Church Urban Fund Podcast

With Debbie King, Community Development Worker.

St Leonard’s church plays an active part in the community life of the Peel Road area of Bootle. The church, and its linked church hall, were recently modernised to make them more suitable for wider use by the community. Along with regular weekly activities such as mother and toddler groups, Brownies and Guides, IT training and a community lunch, the church does outreach work with local children and young people, giving them a space to hang out away from the streets.

With Donna Grant, Space and Activities Coordinator at Inspire at St Peter's, Walworth.

Donna Grant has lived on the Aylesbury estate for almost forty years, moving in as a child shortly after the building was completed in 1971. 

The Aylesbury - one of the largest housing developments in Europe - has one of the worst reputations for crime, deprivation and poor living standards, partly influenced by the physical decay of the buildings themselves. We wanted to find out what life was really like behind the glaring headlines and stories.

With Rev Peter Rouch and Liz Etherton, recorded during the Church Urban Fund National Conference held in Birmingham on 27 April.

The Church Urban Fund third annual National Conference saw over 250 community activists, practitioners and faith representatives meeting to share ideas and learn new skills. Peter and Liz lead two of the day’s nine workshops, Peter discussing how local projects can and should work alongside statutory agencies, and Liz giving advice about building strong and effective teams.

With Natalie Cooper, The Source Cafe coordinator.

The Source started in 2000 as the vision of Jo Emmett, who worked with homeless and disaffected young people in Aldershot.

Working with local churches and statutory and voluntary organizations, The Source became established as a youth café, offering a safe space free from drugs and alcohol, for young people to meet and feel part of. The Source moved into its new, fully-equipped, premises in 2007 with support from the local borough council, and worked with more tha 650 young people over the last year.