by Iain Johnston

Faith in Community Scotland (FiCS) is a charity founded in 2005 by the Church of Scotland and the Archdiocese of Glasgow to provide practical support to local faith groups and faith leaders to strengthen their mission in solidarity with people experiencing poverty and disadvantage.  Our vision is of all Scotland’s communities being places of love, welcome, justice and sharing, where everyone can live their life to the full.

In our work with churches in particular, we continue to emphasise Jesus’ teaching about being present to people on the margins of society so that our communities, churches and we as individuals are transformed by listening to their voices and experience. Our local work in recent years has had a particularly strong focus on supporting groups working with people leaving prison and refugees and people seeking asylum in Scotland.

The starting point for all our work is that local people know best how to change things for the better – they are the experts in their own communities.  As an organisation committed to supporting them in different ways, we take our lead from them. Readers of Open House may be familiar with a mantra taken from the civil rights and anti-apartheid movements: ‘Nothing about us, without us, is for us’.  In all our work to tackle poverty and build a fairer and more just society, and support people at particular times of crisis, we must always ensure that the people who experience poverty on a day to day basis are at the heart of shaping the responses.

What is the current context that we’re facing?  Many of us will know people in our own communities who are faced with incredibly hard choices about how and when to turn the heating on, or how to feed their family on the weekly budget. A recent report on poverty in Scotland published by Joseph Rowntree Foundation gives some stark facts:

•    One in five families on low incomes have already gone both hungry and cold.

•    It’s not just a case of ‘making ends meet’ – almost two thirds of households have already cut back on essentials (food and heat) and three quarters have cut back on basics (items to get by with a decent standard of living – e.g. children’s hobbies, replacing an appliance).

•    There’s already a huge impact on mental as well as physical health.

In FiCS we affirm three key principles in our work with faith groups.  The first of these is the gift of presence. It might seem like stating the obvious, but without our ongoing commitment to being present, our efforts are undermined. Continuing to stand with those who are suffering the worst effects of this ever-deepening crisis and being present in both geographic communities and amongst particular groups of people on the margins is of critical importance – whether it is people seeking asylum and trying to build a safe life in Scotland, people in the criminal justice system or people who are in recovery.

And because faith communities, often with buildings and groups of committed volunteers, are still present in some of the hardest hit communities, we can offer practical support. We can make space available for people to meet and talk, to organise self-help groups, or to offer welcoming environments for people to share food together.  We can organise community pantries and shops, we can be available simply to listen, or to offer advice and signposting on debt and finance.  We can support people to express and celebrate their common humanity and giftedness through expressive arts.

Iain Johnston is Director of Faith in Community Scotland.