CUF Xchange Events aims to promote events which enable you to:

• Strengthen aspects of your work that have been effective or distinctive.
  
• Work with and resolve the problems you confront.
  
• Strengthen Your Voice, enabling you to engage with government and policy makers, locally, regionally and nationally.
  

News
REF:urb Manchester: Power, Participation and Partnership
CUF Xchange recently sponsored the REF:urb event in Manchester. At the event, the start of a five day England tour, community activitist Robert Linthicum - an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church and founder of Partners In Urban Transformation - affirmed the importance of relationship in community organising in order to bring people together and nurture collective responses to problems. "The problem with a problem is that if it remains unspoken, its a problem to do with you. Problems become privatised." By taking time to listen to people and providing space for people to share problems they experience, people can see what trouble they may be in and decide how to respond to them collectively. The process involves people using their power - defined by Linthicum as the ability, capacity and willingness to act. It is this process according to Linthicum which needs organisation, and the involvement of faith groups.

Community Organisor Robert Linthicum acknowledged that projects and programmes frequently assert their own agenda, rather than starting with the people. "People determine what is best, not projects or programmes."

With reference to the Hebrew tradition and the stories of Jeremiah and Nehemiah, Linthicum challenged delegates to consider the impact of their work to confront the effects of poverty. "Projects that set out to help people will by their nature never enable people to help themselves - to be empowered. Never do for others what they can do for themselves."

Concluding the meeting the 30 delegates attending identified key insights for faith groups and projects to consider. These included:

• The importance of projects working at engaging community participation and building their community organisation skills.
• Faith groups in isolation cannot solve the worlds problems - faith projects need to work alongside other individuals and groups.
  
• Listening to different voices in neighbourhoods and building relationship takes time but is vital in growing trust.
  
• Faith groups need to consider how effective projects are as methods to address poverty.
  
• Church institutions need to develop skills and mechanisms which enable people - congregations and communities - to be empowered.

The event was recorded by REF:urb. We'll link to the free download as soon as its available.


Xchange Events: Sharing Insights - Nurturing Collaboration
In addition to hosting an annual conference CUF Xchange works with a range of projects and groups to organise events which bring faith-based projects together to share insights. Groups may share work in a geographical area or across a specific theme (e.g. asylum and destitution).

If you're interested in an Xchange event for your group or network email CUF Xchange.


Xchange Groups: Exploring Issues - Provoking Change
Meeting a minimum of three times annually Xchange Groups bring between 6 to 12 practitioners together for a few hours to share concerns and explore issues in detail. Xchange Groups each share a geographical region or thematic interest. With focused discussion, insights and findings are documented and diseminated to local, regional and central government. Xchange Groups aim to nurture dislaogue between practitioners and government.

Xchange groups are being established in Newcastle and Sunderland, Birmingham, London and Truro and across the following thematic areas: Youth work, Muslim community development, Black Majority Church projects and housing estate projects.

If you're interested in establishing an Xchange Group contact CUF Xchange. Email website@cufx.org.uk