So, what is Faith Action Nottingham?
With over 40 member organisations Faith Action Nottingham (FAN) is a network that promotes collaboration, relationship and unity among Christian organisations who are working to tackle poverty in Nottingham. But what impact does the network have?
Faith Action Nottingham is a network that promotes collaboration, relationship and unity among Christian organisations who are working to tackle poverty in Greater Nottingham. When the group first started meeting in 2010, most of the members didn’t know what the others were doing, let alone work together. Now it’s a joy to meet and the network has been a springboard for many connections and joining up across the city.
Hannah, TNT Development Worker coordinates and chairs Faith Action Nottingham, she said: "The power of networks comes from getting the right people in the room to build relationships and effect change. It's a privilege to be part of FAN because we are not 'just' a talking shop- we are fostering friendships, grappling with issues, exploring possibilities and praying for hope and transformation in our city".
The aims of FAN are to deepen relationships within the network, identify the greatest areas of poverty in the city, and respond strategically to those needs in cooperation with other services in Nottingham.
We see FAN like a safety net of support across the city- a valuable part of wider support available to people when they need it. Accommodation is one of the biggest needs in the city and through FAN, Hope Into Action has built partnerships with Jericho Road, Trent Vineyard and St Nics to set up and run houses for various people groups including mums with babies and young refugees.
Faith Action Nottingham was set up almost 10 years ago and now has over 40 member organisations, and representing different areas of the social action spectrum. With the help of the stats team at Church Urban Fund over the last few months we have been working to capture the impact of FAN and to understand better what the network achieves.
‘Being part of FAN felt like it gave me more permission to contact people… it felt easier to say we’re part of FAN’’. Sam Parfitt, GRACE Church Enterprises
…’What’s great about FAN, is that if you’re a church of 25, you’re not going to necessarily have the capacity to develop lots of your own ministries around social action, but linking in with FAN is easy – very minimal resource requirement.’ Luke Goss, Heart Church.
‘It really does help, working together, knowing what’s out there, and seeing how you fit into the bigger picture.’ Megan Towers, Open Homes Nottingham
Following the growth of Faith Action Nottingham, we now also coordinate Faith Action Mansfield, and have supported the set up of Faith Action Retford.
Would you like to find out more about Faith Action Nottingham? If the answer is yes, find out more on our FAN page.
Would you like to explore starting a similar project in your area? Then get in with contact Hannah