Welcome to UPDATE

As you will see from this issue, the Network continues to be active on a number of fronts, from rural issues to corporate sustainability. Inter faith activities have really taken off with the introduction at last of a faiths seat on the Regional Assembly, through which we have also gained representation on a number of the Assembly’s Panels.

A discussion on the work of the Network was facilitated through a Churches Assembly day, which is also covered in this issue. This was a very successful event, and will be held again in 2004 — probably on the third Saturday of September, so try to keep a space in your diary.

If you would like any more information on our activities or — most importantly — feel you could get involved, do call our office.

Jenny Kartupelis, Liaison Officer

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Churches and other faiths work together for the region

Producing a corporate sustainability index for the region

The first churches assembly draws over fifty delegates

Network hosts unique meeting on sugar production

Churches and other faiths work together for the region

Previous issues of Update have reported on the formation and activities of the East of England Faiths Leadership Conference. The body continues to meet regularly, and there have been a number of developments.

Change of name

At a meeting in September it was agreed to change the name to East of England Faiths Council (EEFC), which brings us more in line with other regional faiths councils and fora that, like EEFC, have become electoral colleges for their Regional Assemblies. The new name also reflects the body’s remit, which is to be externally oriented and act as a point of contact with secular groups.

This change of name and the publication of the East of England Faiths Calendar (see below) are being celebrated at an event on 4 December, which is very kindly hosted by Peterborough City Council in its Town Hall. The event is attracting delegates from the public, private and voluntary sectors to hear a keynote speech by John Battle MP, the Prime Minister’s Envoy to the Faith Communities, and presentations on the establishment and activities of EEFC.

Representation on the Regional Assembly

In the Summer edition of Update we reported that EEFC had been asked to provide a representative to the East of England Regional Assembly, an outcome towards which we had been working for some time.

We are now very pleased to say that Ermal Kirby, a Methodist Church Leader, has been chosen to take this seat, with his alternate being Zia Hassan, one of EEFC’s co-chairs, Ermal lives in Ilford, Essex; and Zia in Peterborough, where he is also chair of the city’s Interfaith Council.

In addition to this seat on the main Assembly, we have secured membership of the Executive Committee (on which Ermal will sit) and on three Panels. The Panels of the Assembly are important bodies, as they look in detail at regional strategies and activities. EEFC will be represented on the Employment and Skills Panel by Jim Platts (Quaker) and on the Refugee and Asylum Seeker Panel by Ellis Weinberger (Jewish; co-chair of EEFC). Jenny Kartupelis (EECN) will retain her membership of the Housing and Sustainable Communities Panel as a Trustee of COVER, and will continue as an observer on the Health and Social Inclusion Panel.

East of England Faiths Calendar

EEFC is producing a 2004 calendar giving the dates of major faith festivals on a month-by-month basis. Although similar publications exist, this version will carry regional contact details, and is designed to be a user-friendly summary for public bodies and institutions such as schools and hospitals.

Unfortunately it has not been possible to secure any funding for this project, so it is not available in a printed form, but the calendar can be found on the relevant page of the EEFC web site http://www.EEFaithsCouncil.org.uk/calen.htm It is simple to download and print for your use.

Statement to Defra

A report on the welfare of farm animals is currently under consideration by Defra, the government department concerned with farming, rural and environmental matters. One of the many issues this addresses is that of the slaughter of farm animals, proposing the possibility of pre-stunning in all cases. This would make such meat unfit for consumption by a number of faiths. Without wishing to oppose or support this particular proposition, EEFC did feel it should make a statement (click here) which has been sent to Defra. We have received an acknowledgement to the effect that faiths groups have been, and will be consulted.

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Producing a corporate sustainability index for the region
by Revd Crispin White, member of EECN Executive

In addition to being the Industrial Chaplain to Harlow, working with the Essex Churches Council for Industry and Commerce, I am also the parish priest of two rural villages in North West Essex. Nevertheless, in April 2001 I accepted a one year, one-day-a-week secondment on behalf of the East of England Churches Network with the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).

The idea at the outset was that I would apply my national and international experience of working on issues of corporate responsibility to assist EEDA in investigating whether there were commonalities of experience which might be cross-matched for the benefit of developing patterns of corporate responsibility in the Region.

Unfortunately, this proved to not be possible for a variety of reasons. From my side, not unnaturally, my work has been a critique of corporate performance and accountability, and EEDA did not feel that this would necessarily be an appropriate stance. From their side, of course, there were different problems; for example, most people seemed uncertain what they wanted me to do but they were very welcoming. Moreover, at virtually the time I arrived, EEDA’s reference points were changed, and with its reporting base shifting to the Department of Trade & Industry it became clear that there was much less opportunity for the strategies which had been envisaged in the preparation of my secondment.

However, corporate sustainability proved to be the place where it looked as if I might be able to make a contribution and a plan was developed to research and prepare what is usually referred to as a ‘triple bottom line’ index of our region. The result was intended to be a publication which would offer in a straightforward graphic manner some data showing what had been achieved in our Region for sustainable business trends and what the goals might be. The ‘triple bottom line’ looks at:

Much of the rest of the time during the year was spent developing and discussing the criteria and the data sources and then sifting the data into a usable form, cross-checking it as I went. I found it fascinating and I also enjoyed the working environment in EEDA’s offices. I had never been in such a work environment before — the open plan quasi-governmental office. One saw and learnt a lot: I suppose that the main criticism is that these kinds of organisations end up being catch-alls for too many projects of too diverse a nature for them to realistically be able to achieve.

