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About Janice
It's many years since I trained as a Community and Youth Worker in Birmingham. Most of my working life has been spent in the voluntary and community sector in Greater Manchester. I'm passionate about churches engaging with their communities and making a difference. I'm committed to addressing inequalities. I grew up on the Wirral and now live with my family in Sale where we worship at St Anne's with St Francis Sale.
What do I do?
· Manage and lead all areas of social responsibility work
· Support clergy and lay people in urban churches
especially parishes with high levels of multiple deprivation. I work alongside parishes, identify resources, produce newsletters and provide opportunities for mutual help and support.
· Co-ordinate action on urban issues through the Urban Mission and Ministry Committee. As a sub committee of the Committee for Social Responsibility, this group is responsible for taking a strategic overview of urban matters in the diocese and allocates funds for example from the Church Urban Fund, to resource church based community projects. Urban clergy meet twice a year with Bishops in Archdeaconry groups. Ideas, information and matters of concern are fed back through representatives to the Urban Mission and Ministry Committee.
· Act as the Diocesan Link Officer for the Church Urban Fund. Over the years many parishes have benefited from Church Urban Fund grants. Chester diocese has recently become a 'grant making' diocese with the Church Urban Fund. This means that we submit an Annual Delivery Plan to the Church Urban Fund detailing how we will spend the funding allocated to us each year. This is a very different model from the past. As a grant making diocese we will be working with the Church Urban Fund in a deliberate and strategic way to target poverty and disadvantage.
· Provide advice and resources to any church in the diocese on community engagement for example, community audits, funding, setting up and developing social action projects, evaluation etc.
Plans for the future
To raise awareness of and encourage parishes to support the Challenging Poverty Campaign initiated by the Church Urban Fund and supported by other national faith based organisations.
To begin to address real concerns about the sustainability of church based projects by encouraging them to develop aspects of their work into social enterprises.
To work alongside clergy and lay people to create and produce resources for sharing across the diocese.
Contact details:
Janice Mason Director/Urban Officer
Committee for Social Responsibility
Church House
Lower Lane
Aldford
Chester CH3 6HP
Telephone: 01244 620444
Email:janice.mason@chester.anglican.org
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