We are Christians tackling poverty together in England
We bring the Church together to support Christians called to work with the poorest and most marginalised in England, transforming lives.
We are the Church of England’s response to poverty in this country, working in partnership with Christians who feel called to put their faith into action.
Our vision is for every church, in every community, tackling poverty together by giving time, money, action and prayer. We need people to join us now.
Our aim is to increase the passion within the Church for the poor and marginalised in this country and to make the Church’s response more effective.
Each year we support over 300 church and Christian projects tackling poverty.
Our values
We recognise the inherent worth of every human being – all are made in the image of God.
We believe in a person-centred approach – building relationships for the long term.
We value local action by local people.
We embrace the difficult and demanding – people and places
Church Urban Fund has undertaken research, in collaboration with other agencies, which examines the effectiveness of faith-based social action and the challenges and opportunities that this presents.
Much of this research is available from us for free, but we ask you to consider making a donation to us to support the projects that have contributed to the research.
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One of the surveys has been looking at the problems of youth unemployment……………
I AM ONE IN A MILLION
Young People’s experience of unemployment
Youth unemployment is at a record high, affecting over one million young people in the UK. The purpose of this study is to highlight this issue by voicing the stories of young people with first-hand experience of unemployment. Our research is based on 18 focus groups hosted by youth projects funded or supported by Frontier Youth Trust and Church Urban Fund. This note summarises the key
findings and looks at what churches and voluntary groups could do to respond to the issues raised by young people.
As the experiences of these young people show, unemployment is about much more than not having a job or surviving on benefits. It undermines young people’s self-confidence and sense of purpose, and stigmatises them. At its worst, it leads to a loss of hope and dignity when young people should be looking forward to their future.
The emotional, practical and financial support provided by family and friends is highly valued by young people, helping them to negotiate what is often a complex and stressful situation. Churches and faith-based groups have an important role in providing this kind of informal support, especially to young people who are living independently or require additional help. Young people respond best to relational ways of working, based on strong relationships with leaders who have genuine empathy with young people.
Young people feel that employers are failing to acknowledge and fulfil their responsibilities – and they feel they are caught in a vicious cycle whereby they can’t get a job without experience, and they can’t get the required experience without a job. What young people want is to be given a proper chance to show what they can contribute to prospective employers; specifically, they would like more and better quality apprenticeships, work placements or trials that offer a real prospect of a job, and more on-the job training.
Churches could and should be doing more, by raising awareness about youth unemployment and tackling the problem in their local community through listening workshops, mentoring and personal development schemes, work clubs, networking with local businesses, and helping to establish social enterprises. National churches and faith-based organisations have an important supportive role.
Find out more at cuf.org.uk
Church Urban Fund