Sheffield Faiths Forum—supporting faith groups:
- to be more effectively involved in decision-making in the City
- to work together within local communities
- to help the needs of excluded people be heard and met, and
- to improve faith awareness in Sheffield.
Sheffield Faiths Forum is a voluntary organisation launched in March 2007 and was supported by OFFER (Sheffield’s Community Empowerment Network), who ceased trading in March 2010 after Council funding ended.
Sheffield Faiths Forum exists to:
- increase the ability of faith groups to be heard and influence decision-making within the City; and
- ensure that the extensive skills and experience of local faith communities are valued and utilised to their potential.
Members of the Faiths Forum have been recruited from the main faith traditions within Sheffield on the basis of their skills and experience in their faith community and civic life.
The Forum supports a network of around 400 faith groups, faith related agencies and faith based community projects to engage in the wider life of the city. It has also developed formal links with statutory, voluntary and community partners and the Local Strategic Partnership (Sheffield First).
Why was it developed?
The development of the Faiths Forum was led by faith groups and faith leaders in Sheffield in order to support faith group involvement in key issues for the City including regeneration, community cohesion, responding to emergencies and crises, improving faith awareness and explaining the contribution of faith communities to wider society.
How is it run?
Sheffield Faiths Forum is an unincorporated voluntary organisation which was funded by the Capacity Builders Improving Reach Programme which ended on 31 March 2011. The Forum has secured short-term funding from Sheffield City Council until June 2011 and is presently investigating ways to continue its work from external funding sources. There are two staff members (1 full time and 1 part-time).
What does it do?
The Faiths Forum meets on a monthly basis and manages an ongoing programme of events and projects which support our aims at both a city-wide and neighbourhood level.
Each year the Faiths Forum consults with faith groups in the city to set its priorities for the coming year – those identified for 2008/09 include:
- Community Cohesion
- Neighbourhood based work
- Young People
- Faith group visits.
Background - find out about our history and how Sheffield Faiths Forum was developed
SFF Members - find out who are the current members of Sheffield Faiths Forum
Values and aims - find out about our values, purpose, aims and characteristics