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Can churches have a role in local economic development? A new project – Unlocking the Next Economy – will help churches renew their social purpose through community wealth building, as Jonny Gordon- Farleigh explains
Where did the idea for the project come from? I’m the director of Stir to Action, which publishes the magazine Stir and also supports community economic development projects. A big part of that work is about looking at local assets and seeing how they can support local economic development. Whether it’s looking at how land could be used to grow food, how roofs could host renewables or under-used buildings could be used for community activities. In the Church of England network alone there are an estimated 16,000 churches nationally and many have dwindling congregations. These are unique local assets but many are struggling with high maintenance costs and a lack of income generation, with the buildings becoming a burden and a drain on resources. Journalist and writer Simon Jenkins described the network as the ‘nation’s grandest unexploited social resource’.
The rise of self-employment is creating a new wave of freelancer co-operatives, as Ed Mayo explains
Last week I went to Walthamstow for the launch of the latest outlet for the fast-growing freelancer co-operative, IndyCube, working with the support of the union Community.
