As we move away from the COVID crisis and lockdown seems an ever distant memory, we can find ourselves looking back at what we had to do with a certain bemusement. Did we really huddle outside around fires in our gardens with friends, or on doorsteps, while a perfectly warm house was behind us? Did […]
Birthdays matter
It was my birthday recently and, strangely, I was looking forward to the day. Growing up, birthdays were not a big thing. The Singletons made more of Christmas, which of course is a birthday of sorts but at Christmas everybody gets to exchange gifts. Christmas was, as it is for many people, an important festival […]
Faith and Levelling Up
Restoring community is a nebulous ambition. As is the language of “levelling up”. What is clear, however, is that local communities (perhaps faith communities in particular) have a level of assets or social capital which would be hard to replicate through mere financial investment or a redeployment of existing institutions. Faith provides a network of […]
No one left behind with the Cost of Living
Much of the narrative around the cost-of-living crisis has focused on how we will all feel the effects of this season. There is no doubt that the poorest will be affected the worst, but the expectation is that those who would normally consider themselves ‘comfortable’ or even ‘well off’ are aware that they will likely […]
Welcoming Rishi Sunak as Britain’s First Hindu Prime Minister
On Tuesday morning, Rishi Sunak was appointed as Prime Minister. In doing so, he becomes both the first person of Asian origin and the first person of faith from a non-Christian tradition to do so.1 As many have pointed out over the last few days, this is an exceptional example of the diversity we have […]