Church Urban Fund
The Church Urban Fund is a national Christian organisation, founded in 1988 following the Faith in the City Report, makes a significant and lasting difference in the lives of individuals and communities blighted by enduring poverty. It especially delivers help to those places falling within the 10% most deprived wards (IMD 2004). Coventry Diocese has received over 100 awards of funding with currently between 5-10 new awards being made annually.
There are two CUF funding streams:
- Mustard Seed grants – these are designed to enable groups to turn their ideas into action. CUF’s role is to hear what groups are saying to us and not create barriers to applications, so the Mustard Seed Programme application process has been made as simple as possible. Any church or faith-based group can apply but CUF are particularly keen to hear from groups that have new ideas they really want to test and try out. Amounts given are up to £5,000.
- Main Programme grants – up to £30,000 over a three year period. This maximum sum is reserved for those projects with the highest priority and in general awards are between £15,000 and £25,000. The minimum level that can be granted is £5,000 for capital and £5,000 per annum for revenue. Revenue grants are normally spread over a period of three years. Projects can be awarded for less than the minimum award level if they request such an amount.
All CUF applications should be discussed in the first instance with the Diocesan CUF link officer – John Hall. Applications have to be signed off by him and by the Bishop of Coventry. For more information on CUF, visit their website on www.cuf.org.uk
Church Urban Fund Relaunch Group
The CUF Relaunch Group were set up to raise awareness of the valuable

Church Urban Fund Relaunch Group
work that the Church Urban Fund do.
The group is made up of the following people (from left to right):
Mrs Jackie Wightman
Revd Jonathan Cryer
Revd Dr Richard Hare, Chair
Revd Dr John Hall
Mrs Nicky Gough
Gifts Received
Gifts received by CUF from the churches in Coventry Diocese between 2005 and 2008 are shown below:
2005 = £700
2006 = £2,000
2007 = £4,659
2008 = £15,467
Church Urban Fund Soiree 26th February 2009
Success for St. Paul's Stockingford
CUF in Coventry 2009
Church Urban Fund Relaunch - Saturday 13 October 2007
On a drizzly Saturday 13 Oct 07, the Church Urban
Fund took over the cathedral ruins to stage a relaunch
in Coventry Diocese. Over the years, CUF has granted
nearly £1m to projects in Coventry and Warwickshire,
and this was a chance to show off what has been achieved.
Open Hands Project
Graham Caldicott runs 'Open Hands', a home in the centre of
Coventry for men recovering from alcohol addiction. So far, all
of the residents have remained free from alcohol, a remarkable
achievement. Other projects featured on the day included Kairos,
which is transforming the lives of prostitutes, and St Thomas
Longford, which has used CUF money to open up their
building for many community uses, including a cafe church.
Live Band
Music was provided by Nexus, an Earlsdon-based national
charity which trains the church's musicians of the future.
Students attending the university open day came in to see
what it was all about, and Nexus brought plenty of their own
fans in too. At the other end of the age spectrum, elderly
people from the Coundon Care Centre Charity performed
chair exercises, with parachute, ball and singing accompaniment!
Coventry Peace HouseVolunteers from Coventry Peace House staged a
powerful piece of drama highlighting the experience
of refugees once they reach this country. Churches
Together with Refugees in Coventry (CTRIC) were
also on hand to explain their work.

