Faith

I rather enjoyed David Cameron's interview in the Church Times last week. I happen to agree with him; Britain is indeed a Christian country, and much of our charitable tradition is derived from that history. That continues today in the huge support from faith groups of all denominations in financial and volunteer support for charities, and in the continuing orientation of many great charities. Our big national children’s charities – the Children’s Society, Action for Children and Barnado’s for example – are all Christian in origin. Church leaders often lead the charge on issues of national importance like poverty. There were brilliant examples over Easter from Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop Welby.

However this is not to say that there is an excuse for prejudice against other faiths; quite on the contrary. Islam is now the second largest religion in the UK, and like any other faith it deserves respect and understanding. The Jewish religion has likewise played a key role in community life for centuries, though often against much discrimination. Both faiths have a strong charitable tradition, deriving from the Koran's and from the Hebrew Bible’s injunctions on giving.

The recent media portrayal of what is happening in Birmingham schools, or the way the Sunday Times wrote up the comments by William Shawcross on Islamic charities (with an article by their security correspondent), illustrates the dangers of losing sight of the major religions’ traditions of peace and charity. There are some who are only too happy to elide adherence to Islam as just a step away from terrorism, as some in UKIP have very recently done.

In fact, the William Shawcross interview was a good one. I agree with him that the law needs to change re. trusteeships, and he is right to say we can't afford more cuts to the Charity Commission. It was a shame the Sunday Times chose to highlight the ‘threat’ from Islamic front charities as though that is the major threat facing our sector. The fact that a Charity Commission member is also heading up the Gove enquiry into Birmingham Islamic schools does not help.

The last thing the Commission needs is to acquire a reputation for Islam-bashing – it does not do so. Although it cannot help how the media tackle these issues, it will have to be careful to ensure that this image does not stick.

DWP v Trussell Trust.

Many in our sector have been shocked by the behaviour of DWP towards the Trussell Trust. How extraordinary that a charity that is the embodiment of David Cameron's "Big society" ideal should be smeared and attacked in the way it has been. A Christian charity, volunteer led and with voluntary, not Government contributions is doing superb work at the sharp end of poverty.

My church in Charlbury supports the West Oxfordshire food bank- it’s in Mr Cameron's constituency (where today he entertains M. Hollande in a local gastropub I much enjoy myself!). I think many of us who do support food banks will wonder what is going on. Why refuse to meet with them?

For those who want to follow this sad tale the splendid article by Patrick Butler in Guardian Society says it all.

Conserving Churches.

Shocking news yesterday of the theft of important 15th century painted oak panels from an oak screen in a Church in Devon. Our English churches have few remaining works from before the Reformation as the wretched Puritan iconoclasts: the Taleban of the age destroyed much of value and beauty. So what little was not touched is of great importance. The theft therefore does great damage to our national heritage.

Crispin Truman, long standing ACEVO member, runs the Churches Conservation Trust in whose care the Devon Church was entrusted. But these churches are often in isolated areas and the Trust has to balance access for us all to enjoy these treasures, with security.

The CCT was established in 1969 and has saved over 340 buildings from disrepair. They run around 50 specialist conservation repair projects each year, beside minor repairs and events to promote church tourism, education and the arts. A great example of a small charity with great impact, generating £15m of business in local communities from core funding of £4.6m. Just goes to show their results are what make them effective, not some crude measure of their administration costs.

I've been in many of the Churches that Crispin looks after. And it was a pleasure to listen to him on the news talking about the theft. He made the important point that this is not just about national heritage but this was a much loved local church and valued by its local community. The theft damages that community.

It does remind us that our local Churches form an essential underpinning to communities across the country. They form the focal point for many rural communities. The parish church of St Mary's in Charlbury is a lively and dynamic part of Charlbury life. That's replicated in urban as well as rural communities. And the Churches' role in supporting the vulnerable and the poor is underlined by the strong support for local Food banks. Sadly the need for these has been growing dramatically. Even in the prosperous Cotswolds we see that need and the local church is a strong supporter of our Witney Food Bank. Whilst attendance at Church may be getting weaker, the role of the Churches in supporting communities is as strong as ever.

And it’s always a pleasure to reflect on the wide diversity of ACEVO membership and the role charities of all sorts and sizes play across our national life. It’s important to remember this as charities generally have come in for a bit of a battering recently.
The role that Crispin (he’s up on the 4th floor at ACEVO towers) and the Churches Conservation Trust should be given great credit and support. 

Further details of the theft, particularly if you have any information on it, may be found here.