationships can be built and friendship deepened between people from different faith traditions.

“We are delighted that we have received a Near Neighbours grant to pay for necessary start-up costs and to help us begin to really engae with our local community.”

Near Neighbours development worker, Jessica Foster, said: “This sounds like a fantastic project and we are really glad we can support the team in Saltley as they begin work on the Hub.

“Shared spaces and centres of welcome and hospitality are vital to this city to ensure communities are connected and neighbourhoods strengthened.”

Near Neighbours grants are available to fund projects or activities which bring people of different faiths or ethnicities together to meet each other and work together to improve their neighbourhood. Community and faith groups based in 13 wards in central Birmingham are eligible for funding. For more details visit www.near-neighbours.com.

For more information about Near Neighbours in Birmingham please contact Jessica Foster.

To find out more about The Hub please contact Andrew Smith or phone 0121 327 3845

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