By Peter Wooding
Special to ASSIST News Service


June, 2009

With one of the highest rates of gun and knife crime in the UK more than 150 church leaders in greater Manchester linked up with neighbourhood police teams this week for the launch of a nation-wide campaign to help combat this crisis.

Wednesday night marked the start of a ten-city strategy, under the banner of Redeeming Our Communities, which is to be rolled out nation-wide, in partnership with the police, over the next three years.

 In addition to senior church and civic leaders, the event, at the Whthenshawe Forum Centre on June 24, which was funded by Greater Manchester Police, was attended by the Chief Constable of Manchester, Peter Fahy.

 “As chief constable the biggest challenges in Manchester are the obvious crime ones around robberies and burglaries, but probably deeper than that is an alienation in a lot of communities,” explained the Chief Constable.

 He added: “Clearly a lot of problems with gangs and guns is coming back to young people not seeing a lot of prospects out there other than getting involved in criminality.  But we feel passionately about working with local people.  We’ve put a lot of investment into what we call Neighbourhood Policing and tonight is an opportunity to strengthen that through greater involvement with faith communities.”

Peter believes this week’s event was ambitious to get churches to step out more into their communities: “It’s difficult territory as I think often faith groups, because of some of the pressures in society can become quite insular and introverted.

 “So tonight is really encouraging local faith communities to make a connection with your local policing.  We want to provide ideas about how churches can help us with things like mentoring with debt advice for people in difficulties and with making an effort in terms of community cohesion.  Also we want churches to help us with young people particularly in providing activities and more purpose for young people.  People coming out of prison, those sorts of issues.  So it’s really getting across to faith groups that they are a tremendous resource and if we can build a stronger link between police and those faith groups then we can have an amazing resource to do good things in local neighbourhoods.”

With around one thousand in attendance at the Redeeming Our Communities event a large percentage of those were uniformed police officers.  During the evening they were all asked to stand to huge applause and then everyone prayed for them to have the strength to face the daily challenges of combating crime.

“I’m really excited about tonight because I’m a Christian myself and I know it’s quite difficult sometimes with the police service,” explained Neighbourhood Police Inspector Dave Willcock.

 He added: “A lot of police officers don’t have a faith, but for me this is a fantastic opportunity for the police service to see how the church can get behind us, praying for officers, supporting us through voluntary work and supporting us through lots of different things in the community.  This is a great opportunity for local police officers to link in with local churches and actually realise and understand that the church plays a big part in the community and they’ve got a lot to offer us.  Perhaps before that they may not have realised that as they’ve not had the opportunity to engage.”

Behind the campaign is Manchester-based charity City Links, formed in 2003 to encourage strong community liaison between churches and the police in tackling social problems.

 Director and founder Debra Green described the partnership between police and churches as “an unprecedented move to establish an ongoing national strategy, not just in Manchester but nationally, aimed at reviving and regenerating communities.

 “Churches are the biggest deliverers of youth services in the UK and are therefore very much in the front line of working with young people, but we want to encourage them to do so more strategically by linking up with neighbourhood police teams to undertake projects involving young people for the benefit of communities at large.”

 Also in attendance were a number of dignitaries including the Mayor of Manchester Alison Firth.  She told me: “I think it’s fantastic that this event is covering the whole of Manchester. When we think of the different faith groups that are within Manchester as a city I think we have a great strength within our community leaders. Our faith leaders can bring us together and build a much safer and kinder community and one that has faith and hope.  Together as a united community we will be much stronger and we’ll have more links with the local people who live and work and worship and prayer together in the communities that we serve.”

 For more details go to: www.citylinks.org.uk

Peter Wooding is a TV, radio and print journalist and media consultant having spent 10 years as news editor with UCB Radio in the UK. He has traveled extensively reporting from countries including Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Dubai, South Korea, Zambia, Gambia, Mozambique, Croatia, Israel and India. He reports regularly for CBN News, KCBI radio, ASSIST News and Sorted Magazine. Peter and wife Sharon live in North Wales, UK with their three children. Passionate to see God’s Justice and Mercy impact lives, Peter is director of a new UK ministry Mercy Project International (www.mercyproject.org.uk)  to help at-risk young people in Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Kosovo, the Middle East and beyond. Contact Peter for consultation at woodingpeter@hotmail.com  or tel. +44 1244 549167/+44 7500 903067.