New funding to boost diverse communities

Communities Minister Lord Bourne has made £250,000 of ‘small grants funding’ available to boost diverse communities across the country.

To mark the start of Inter Faith Week, the ‘Common Good’ programme will give pots of funding to projects that bring together diverse communities and different faiths through a range of activities from cookery classes to teaching computer coding.

Managed by The Church Urban Fund, grants of between £250 and £5,000 will be offered to locally-led projects, including the extension of the small grants element of Near Neighbours to new areas that have seen increased diversity in recent years.

Lord Bourne said: “There is good evidence to show that our society is well-integrated and that people from different backgrounds get on well.

“However we know there’s more we can do during Inter Faith Week to foster greater understanding and reduce incidents of intolerance across the country. That is why we’re bringing people together and celebrating what we have in common by funding these new projects, giving lasting benefits to neighbourhoods and making them even better places to live.”

Paul Hackwood, executive director of the Church Urban Fund, said: “Hate and prejudice and the misunderstanding they create have become an increasingly worrying aspect of our lives in Britain. This fund will create opportunities to work together for the common good of all and to show a way of tackling our differences and concerns constructively. It is timely and much needed.”

Inter Faith Week run by the Inter Faith Network is now in its eighth year and is designed to strengthen good inter faith relations, increase awareness of the different and distinct faith communities and increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs.