“Serving York” is one of our five church priorities.
To help us do this well: we’ve begun a three year Social Action Programme supported by our Post Pandemic Fund (PPF). This fund was set up in 2021 with an anonymous donation of £1 million to help the community of York recover from the Covid pandemic through social action. The programme is running from 2021 to 2024, and projects set up by the programme will continue beyond that.
The PPF continues to be open for further donations, and you can give here.
Poverty, Mental Health, and Young People and Families are the three pillars of the programme. We aim to make a difference in these areas by:
Assisting charities and churches in York who are already working in alleviating poverty, improving mental health or supporting young people and families. We do this through:
grant making to enable growth and sustainability
start up of new work where needed
encouraging church members to get involved in charity volunteering
Starting our own projects where we see needs and gaps in current provision in the city, where possible in partnership with other organisations.
Since the programme began, we’ve:
given away £100,000 in small grants to 41 charities in York, in partnership with Two Ridings Community Foundation
launched the York Central Debt Centre in partnership with Christians Against Poverty (CAP) offering free debt advice to people who are struggling with problem debt
funded a Youth Outreach Worker who will focus on reaching vulnerable and disengaged young people, with work on healthy lifestyles and mental health support
funded a Children and Families Outreach Worker who will focus on developing Early Years provision through toddler groups, alongside support for families outside of the church who are in a particular period of need through a project in partnership with Safe Families
launched an affordable counselling service in partnership with Wellspring Therapy and Training
given away £100,000 in grants of up to £15,000 to 8 charities as part of our Catalyser Grant Fund and begun a 12 month Catalyser Community of Practice
helped respond to some immediate needs including giving £4000 to Refugee Action York to support the free clothing store set up for asylum seekers, and £9000 to The Besom in York towards a purchase of a van to enable collection and delivery of donated furniture and white goods for people in need.
We’ve also committed to give away £100,000 from the Post Pandemic Fund to social action projects outside of York, as part of serving God’s transformation of the North. So far, we’ve given a grant of £50,000 to St Thomas’ Newcastle to support their recently launched Eden Team in Byker, Newcastle.
We are pleased to be working with the One Voice York church unity network, to look at how churches and ministries can work more closely together in social action to make a difference in the city.
Our Love Your Neighbour initiative encourages us to practically care for our neighbours and communities in York, especially those who are experiencing hardship. See here for more information on how you can get involved.
See here for more information about the social action projects we are running at The Belfrey and how you can access help through them.
See here for more information on our grant making schemes.
For more information on the Social Action Programme please contact Alison Dawson, Social Action Programme Manager (alison.dawson@belfrey.org).