My own project was assigned to be done in partnership with Business in the Community and that partnership never quite worked out. The document was to have been published on two separate occasions since the secondment itself ended. The first occasion was to be in July 2002 and the second in November that year but by September 2003 it still had not seen the light of day. In desperation to enable us to get something out of the secondment the EECN Executive decided to publish the document itself and you can now find it on the EECN website.

But I don’t want to leave it quite there. “Was it worth it?” is a question that I have to respond to. It was certainly frustrating! Nevertheless, it was worth it for me and I enjoyed it in a strange sort of a way. I hope it was also worth it from the churches’ point of view because it again demonstrated that the churches do care about regionalisation, about economic development, about wholeness in human life and not just about a narrow agenda of personal religious belief. We are a significant sector of the regional community and we represent a large economic, social and community resource. If I were able through this project to make a perceived contribution to that understanding then what I did was worthwhile.

To see the EECN presentation based on this work click here.

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The first churches assembly draws over fifty delegates

This year, as a departure from the usual Network meeting, it was decided to hold a Churches Assembly — an event designed to give both regular Network attenders and others from the churches an insight into the work of EECN, and an overview of the context in which it works.

Over 50 people from a range of denominations, and both ordained and lay, came to the half day meeting at Red Lodge’s Millennium Centre on Saturday 6 September. They were welcomed by EECN Chair, the Right Reverend Christopher Herbert, Bishop of St Albans, who explained the importance of the meeting as an opportunity to share information, and for the EECN Executive to gain valuable feedback on the direction and activities of the organisation.

An excellent introduction to the workings of the bodies of regional governance with which EECN has a continuing dialogue was given by Brian Stewart, Chief Executive of the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA). He explained how EERA had been set up to scrutinise the strategy and work of the East of England Development Agency and has over 100 Local Authority and Community members. The third point of the ‘triangle’ of regional governance for our six counties is GO-East, the Government Office which acts as a branch of a number of government departments, and can be seen as the eyes and ears of central government.

The East of England is, by comparison with some other English regions, fast developing and affluent. This brings its own pressures, and Malcolm Cooper, Industrial Chaplain for Gravesham, Kent explained how these were working on the Thames Gateway sub-region, which covers part of the East and part of the South East regions. The Thames Gateway is expected to accommodate a quite staggering amount of new building — homes and commercial property — in the next twenty years or so. Revd. Cooper said that he believed the Church should play a central role in ensuring that the needs of People be recognised and balanced against the drive to Power and Profit.

Moving from the urban to the rural, David Wood of Rural Action East, the region’s rural umbrella body, painted a picture of developments in this sector, and the role played by RAE. This could be broadly equated to that of EECN insofar as it facilitates networking between local and specialists rural interests, and represents them all to bodies of regional governance through consultation and joint activities.

Revd. Hugh Searle of Ely Diocese then talked about the churches’ part in the rural picture, and how EECN and his Diocese have been leading the way in facilitating consultation, especially through the Food and Farming event on which we reported in the last copy of Update. EECN is now being increasingly invited to contribute to rural and environmental debates, and will shortly be hosting a conference on sugar production.

EECN’s input to EEDA, through a second secondment, was described by Revd. Crispin White, whose work on sustainable development and its outcome as a report are described elsewhere in this issue of Update.

After a short break, Bishop Christopher reviewed the question of regionalisation, and how the churches have been developing their response to this.

The emphasis then moved to EECN itself as Liaison Officer Jenny Kartupelis explained the main activities and progress over the last year. These included raising awareness of the role of churches, through secondments, conferences and presentations, and demonstrating its vale through research. Most importantly, EECN had also assisted in the formation and continuing development of the East of England Faiths Leadership Conference (now renamed Faiths Council), and securing a faith seat on the Regional Assembly. In conclusion, however, she stressed the need for continued support of EECN’s growing role.

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Network hosts unique meeting on sugar production

‘We have many things in common’ said Mike Blacker, chair of the NFU Sugar Board at a seminar organised by the Network, which involved over 60 representatives from the churches, politicians, farmers, sugar traders and the UK sugar industry. The aim of the day, held in Huntingdon in early November, was to consider some of the implications of the proposed changes to the EU Sugar Regime.

Representatives from Zambia and Mauritius both made clear that full liberalisation of the EU sugar market could potentially damage the sugar industry in not only their countries but also in many developing countries. This is contrary to the popular perception of many that such liberalisation would benefit those countries. Of the three options contained within the EU proposals they favoured an EU market in which countries are allowed agreed levels of access at remunerative prices.

If access is granted at a price that is too low then much of the ongoing development provided by the sugar industry, such as the infrastructure of roads, schools and healthcare, would be lost. Likewise full liberalisation of the world market could mean that many of the least developed countries lose out to more cost effective producers such as Brazil. Matt Griffiths from CAFOD (the Catholic overseas development agency) challenged the meeting to make globalisation work for poor people.

Andrew Kuyk from Defra explained the existing regime and outlined the EU proposals for consultation: continuation of the existing scheme; full liberalisation or an option involving price cuts. Several expressed the hope that the EU would come up with a fourth option that would be fair to all parties.

In summing up the meeting the Right Reverend Graham James, Bishop of Norwich said that ‘Britain had always shared the sugar industry with the Commonwealth and this had influenced the EU sugar policy. The day had emphasised the interconnectedness between Britain and the rest of the world.’

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