Updated: Added text on Strengthening Faith Institutions.
Government is taking action when it can make a genuine difference. Action is usually most effective when it is led by the people it most concerns. But in a few cases government can, and should, promote targeted activities which can make a real difference, acting in partnership with businesses, voluntary organisations and communities.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) does not run a national programme to deliver integration across the country, but has, and is supporting projects which set direction and pioneer innovative ideas in order to encourage leadership and mobilise action at a local level.
These projects build on the widespread celebration of national identity seen during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympic Games and form part of a wider campaign promoting the importance of community participation.
Projects to promote common ground
Inter Faith Week
National Inter Faith Week is held every November by the Inter Faith Network, to bring people of different faiths together to serve their communities and learn more about each other. DCLG is investing £440,000 over 2 years in the Inter Faith Network to promote strong and sustainable relations between different faith communities.
World War 1 Victoria Cross graves restoration
DCLG is providing £100,000 to support the restoration and maintenance of Victoria Cross recipients’ graves from World War 1. The project aims to restore all of these graves in need of repair. Headstones will be cleaned or replaced so that the final resting place of those who received the highest military award for valour is a truly fitting tribute to their sacrifice.
World War 1 battlefield visits
DCLG and the Department for Education are providing £5.3 million for 2 school children and 1 teacher from every English state-aided school to visit World War 1 battlefields. Children will link this trip with their local area history.
World War 1 Victoria Cross paving stones
We’re providing £310,000 to lay commemorative paving stones for Victoria Cross recipients from the First World War.
World War 1 Curzon lectures
We’ve funded 50 lectures to help 5,000 people learn about the contribution of Commonwealth soldiers during the First World War.
Projects to promote responsibility
Together in Service
A 3-year programme of faith-based social action building on the success of A Year Of Service in 2012. Every month the social action of a different faith community will be celebrated and new multi-faith projects will be encouraged. It will be supported by a Together in Service fellowship of willing volunteers and a small grants fund to kick-start new inter faith projects.
Youth United
We’re giving young people a chance to work together and learn about responsibility and self-discipline, through a £10 million grant over 2 and a half years to support Youth United, whose member organisations include the Scouts Association, Girlguiding UK, Army Cadets, Volunteer Police Cadets and St John Ambulance. Youth United will set up 600 new cadets units, recruit 2,700 adult volunteers and provide 10,800 more places for young people.
Projects to support mobility
Asian cuisine programme (Mastara Chef)
This industry-led programme:
supports 10 scholarships for students to study culinary arts management with a focus on Asian cuisine at the University of West London
seeks to raise funds to promote the scholarship programme and to celebrate apprenticeships in Asian cuisine and the contribution of the Asian cuisine sector
Community-based English language competition
We’re providing £6 million of funding up to June 2015 to promote community-based English language learning – shared between 6 winning projects who will reach 24,000 adults with the lowest levels of English.
Industrial Cadets
We support the Industrial Cadets Scheme, enthusing 800 young people about a career in industry through short placements with 25 leading industrial firms.
Opening Doors
The Opening Doors partnership is establishing an enterprise development programme to train young unemployed and socially disadvantaged people in Haringey, Brent and Croydon to be entrepreneurs.
The Enterprise Challenge
Working with private sector partners, Mosaic’s Enterprise Challenge is a realistic business scenario where young people develop and market a new product. The Enterprise Challenge has engaged around 5,000 students in 116 schools across the country.
Projects to support participation
Near Neighbours
We’re providing £8.5 million to the Church Urban Fund’s Near Neighbours project to get people of different faiths working together on projects to improve their neighbourhood. So far over 570 grants have been awarded.
Our Big Gig
We’re working with Superact to deliver a national mass-participation musical event from the 11 to 13 July 2014, together with targeted support to selected priority areas over a longer period. The aim is to bring together people from diverse communities and encourage local participation in music on an on-going basis.
Post Office Community Enterprise Fund
Together with the Post Office, we are funding 25 innovative schemes which enhance the role of post offices as community hubs to support local groups, people and businesses.
Strengthening Faith Institutions
We are launching a new programme to boost the capacity of faith groups. We are looking for an organisation or consortium with the vision, capability and credibility to help strengthen and support faith institutions. Interested organisations are invited to an event on 21 January to discuss how this programme can best support groups of all faiths.
Strengthening Faith Institutions: new programme to boost the capacity of faith groups
(PDF, 123KB, 1 page)
Projects to support tackling extremism and intolerance
Anne Frank Trust UK
We’ve provided £210,000 to the Anne Frank Trust which challenges all forms of prejudice and discrimination among 20,000 young people, and inspires them to become active and responsible members of their community.
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT)
DCLG provides almost £1 million to HMDT to raise awareness of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. They support local organisations to hold their own activities for Holocaust Memorial Day and help learn the lessons of the past to create a safer future. HMDT 2014 was the most successful campaign to date with over 2,400 local projects running across the UK.
Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (Tell MAMA)
We’ve partnered with Muslim communities to establish and fund Tell MAMA, the first dedicated organisation for monitoring, recording and reporting anti-Muslim hate crime.
Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission
We’re supporting the Prime Minister’s Commission of Enquiry to investigate how best to commemorate the Holocaust and to teach future generations in light of lack of first hand testimony.
Remembering Srebrenica
This project raises awareness of the Srebrenica genocide, to teach the consequences of hatred and intolerance.
Show Racism the Red Card
This project is to run workshops for 9,400 11-to-18-year-olds in schools across England, aimed at countering racist and anti-Muslim hatred.