“I think it [a good society] is there, I think it’s there at the grassroots, it’s there in the caring and sharing and the working together”

Deanna - Newcastle

The questions

• This project set out in the summer of 2011 with a single question: “What do we mean by good society?”

• This was then supplemented with a second question “what can and do Churches or Faith groups contribute to the development of such a society?”

Process

• Researcher and Photo Journalist• Be in their place• Hear their stories• Capture their voices

• Cornwall – three communities/projects: Newlyn Methodist Church, STAK in ST Austell, St Thomas church in Camelford.

• Swansea – four communities/projects: St Teilos Church Bonnymaed, The ARC, Clase Caemawr Family Centre and Christchurch Church in Wales Primary School.

• Birmingham – Saltley Methodist Church and specifically the Pensioners Club and Remnants.

• Glasgow – Tron St Marys Church.• Liverpool – Kingsley Community School, Toxteth.• Newcastle and the North East Regional Faiths

Network• Belfast – a small number of individuals from the

loyalist community

“A good community usually depends on the people who live there. If the other people come in and see how the other people act, that’s all that it is really....the people who already live here, how they act to other people.”

Hassan age 10, Liverpool

Buildings

Buildings as Sanctuary

• Sanctuary : – A holy place– A refuge and a place of safety– A place providing security, shelter, protection and

asylum– A home and a shelter– A place to create and share

Saltley

“Because it is a church people feel safe. They think something good must be happening here. “ Marge

“It’s a place of sanctuary. We leave our problems behind. There shouldn’t be differences between us. This place is an example of how it should be....one of the volunteers was telling someone about us and they said – Oh is that the place where everyone is welcome?” Nisreen

Buildings supporting Community

creating places and spaces for shared activity and a focus on building a “good society” from bringing different generations and racial/faith groups together, to integrating the past with the present and finding ways to share goals, hopes and aspirations, to make people feel part of larger family.

“Because it’s a church people feel safe...they think there must be something good happening here. It is nice to have Muslims in the church, even though it is not their religion, they want to be here and they have no hang ups about it.

It is good to know they are just ordinary people. They are just like you and I. That is the good thing about Remnants.

We are a church and this is the community we are it. We still have to live together; to live separately is not the Christian way. What you say and how you live may not make a difference to the majority of people but if it makes a difference to one person that is better than no people.”

Patricia - Birmingham

Buildings supporting Health and Well Being

sharing learning, skills and knowledge, helping people resolve their own conflicts through processes like restorative justice, providing good food and good company, helping people address challenges of isolation, depression, exclusion.

“it is an extraordinary mix of people but they all have problems engaging with society. They don’t conform to social norms and they get negative affirmation from society. But here you break the circle. STAK doesn’t make judgements, it welcomes anyone who is isolated, or vulnerable for whatever reason. STAK lives by charity begins at home, it works because it is here and it has become a family, with everything that happens in a family happening here, from fights and rows to laughter and joy”

Adam – Cornwall

St Austell Community Kitchen (STAK)

St AustellCornwall

Buildings as beacons of Hope and Aspiration

“we are here to be part of the community, to make the people in this community know they matter and that is about being, not always about doing. As a church we are a hub for the wider community and we are learning to give willingly and generously without expectations of getting back.”

Padraig, Swansea

“We are trying to help our clients regain their pride. Let them see they can do something for others not just themselves, they can be part of what is happening in the town.

We are not just giving people a meal but more than that, we are helping them look out and be proud of who and what they are.”

Kim – Cornwall

Buildings that support the Spirit“We have been able to bring people in from the cold and use church as a place where people can have dialogue” Chris - Belfast

“the craft group works well with people from across the whole community. They learn from one another about crafts from different places, sharing their gifts and ability, cooking mince and tatties and good curries, sharing life stories”. Jill – Glasgow

Faith at its best – and that’s any faith whether it’s Muslim, Buddhist or whatever – has I think at its heart a care for the other. So we’re created and we’ve got this selfish gene that is part of our nature and part of any animal’s nature that says, “survival, that’s what we’re about.” But faith is the counter culture, the thing that says to be the best that you can be as a human being you need to care for the other.”

Susan J - Newcastle

“Never think a small band of committed people cannot change the world - it is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead