Near Neighbours aims to bring together people in diverse neighbourhoods – including atheists
The Church of England has secured £5m of government funding to promote community cohesion through activities such as breadmaking and inter-faith music groups. Near Neighbours is a three-year project which, according to its website, “aims to bring people together in diverse communities, helping them build relationships and collaborate to improve the local community they live in”. Grants of between £250 and £5,000 are available to anyone – including atheists – as long as the proposed activity encourages the involvement of “local people from different faiths and none”.
Examples of such activities are women of different faiths baking bread together and community music groups for youths to reduce the risk of involvement in street crime.
“Separation can lead to misunderstanding and a lack of trust or respect for each other, which is not healthy for a local community,” says the website.
The Church Urban Fund, a Church of England charity set up in 1987, will manage the Near Neighbours project. It will focus on four areas: Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester and east London.
More at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/20/church-of-england-community-cohesion