The ChurchWorks Commission has a bold ambition to increase the scale, impact, and sustainability of existing church initiatives to support good mental health and wellbeing.
Through our new Church Action on Wellbeing initiative, we want to encourage and support every church to explore how they can help people improve their mental health and enhance their wellbeing.
Churches have an important role to play in being first responders and a listening ear to anyone struggling with their mental health, from signposting them to local support to offering a range of socially prescribed activities and wellbeing initiatives to offering chaplaincy in community settings and workplaces.
Every day churches are finding new ways to support their communities, from crisis cafes, specialist initiatives to support bereavement and loss, or bringing people together through crafting or gardening clubs, to running specialist courses on good mental health, or equipping themselves with new listening skills.
Other churches have invited social prescribing link workers from their local GP surgery to hold drop-in sessions at the church’s community pantry, community cafe, or Warm Welcome Space. Churches often have a relationship with vulnerable members of the community, and these drop-ins enable these people to connect with statutory services that can help them.
Research from the National Churches Trust report, The House of Good, shows the huge impact churches make on community wellbeing. Its 2020 report found that the total economic and social value that church buildings generate across the UK is at least £12.4 billion a year, which equates to around £300,000 per church.
We know that hundreds of churches up and down the country have created amazing initiatives to support good mental health and wellbeing. We want to inspire other churches to get involved by sharing all your ideas. We would love to tell your story and create a bank of good practice ideas to encourage other churches to get involved. All ideas, big, and small, are needed, so please get in touch if you have a story to share.
We are also collecting information about the number of churches supporting wellbeing, so we have a good picture of the amazing work that’s happening in communities already. Knowing what you are doing will help us pinpoint any cold spots and help us focus on creating more wellbeing initiatives where they are most needed.
There are around 39,000 churches across the UK. If every church or place of worship created just one small wellbeing project, we could make an extraordinary impact on people struggling with poor mental health, giving them every opportunity to boost their welling and happiness.
We would love to hear about what your church is doing to enhance the wellbeing of your local community. If you have a story to share, please get in touch with esther.platt@goodfaith.org.uk.