Heather Bellamy spoke with the Cinnamon Network Founder, Matt Bird about the results of the audit, the working relationship between Government and the Church and his hopes for the difference the audit will make to local communities

Matt: The diversity of this work is phenomenal. Whether it's working with homeless people during the coldest month of the year; whether it's visiting elderly isolated people in their homes; whether it's working with young people who are at risk of exclusion from school; or whether it's working in towns and city centres on a Friday and Saturday night diffusing difficult situations. The breadth of what the Church and other faith groups do is incredibly broad. But what our research did show, was it wasn't just for the elderly and for young people, but it was people of all ages that have benefitted from the work that the Church and the faith groups do.

Heather: So if faith groups weren't doing this work, in a time of Government cuts and local council cuts, who would be doing this work?

Matt: I don't think anybody would be Heather and that's the incredibly encouraging thing about having this evidence; our contribution in society is enormous. We're going to be running this survey again in five years' time prior to the next General Election, so we can measure if what the church is doing is remaining static, or if it's decreasing, or what we hope for is that what the church is doing is going to be increasing as we step in to increasingly meet the needs of people struggling in our communities.

Heather: What motivates these groups to give their time as volunteers, to do this work for the community?

Matt: People come to charity and philanthropy with lots of motives. Obviously as a Christian, and for Christians reading this, our motive is Jesus. As we've experienced Jesus' unconditional love for us, so we are showing his unconditional love for our communities. But what's really important is that we are motivated by him and that what we do in the community is for people of all faith and no faith at all. What we do is offered indiscriminately.

Heather: Has this report been given to Government?

Matt: Yes. We have sent a couple of reports to the Prime Minister and various members of the Cabinet. We are in conversations now with a number of Government departments about how we can, as a Church, work more closely with them. One of the really exciting things that's happened directly as a result of this, is the increase in partnership now between police forces and the Church. Much of the demand on the police forces time is to do with welfare and not to do with crime. So we are saying to police forces, "Actually, what the Church does reduces the welfare demand on your services. So you can focus on criminality and we can focus on strengthening communities". That's been one of the more tangible outcomes of the 'Cinnamon Faith Action Audit'.

Heather: I believe there's also an all-party parliamentary group covenant, on working with faith groups. What is that?

Matt: It's a commitment between local authorities and local faith groups to say, "Let's not allow there to be prejudice between us. Let's work with each other, with good will and positive intent". I was with a group of church leaders and the Chief Exec of the Local Authority, talking about the cuts that are coming and the impact on communities, and one church leader said; "You know, as we work in communities, we share our faith. Is that an obstacle to us working together?" And the Chief Exec pondered for a moment and said, "We're so desperate, we'll work with anybody." And there is that air of desperation in local authorities, of, "Who can we turn to for help, to help try to protect those most vulnerable people in our communities?", and it's great that the churches are responding so positively.

Heather: How many MP's have signed up to that covenant?

Matt: That's a question I don't know an answer to. Rather than MPs it's actually local authorities. I think three local authorities have signed at the moment, but more are looking to do so. Members of Parliament are very supportive of all that the Cinnamon Network's doing and whether the Members of Parliament have a faith or not, they are communicating with the churches in their constituency about the great opportunity that the Cinnamon Network provides to help support those churches with advice and models of projects and funding and training, to make a really positive difference in communities.

Heather: What's your opinion of how this current Government is working with faith groups?

Matt: I think the opportunities for us to work with the current Government has never been better. I think over the last decade we've seen a real shift of mind-set. At one stage there was a nervousness to work with faith groups and to work with the Church. What I find is there's an incredible openness to sit at the table and to talk with people about how we address those most pressing issues in our communities. I think there's a tremendous openness to partnership.

Heather: Do you have any further hopes of what you'd like to see this current audit achieve?

Matt: Yes. There are 57 towns and cities all across the United Kingdom that took part in the research. We are publishing a local report in each of those 57 locations, in order to launch that research and launch that report and to start consultation with the local authorities, local police and other agencies. Many of those events will be happening over the next few months. There's a lot of work going on about how this drives change in local communities; about helping people of different backgrounds and different institutions work with the Church to make a positive difference.

Heather: If anybody wants to read this report, how can they do that?

Matt: The best thing to do is to go online to www.cinnamonnetwork.co.uk and you can download a copy of the national report from the homepage there and make contact with your local groups and get involved in that way.