Dr Mwenza Blell, senior lecturer and research consultant at Newcastle University was the guest speaker. Her talk was entitled: Future Challenges for the North East – Is there a Role for the Faith Communities?

She introduced the discussion drawing examples from experience as an ‘action research’ worker in the Newcastle area. She highlighted a range of challenges particularly impacting on the Community and Families in the West End of Newcastle. The challenges included income support and high percentage of families experiencing poverty and adverse housing support. She emphasised that families living in our most deprived areas experience inequalities in health, education, employment and social outcomes. It was inferred that a primary role for faith communities is to improve their understanding of inequalities at a local and neighbourhood level.

Dr Blell emphasised that faith communities should focus on building on the strengths of communities and support them to taker meaningful local action. 

A challenge may be to change the way they work as organisations, how they work together and how we work with communities to address and close the inequalities gap and increase a healthy life expectancy.

The community organising approach was illustrated. This way of working is based on the value and perception that people can and should join together to gain more control over their life conditions. Together, people set their own goals and take collective action to help themselves. Essentially , at best, there is a bottom up process involving large numbers of the people of the local area in envisioning, planning, executing and evaluating campaigns for social change. From Dr Blell’s examples of local action it was clear that the act of community organising is an ‘article of faith’ in peoples collective power, wisdom, competence and judgement to bring about progressive change.

It was noted in final conversations with Dr Blell that some members of Church Action on Poverty North East are actively involved with the Tyne and Wear Citizens Organisation who adopt the community organising approach. Over 200 local people had attended their very recent ‘campaign for change’ local gathering held in Newcastle Cathedral with representation from various faith groups and organisations.

Read Church Action on Poverty North East’s annual report below: