Church Urban Fund

The Church Urban Fund is a charitable organisation set up by the Church of England in 1987 designed to assist in deprived and impoverished areas of the country. Operating in partnership with faith organisations working at the local level, the fund aims to provide a range of support to help these groups to serve their communities.

Mission statement

The fund describes itself as follows:

"[We are] a not for profit organisation supporting social action in the poorest areas of England. We resource people working at the local level who are putting their faith into action in the places where they live. By partnering with other organisations, we support men and women, who are seeking to do extraordinary things for the good of others in their communities" ^[1]

Origins

The creation of the Church Urban Fund was arguably one of the most important and lasting legacies of the controversial "Faith in the City" report, produced by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas in 1985.

Timeline

• 1985 ‘Faith in the City’ report produced, highlighting the social turmoil existing in many of England’s cities.
• 1987 The Church Urban Fund launched by the Church of England as a response to ‘Faith in the City’ with the aim of supporting local projects tackling poverty in England’s poorest communities. It was envisaged that CUF would have a 20-year life span.
• 1988 A national campaign launched to raise £18 million from Church members.
• 1990 £3.2 million was awarded to projects in England’s inner cities and outer housing estates during the year.
• 1991 Over £18 million had been raised by the national campaign since 1987.
• 1996 By the end of 1996, the Fund had awarded over £25 million to over 1,180 projects.
• 1998 The Church Urban Fund celebrated its 10th anniversary. Two thousand people from CUF supported projects attended a day of music, seminars and prayer in Coventry Cathedral.
• 1998 CUF’s Development Programme was established to work with partners outside the Church and to build practical and strategic alliances within church structures at all levels.
• 2000 and 2002 Debates at Synod affirmed the Church’s commitment to ministry alongside the poor and marginalised.
• 2003-2004 Extensive consultation at various levels across the dioceses with the Urban Bishop’s Panel, Synod members, the public and voluntary sectors, to assess the need for continuing CUF and how the organisation should change to be more effective within its contemporary context.
• 2005 Debate at Synod commended the Church Urban Fund and backed its continuation. In 2005 CUF had invested more than £55 million in over 4,400 local faith based projects in the poorest areas of England.
• 2006 The Fundraising Campaign due in 2006 to allow CUF to continue to allocate over £3 million each year to projects addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities across England

References

1. The Church Urban Fund