PAST PROJECTS
At Together for Change, we live up to our name by working in partnership with churches, local councils, charities and agencies to bring kingdom change in forgotten communities.
TFC has at several times, been an emergency response service within our Diocese responding to the challenges of war, Covid-19 and more recently the cost of living crisis by initiating projects that are beyond the capacity of individual parishes. TFC’s intention to be an organisation which acts as a catalyst to start new Church led community projects, nurture them to sustainability to then release them to be led by the local parish or deanery. Here are some of the ways we have facilitated community transformation over the past decade of TFC.
FAMILY LINK WORK
The Family Link Worker initiative placed workers in both a school and the local church to work alongside families facing multiple disadvantage to provide practical support in areas such as healthy eating, budgeting, food preparation, parenting classes, family routines and pastoral care.
Our Family Link Workers were based in Salford Priors, Alcester Minster, Emscote, Binley, Willenhall and Foleshill. Our Family Link Workers strengthened links between schools and churches to support vulnerable families and establish positive pastoral relationships.
The management of Family Link Work has been passed by TFC to local parishes.
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SOCIAL ENTERPRISE: PROOF BAKERY
Based in St Catherines in Stoke Aldermoor, TFC facilitated the social enterprise Proof Bakery which supported refugee women to be trained as bakers. Many of the women are war widows, and came to Coventry under the Syrian Resettlement Scheme. Whilst most could not speak English when they arrived, they were good at baking. Proof Bakery was set up to capitalise on their baking skills, focussing on wholesome sourdough bread, which was sold through churches and other community outlets.
When lockdown came in 2020, they switched their focus to supplying Coventry Food Bank with loaves, ensuring that many hundreds of hungry families were getting some fresh food. Because St Catherine’s Church was closed to the general public for much of 2020 and 2021, they were able to set aside their portacabins accommodate expanding bread production.
Sadly, the baking came to a sudden end in December 2021, due to irreplaceable damage caused by Storm Arwen to the portacabins at Stoke Aldermoor. Although alternative space was found, most of the Syrian bakers said they wanted to use this time of transition to move onto other things. So Proof Bakery decided to close the project. The war widows shared with great pride how they had become school dinner ladies, care assistants, started their own businesses, or gone to university. Their project was supported by the generosity of various funders, and many donations by individuals and churches.
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE: RISING café
In 2014 Together for Change’s fundraised and project managed the installation of the Rising Café in Coventry Cathedral. We secured a generous grant of £20,000 from the Bishop’s Mission Fund. The coffee shop was a social enterprise which supported and enabled rehabilitation, and was run by Betel of Britain, a national charity which works to rehabilitate adults who are affected by drug and alcohol addiction and homelessness. The café provided a great atmosphere and delicious food. This fantastic rehab facility programme is continuing in Birmingham.
GOOD NEIGHBOURS
The Good Neighbours project is an initiative developed by local churches to improve health and wellbeing amongst older people (initially via Hope Coventry, Together for Change and Coventry Age UK) and funded through an annual contract by Coventry City Council. Working collaboratively, faith organisations seek to engage with isolated and lonely older people by recruiting hundreds of volunteers to enable residents to help each other. This took the form of community lunches, choirs and other group activities, 1:1 befriending support, or low-level practical assistance. TFC facilitated a grants programme which helped a score of projects until COVID-19 halted many of them. Post-COVID many of the elderly volunteers running these projects were reluctant to engage again, and instead HOPE Coventry has taken on staff to directly engage in new projects including Men’s Groups and Dementia Cafés.
YOUR FARMER MEALS
The Your Farmer farm is based in Luton, and produces fresh, full-flavoured frozen produce, including meats, oven ready vegetable and potato side dishes and oven ready main meals.
When somebody purchases meals from Your Farmer, that purchase generates free meals which are distributed to people in food crisis through one of their 'Food Bank Partners'.
We partnered with Your Farmer to get food to people in Food Crisis during the Coronavirus pandemic. With the support and funding of local councils, churches and organisations, distributed meal hampers in Warwick and Nuneaton to those in need.
SMALL GRANTS
Together for Change has supported various community outreach programmes through our small grant programmes. This includes facilitating a variety of projects tackling issues such as food poverty, isolation, homelessness, unemployment, addiction, support for refugees and asylum seekers, mental health, support for families and young people, support for the elderly and fuel poverty.
