Faith in Britain: New charity to support families

A new charity that will support and strengthen families in Britain will be launched within the next fortnight.

Faith in Britain will promote active citizenship and participation in public life by providing mentoring to broaden the educational and employment choices of young people, advice to parents and leadership training.

The charity’s first task will be the establishment of a Commission on the African and Caribbean Family Life, which will collect, research and publish information and findings on the lived- experience of African and Caribbean families in Britain and their implications for public policy.

Former Evangelical Alliance executive director of public policy, Dr. R David Muir left the role after five years to work on establishing the charity, which will be launched in the House of Commons on October 5, where the terms of reference and scope of the proposed Commission on the African and Caribbean family life and experience in Britain will be presented.

“There are many ways that individuals and organisations can get involved with Faith in Britain.  There is a student bursary that individuals and organisations can contribute to; or from November, families can participate in local Family Conversation Groups as part of the Commission.” Said Dr. R David Muir.

Bodies and individuals may also contribute to funding the work of the Commission, attend regional hearings to give written and verbal evidence or assist in the provision of appropriate venues for Commission hearings.

The Commission will be chaired by Professor Chris Mullard CBE, CEO of Focus Consultancy and will tour major UK cities for a year, gathering written and oral evidence of those families’ experiences, culminating in a report to government, policy-makers and third sector organisations.

The purposes of the Commission will be to explore and promote positive images and experiences of family life and social relations; profile good models and noteworthy patterns of child-rearing, parental interventions in education and personal development; celebrate the role of fathers and the male presence in family life; examine the contribution of African and Caribbean faith communities to family life and community cohesion; and consider the role of grandparents in the extended and ‘blended’ families.

By Davina Kirwan