It continues to have close links to the Diocese and is part of Church Urban Fund’s ‘Together Network’ – an alliance of like-minded charities across the country.
Imagine Norfolk Together works primarily in King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth addressing social issues in partnership with churches and the wider community.
Anna Heydon, who is a Development Worker for Imagine Norfolk Together in Great Yarmouth explains more:
Our role is to bring together all the relevant parties and develop a coordinated approach regarding social action projects. Our objective is to support churches of all denominations to show God’s love in practical ways in their communities.
Through regular discussions and meetings with church leaders and members, we are able to raise awareness of social issues facing our areas, and connect with those individuals and churches who are passionate about addressing them. Where they choose to initiate a new project, or partner with others doing similar work, we can provide assistance in a variety of ways. We support the exploration, initiation, maintenance, and expansion of projects. This may be by introducing them to potential partners, assisting them with training, recruiting volunteers, establishing the correct governance, helping to find funding or even registering as a charity.
Over the last seven years we have helped birth a wide range of projects. These have included night shelters, foodbanks, befriending services, holiday food projects, and a men’s shed. We have supported other projects, often guiding them from a dream to a reality. Our work has regularly addressed issues such as homelessness, mental health, modern slavery and human trafficking, loneliness, and food poverty.
Since 2016 we have helped 14 churches, 78 new projects have been started, 40 existing projects supported, 5 charities created, 132 workshops and presentations delivered, £463,162 of funding secured for churches and charities.
However, most significantly we believe our work has had an impact on the lives of individuals. A man I met recently at a drop-in for homeless people had been helped by this church-led project through his time on the streets and continues to be supported and cared for as he makes the move into accommodation. Many of the people who benefit from the projects we support we will never meet, but we thank God for the people from our churches who are walking alongside them.