Funded projects

The following are a selection of community projects funded by Near Neighbours.

Birmingham Community Hosting Network (BIRCH)

Themes: Birmingham, Asylum seekers, Civil engagement

BIRCH are based in King's Heath and facilitate the hosting of destitute asylum seekers by volunteers in their homes. The project is supported by the social action group of All Saints Church and Station Road Mosque, who advise on hosting Muslim guests. A Near Neighbours grant is helping this young organisation recruit and train more hosts and develop into a sustainable social project involving people of all faiths.

Our Community CIC

Themes: Birmingham, Young people, Everyday interactions

Our Community work on a deprived estate in Birmingham with large Pakistani, white British, Somali, Ethiopian and Kurdish communities, including many refugees and asylum seekers. Working in partnership with a housing association and Birmingham Youth Service, a Near Neighbours grant is supporting a youth club, following consultations with local residents. This will provide a safe space where young people can interact regularly and improve community cohesion on the diverse estate.

West Midlands Somali Association

Themes: Birmingham, Community development, Civil engagement

WMSA is working in partnership with a Christian community centre to host a couple of action days to improve the outside environment at the parish church and Somali centre. The project sees Christian and Muslim neighbours working together, and also involves mealtimes where the volunteers can get to know each other better. The two sites are local focal points, meaning the whole community can benefit from the project.

St Paul & St Silas Church, Lozells

Themes: Birmingham, Young people, Civil Engagement

Zap Club is hosted by the church and includes young people drawn from the local interfaith group. The club aims to build relationships between diverse young people with a view to engaging in social action. It will conduct a community survey where the young people carry out research to discover the needs of different groups in the community and then work together to find ways of addressing those needs.

Otley Road and Barkerend Environment Project (ORBE)

Themes: Bradford, Community development, Everyday interactions

Situated in a richly diverse area of Bradford which suffers from a high instance of child poverty, ORBE works to reconnect its local community with the natural environment. Near Neighbours is supporting a project which provides the opportunity for local people of different faiths to come together on tree planting and recycling activities, and get involved in a wider programme of arts, crafts and cooking classes.

Faiths4Change

Themes: Burnley, Women and Poverty, Civil engagement

This interfaith charity is running a project which aims to address fuel, water and food poverty amongst women in the Daneshouse area. Bilingual focus groups will enable 45 women to share their experiences and it will work with participants and agency partners to run a pilot programme to tackle these issues. Six volunteers will be trained to raise awareness of fuel, water and food poverty amongst women in the community.

St Oswald’s West End Centre

Themes: Bradford, Community development, Everyday interactions

SOWEC exists in an area of Bradford where diverse communities experience little interaction. Near Neighbours is supporting an interfaith sewing group, which has received enthusiastic support from residents. The group meets weekly with a sewing tutor, providing a relaxed and informal space for new friendships to form across cultures. This new local facility will help reduce social isolation, and improve community cohesion and the life choices available to local residents.

Men Behaving Dadly

Themes: Oldham, Parenting, First encounters

Men Behaving Dadly aim to reach isolated fathers to support them in parenthood and their relationships with their children. It runs three projects in different areas of the town, each area characterised by a different faith and ethnic community. Near Neighbours is supporting a project to integrate the three groups through a series of joint activities and trips, and specific events to target hardest to reach communities.

Islamic Society of Britain

Themes: Leicester, Homelessness, Civil engagement

ISB Leicester branch is partnering with St James the Greater Church to host a weekly meal for homeless people in Highfields, in an initiative that brings two local faith groups together to take action in their community. This project not only provides a free hot meal for those that need it, but will also act as a space for new friendships to form between the diverse groups present.

Confederation of Indian Organisations

Themes: Leicester, Young people, Civil engagement

CIO is a membership organisation of over 100 agencies representing various South Asian communities of all faiths. Near Neighbours is funding a pilot mentoring programme to prevent reoffending amongst young people from the Belgrave and Latimer areas of Leicester, by training eight volunteer mentors of different faiths. The project has the support of six Hindu temples, two mosques, two gurdwaras, and has consulted with various Christian leaders.

Hope Hamilton Church

Themes: Leicester, Community development, First encounters

Hope Hamilton is part of a new and highly diverse housing estate. In response to the need for inclusive community events, it held a light party to coincide with Diwali. By involving local Hindu mothers in planning the party, over 200 diverse residents attended the celebration. This first encounters event was achieved with a £600 grant and has created closer relationships between faith groups, who are already planning more joint events.

Parents Together

Themes: Leicester, Parenting, Everyday interactions

Parents Together is an informal group of local parents drawn from diverse backgrounds. This project provides weekly play sessions for children and parents, encouraging new relationships to be formed between diverse neighbours. Sessional workers will coordinate the project, running creative activities and helping parents to engage constructively with their children. The group hopes to develop the project to include family learning sessions on storytelling and common childhood illnesses.

St Barnabas & St James Church

Themes: Walthamstow, Crime & safety, Civil engagement

St Barnabas’ is working with Queen's Road Mosque to run a CitySafe campaign in Walthamstow. Members from the church and mosque will work together in pairs, visiting local shops and businesses to implement the campaign, which involves establishing local safe havens for people to seek temporary sanctuary if fleeing violence. Working together on this project will enable interfaith relationships to be built on the basis of joint social action.

Clapton Park Community Gardening

Themes: Hackney, Community development, Civil engagement

CPCG is a group of local residents who have come together to transform an area of their estate. The group is comprised of Christians, Muslims, and Rastafarians from a range of ethnic backgrounds. A Near Neighbours grant is helping the group to develop the project, creating more gardening space, purchasing tools and equipment, and hosting communal meals where all the volunteers and others from the estate can come together.

DIVA Women’s Group

Themes: Bethnal Green, Community development, First encounters

This young organisation aims to bring together women from different cultural backgrounds by putting on a number of community events where they can build relationships and learn more about each other. It already runs Zumba classes and Near Neighbours is supporting further activities bringing people together, such as family craft and activity sessions, day trips, cake decorating, a clothes swap, as well as parenting skills and domestic violence classes.

David Idowu Foundation

Themes: Southwark, Young people, Everyday interactions

The David Idowu Foundation was established by the parents of a teenager killed by knife crime in 2008. It is working with young people in Southwark to combat violent crime between rival groups, working in partnership with local schools, government and other charities. With the support of Near Neighbours it launched a community youth choir to bring local teenagers together through the arts, and has already begun rehearsing and performing.