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

On 26 February 2009 Bishop Christopher hosted an evening for invited guests in support of the re-launch appeal to support CUF in the Diocese. As part of the evening guests heard an impassioned story from John McCrea about the Open House project which supports destitute recovering alcholics in Coventry. A chocolate cake was auctioned and raised, in the end, and sparing Bishop John embarrassment a massive £150! Cheques, icluding one of £2,500, were presented by visitors from three parishes across the diocese - St James, Styvechale; All Saints, Leamington and St Nicholas Kenilworth. Guests left after being hosted with canapes and chamber music, Hopefully they will now be making their contribution to the CUF appeal over the coming months.

Success for St. Paul's Stockingford

St Paul's, Stockingford, Nuneaton, re-opened their church and centre after extensive refurbishment on 25 January 2009. Since then an application to the CUF has been made under the Mustard seed programme to help bring these facilities into greater community use. Plans to utilise the £5,000 awarded by CUF are now being finalised. One idea is to provide support for those on the sharp end of the economic downturn.

CUF in Coventry 2009

‘…we get some food, eat and we sleep, so life can still keep on going. If I just get something to eat I am very happy.’

Across England,thousands of Migrant workers live friendless and in fear, with nowhere to turn. Unable to work until they have waited for over 12 months, they are forced to rely on just £5 a day in state support (The Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2009). Church Urban Fund supports a range of interventions that work to prevent these people from falling into destitution.

One such place is Peace House in Coventry, a night shelter for the many migrant workers in the area. “There are literally hundreds of destitute immigrants in Coventry,” says Penny, a project worker at Peace House, “we cater for those who end up sleeping rough because they have no friends or family to help them.”

A warm welcome, food and somewhere to sleep and shower await the clients, many of whom have found themselves without a home after falling through gaps in the asylum system. Samuel, one of the guests at the shelter, says: “We come here around 9 o’clock, we get some food, eat and we sleep, so life can still keep on going. If I just get something to eat I am very happy.” Without Peace House, migrant workers in the area would have nowhere else to turn, resulting in issues such as isolation, undernourishment and mental health problems.

Church Urban Fund has played a vital role in contributing to the work of the project, paying towards the salary of a project co-ordinator as well as the centre’s running costs.

At a time of recession, asylum seekers and low-paid migrant workers are very vulnerable. In general, the public is less sympathetic to their needs, often ignoring their presence.

Church Urban Fund asks you to support the Seeds of Hope Campaign - our response to the recession - in order to double the number of projects we support across the country.

Please see www.cuf.org.uk or call 02078981667 to find out more or make a gift.

Church Urban Fund Relaunch - Saturday 13 October 2007

Church Urban Fund Stand

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 House

Volunteers 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.