Faith Action Project in Solihull

We’ve just come to the end of our first project in Solihull. This innovative six month project has given us the opportunity to think about how community dialogue can be mobilised to create lasting change. Funded by the Faith New Deal initiative, our community engagement project is one of many around the country funded by DLUHC to explore how local authorities can work with (rather than deliver work to) local diverse F&B communities. This research will feed into the new “Faith Compact”, which with exemplify how existing faith covenants (between LAs and local diverse faith groups) might look in practice. Through our coproduction approach, members of Solihull council and local community members came to sessions as equal participants, identifying collectively the issues they see and solutions to them. We saw how this process built up trust which had in many cases been lost towards the LA; and opened the eyes of council members and leaders to the incredible work being carried out by faith groups in their borough.

Message from Councillor Ian Courts, Leader of Solihull Council

We look forward to seeing how these connections and friendships grow, how our planned actions play out, and how our evaluation feeds into the creation of the new Faith Compact.

By Carrie Alderton, Head of Programmes & Impact