Social Transformation – the Journey so far 

In 2021 The Belfrey was privileged to receive an anonymous gift of £1 million, given to help the community of York recover from the Covid pandemic through the social action work of the church. From this gift, we were able to start a 3-year programme based on 3 pillars: Poverty, Mental Health, and Young People and Families. We worked to strategically allocate money to these by providing grant funding to other charities in York who were already working to alleviate poverty, improve mental health or support young people and families, and also by starting projects where we saw a need to do so, where possible in partnership with other organisations. 

The first phase of the programme ended in 2024, and the projects that we started through this are now permanent ministries at The Belfrey. We also began a Programme Phase 2, to look at how churches across York could work together more effectively for social transformation in the city. This has developed into a project called No One Left Behind: working together towards a poverty-free York, which aims to see a significant reduction in all forms of poverty across York within the next 10 years, through the ministry of churches and Christian charities working alongside civic authorities and other organisations. No One Left Behind began in 2025 in partnership with One Voice York, Gather Movement and Christians Against Poverty. 

In Phase 1 of the programme, we: 

  • gave 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 to focus on reaching vulnerable and disengaged young people, with work on healthy lifestyles and mental health support

  • funded a Children and Families Outreach Worker to focus on developing Early Years provision through toddler groups, along with 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

  • gave away £100,000 in grants of up to £15,000 to 8 charities as part of our Catalyser Grant Fund and ran 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

  • partnered with York Foodbank to take on and run their regular Saturday food distribution session

  • contributed funding for a Community Parish Nurse to work within our team here with a focus on holistic healthcare, in partnership with  Parish Nursing Ministries UK.

We also committed £100,000 to social action projects outside of York, as part of our vision for serving God’s transformation of the North. We gave grants of £50,000 to St Thomas’ Newcastle to support their  Eden Team in Byker, and to Ascension and St Thomas Hull for a Youth and Community Pioneer Worker.