Dudley Borough Interfaith Network

This event looking at particular challenges and problems faced by faith organisations when they work with children, young people or vulnerable adults was very well attended.  The participants were very glad of a safe place to discuss these issues and to find sources of information and support to turn to. The event was a brilliant example of partnership working.  Nicki from DCVS organised  it, Safe Network paid for it and their regional manager introduced their four standards for organisations to work through, Graham Tilby from Dudley Children and Young People’s Safeguarding Board gave valuable information and Gillian from DBIN encouraged people to attend.  ‘The VENUE’ in Dudley made us very welcome and fed us deliciously. The fact that the room was actually too small for the number who turned up was a good problem to have.

To see photos from the event please click here

The members of DBIN wish the Sikhs of Dudley a good celebration on Vaisakhi this year 13th April

The Hidden Problem : as a forum we spent some time looking at the problem of Domestic Abuse, something we all know happens but often prefer to deny.  Anne Boden, the Domestic Abuse Coordinator  from Dudley Safe and Sound PArtnership,  went through what signs to look for and how to help and gave us helpline contact details.  Many thanks to Laura and friends who helped with registration, and to Anne for spending the evening with us.

REMEMBER THESE NUMBERS

National Domestic Violence Helpline : 0808 2000 247

Asian Women’s Helpline  :  0845 607 6474

Men’s Advice Line : 0808  0327801

Broken Rainbow UK (lesbian,gay transexual victims) 0300 999 5428

On Sunday 5th February the Muslim Community of Dudley  celebrated the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed. About 500 followers gathered to mark this occasion with an entirely peaceful march through the streets of Dudley.

> At the DBIN Faith leaders Network  on Jan 25th Geoff Thomas, DMBC’c Assistant Director of Policy and Improvement talked with faith leaders on the question of poverty in  Dudley.  These were his main points.>

>* Economic growth impacts on job seeker allowance numbers (one

> potential measure of deprivation). Prior to the recession there were

> c. 8000 claiming this benefit. During the last recession this number

> rose to around 11,000. It then dropped back but has now climbed

> again to be currently around 10,000. The largest group is young

> people. Across the Black Country, about 45,000 are claiming this

> benefit (6.6% of the population against 3.8% nationally).

>*Welfare reform is seeing over 1700 people have their income cut by

> £100 per month at the same time as rents are rising by around £4.50

> per week.

>* Until now, people have received a single room rate until the age of

> 25. This is now rising to 35.

>

> * Good news; Dudley has the lowest rate of NEETs (not in education,

> employment or training) in the sub-region.

>

> * The LA is seeking at this time of benefit cuts to find ways of at

> least ensuring that individuals and families are aware of all the

> benefits that they can claim.

>

> *  Funding all this in a time of increasing demand as the economy

> worsens is a real challenge.

>

> * Regeneration is also a priority. In Dudley we have the Heritage

> Regeneration Partnership. Dudley Business First is another new

> initiative.

>

> * The Council needs to listen to communities in order to learn the

> impact of services.

>

> *  The Community Enterprise Fund for new or existing social enterprises

> is coming on stream (with about £250,000 in all across borough for

> projects)

>

> * In certain wards, Communities First is also starting to operate with

> the capacity to award small grants to local projects up to £2,000.

Thirty-five or so leaders from the Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities and from the local authority and voluntary/community sector came together to share their perspectives on the current economic crisis.  Geoff Thomas from DMBC gave an overview followed by Nicki Burrows from DCVS who explored the effects on children, young people and families. The faith groups then shared their individual responses to poverty.  Again the faiths underlined the teachings in their particular faith which encourage, instruct or expect help to be offered to the poor.  It came as a surprise to Geogg Thomas that the Wellington Rd Gurdwara feeds 200-300 homeless and needy people every week as part of its duty of service to the community. Its a grim time but as ever sharing the efforts different sections of the community are making to meet huge need encouraged us all to keep going.

This is a joint meeting between leaders of our local faith groups and members at strategic level of our partners, Dudley MBC, the police, the PCT and voluntary and community organisations. Our theme this time is 

Addressing Issues of Poverty in the Current Economic Climate :

A Joint Perspective

If you are a faith leader or take a leadership role in your faith community and would like to attend please give me, the Network officer, Gillian, a call on 01834 267415 and leave your name and your faith group. It would be good to see you.

We had a great time recently at our event which was also the AGM.  Supporters came from across the borough includiing as far afield as Stourbridge.  DVSC’s Twitter Whizz Melissa was on hand to help with live tweets onto the Interfaith Twitter page so we felt connected to interfaith group across the country.  The best news was the interest of members to support the network in the future and that included welcoming 5 new faces onto the Board.

Hi Everyone

I am settling in here at DBIN and want to thank the team at Dudley CVS and the Interfaith Board for making me so welcome.

Just to let you know that Interfaith week is coming up November 20-26.  Here at DBIN we are celebrating it with a Story Telling event called Sharing Faith and Food.  This is at Wellington Rd Community Centre on Wednesday 23rd November 7.00-9.00 pm.  You are very welcome but please let us know you are coming so there will be enough food for everyone.  Email me at interfaith@dudleycvs.org.uk.

We would love you to come along prepared to share a simple story from your holy book or your Faith  tradition.  This way we can get to know more about each other’s faiths and learn the stories that your particular faith knows so well. It cannot be long – 3 minutes max but it would be lovely to hear from you.