The Second Church Estates Commissioner, Dame Caroline Spelman MP, welcomed delegates in Parliament to celebrate the work of the Church of England’s Social Cohesion outreach programme; Near Neighbours and the work of the Education Service, which schools over one million pupils across the UK.
The event, which celebrated role of the Church of England in Community Cohesion, was attended by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid MP, whose department has been supporting the Near Neighbours project. Near Neighbour’s social action scheme has benefited communities across the UK; working with people of all faiths and none to help build new relationships in inner city communities.
Dame Caroline said: ‘I was delighted to host the annual Church Commissioner's Reception in Parliament and thank the Secretary of State for his support with this scheme.
‘During the event, those who have been intimately involved with the Near Neighbour's project in communities across the UK had the opportunity to talk about their work. From working in the new and recently converted 2012 Olympic village, (now an ethnically diverse community made up of local authority and private housing) to providing a platform for improved relations between the Muslim and Jewish communities in Bradford - this project brings together people from different communities across the UK - those of all faiths and none, which may otherwise have rarely interacted with one another and instead lived parallel but separate lives’.