Tuesday 20 April 2010

Apologies for returning to this......

When Kent County Council announced it was investing significant resources to develop and sustain a Kent-wide credit union I was amazed. Amazed that a Conservative led council was taking this initiative, particularly after my experience with Essex County Council which was less than helpful in advancing the cause of Essex Savers Credit Union.

I was very disappointed by the failure of the voluntary sector (including faith groups) in Kent to support this initiative, as the groups likely to benefit most from a credit union are the very ones voluntary and faith groups help.

My latest endeavour is to promote a foodbank for Kent. One of the leading charities in the UK is FareShare which has a number of projects across the nation. One is in Leicester where it is partnered by the Leicester Diocese of The Church of England, or to be more specific, by the Diocese's Social Responsibility Department.

The Canterbury and Rochester Dioceses used to have a shared social responsibility department - Church in Society - which became an independent charity.

Now there is nothing (at least nothing in the public domain). It would have been sensible to explore the potential for a foodbank with FareShare and CIS as partners along the Leicester model. Who speaks now for social responsibility in the two dioceses?

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