FAITH communities contribute more than £2 billion to the UK economy, and play a crucial part in contemporary society, a study commissioned in association with the Welsh Assembly Government has said.
The figure is based on the conservative estimate of £102 million contributed to the Welsh economy by faith communities in Wales. The study, Faith in Wales: Counting for communities, covered Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and Sikh communities. It was produced by Gweini, the Council of the Christian Voluntary Sector in Wales, and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, working with the Welsh Assembly.
It estimates that Wales has roughly twice as many worshipping congregations (4390) per head of population as the rest of Great Britain, and that more than 98 per cent of the congregations are Christian churches. The largest single grouping is the Church in Wales, which has 30 per cent of the Welsh total.
Faith communities provide a wide range of services, including many that the Government is not well equipped to deliver, says the report. It identified hospital visiting, work with under-14s, social activities (including lunch clubs and coffee bars), marriage preparation, and support for the bereaved as the five most common. Choral music tops the list of cultural activities in which faith groups are involved.
The 2.5 million tourists visiting the 1600 listed church buildings boost the UK economy, but the largest individual contribution is identified as the volunteer hours organised by faith groups on behalf of the wider community.
There are estimated to be 42,000 such volunteers, of which 41,000 are from churches. They do 79,000 hours a week. The average of ten volunteers per Christian congregation give an average of two hours a week each.
The report recounts the involvement of faith communities in areas such as numeracy training, English-language skills, social enterprise or community business, alcohol and drug awareness, and personal finances. This suggests “not only that faith communities continue to provide support to local communities in traditional areas of need, but that they are also keen to move into many new areas of need and opportunities for service”.
Purpose-built community centres figure strongly in the report: 1800 faith groups are estimated to rent space in them to outside organisations, while 1100 supply rooms free of charge.
The Archbishop of Canterbury praised the contribution of religious people to public life. “People of faith looking to promote the benefits of partnership between different faith communities and between faith and government will find much in [the report] to commend,” he said.
Faith in Wales: Counting for communities is downloadable at: www.gweini.org.uk/audit/report.htm |
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