Event showed faith groups how to help congregations during recession
An event to show different faith groups how they can help their congregations during the recession took place last week as part of Hounslow Council's work as a Beacon authority for community cohesion.
The Multifaith Recession Conference brought together faith groups from across the country to share ideas about how they can help support people in the current economic climate. This provided a chance for public authorities to hear more about the impact of the recession on local and national communities and hear about the issues facing their congregation.
Cllr Peter Thompson, leader of the council, said, "There has been much speculation about how we got into the current economic crisis, and even more about how we get out of it. The role of faith and faith communities has a huge part to play here.
“We heard that the recession is an opportunity to rediscover what makes for a happy and healthy society and to live a simpler life. We have been working hard to lessen the impact of the recession in our communities. But faith communities can also tell us a great deal about the effects of the recession at a more personal level.
"They can shine a light on the unmet and sometimes hidden needs the recession can create; the psychological impact - which faith communities can often be well placed to identify and respond to.
"There is already huge amount of work that religious organisations across the country are doing to respond to our challenging financial climate. I hope we have captured some of this work in our conference today and showed some of the ways in which we can further support and inspire our communities."
The conference was an opportunity to find out about measures groups can take to further support their communities by showing current best practice from across the country. This included promoting local partnerships and supporting joint thinking on projects and initiatives that respond to the needs of the community in this current economic crisis, and setting out what support is available to help and assist local organisations do this.
October 28, 2009