Government Offers Funding for Faith Leader Training Initiative

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is inviting charitable organisations to apply for funding to design and deliver voluntary training courses to faith leaders and those in pastoral roles in faith organisations to support communities.

There is a budget of £200,000 available per financial year to fund this initiative from January 2019 to March 2020. It is expected that there will be one programme provider though the grant could be divided between two separate providers.

The training should be accessible for all faith leaders and those in pastoral roles in faith organisations, regardless of faith or belief, with a view to enabling and supporting confident ministering in a 21st century context.

For the purposes of this programme, a ‘faith leader’ refers to those in officially appointed religious roles as well as leaders, trustees, staff and volunteers in significant pastoral and outward-facing roles within faith institutions and communities.

To be eligible, the organisation, or the lead partner in a consortium bid, must:

• Be a registered charity or have charitable status.
• Be based in England. UK-wide organisations will be eligible to submit bids, providing the work is to be delivered in England.
• If applying as a consortium, organisations must have an agreed lead partner to manage the programme and a system for dividing the work and funds between partners and for managing performance.
• Have a credible community presence.

The training should ensure that faith leaders are well-equipped and well-positioned to teach their congregations about their rights and responsibilities in the following areas, as well as to be able to identify issues, support affected individuals and signpost people to relevant guidance, legislation and support services in the following areas:

• Domestic Abuse
• Forced Marriage
• Female Genital Mutilation
• Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
• Mental Health.

Training programmes should also cover:

• Marriage legislation
• Equalities legislation
• Hate crime legislation and how to respond to / report hate crime.
• Shared values.

The deadline for applications is 20 December 2018 (5pm).

Full details…