Features

Bullring, Birmingham

A new report entitled ‘Who is my neighbour: a church response to social disorder linked to gangs, drugs, guns and knives’ - was officially launched at the Home Office last July and is now touring the country.

On 30th September 2008, Birmingham Churches Together hosted a presentation of the report - the event brought together representatives from local churches, the local authority, the police and community groups.

The report by Churches Together in England aims to motivate the church into action.

Raising awareness amongst Christians

Colin Marsh, Ecumenical Development Officer for Birmingham Churches Together and organiser of the event said the national agenda had “touched our hearts in Birmingham.” He hopes that the report will produce “Raised awareness among Christians of their potential to make a positive difference in the lives of young people who feel alienated from mainstream culture,” and “stronger support and networking between those who are at present working with gangs – but perhaps feel isolated.”

A birmingham estate

Postcode wars

Gang-related violence in Birmingham is a growing problem. There have been several high profile incidents in recent years involving gangs, knives and guns, the most well-known being the killing of Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis in Aston in 2003.

John Street, Director of free@last in Nechells, comments in the report: “Over the last two years in inner-city Birmingham there has been a craze to affiliate to postcodes. The two main gangs in the district of Nechells have varying levels of involvement, with young people in the lower ranks trying to establish their links by splattering the gang’s name on their social networking web pages.

At the highest levels, members are involved in organised crime and drug dealing; essentially a ‘business’ with specific recruitment needs.” (‘Who is my neighbour: a church response to social disorder linked to gangs, drugs, guns and knives’, pg 6)

Knife crime in the city

What is the church doing about this?

Bishop Joe Aldred, from Birmingham, is the Secretary for Minority Ethnic Christian Affairs for Churches Together in England (CTE) and co-authored the CTE report with Birmingham based Dr Sophie Hebden, freelance writer, and Dr Keith Hebden of the Queens Foundation, Birmingham.

Bishop Aldred said the inspiration for the report came from his own concern over what is happening to young people. He said: “It [gang-related crime] was becoming such a major issue in society that the question for me was ‘what is the church doing about this?’ given that the churches, of whatever shade or denomination, happen to be one of those instruments in community that actually does have its feet on the ground in communities, dealing with people in their localities.”

Restoring communities

The CTE report maps the church’s current perceptions and knowledge of social disorder linked to gangs, drugs, guns and knives. It discusses the multiple causes of social breakdown and outlines current initiatives that target gang-related social disorder.

It ends with 29 recommendations for practical ways that churches, police and government can get involved. The focus is on restoring individuals and communities by building expertise and working in partnership with others.

Cllr Karen Hamilton for Perry Barr (Lib Dem) said she welcomed the report. She said: “We’ve got quite a number of issues [in Perry Barr]. Recently I’ve speaking to our Head of Equalities and he said that they’re going to be doing much more work with gang-related crime so this report coming along at this time is the right time for the kind of work we’re going to be doing within the constituency.

"So I welcome the report and am looking at the ways we are going to be able to utilise the recommendations within the report.”

Youth culture

Lack of funding

But funding for churches and community groups is scarce. At the recent labour conference, Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, pledged £3.8 million funding for local community groups to run activities for young people to divert them away from knives, guns and gangs. The question is whether the funding will reach those who need it.

Paul Clarke, pastor of Pavilion Christian Community in Bournville, who attended the launch, said they had employed a youth worker to help tackle social disorder in their area. The church built relationships with local young people that had previously been involved in violence, graffiti and drugs.

They set up a youth group for the young people and crime dropped as a result. After two years, the funding ran out and the youth worker had to be laid off. Gradually, the kids returned to crime.

Mr Clarke said: “We’ve gone to the lottery and the council. They’ve all said we don’t live in an area of high socio-economic problems, we don’t have the right ethnic mix and therefore we can’t have a problem. So you don’t get any money. And that’s the situation.”

High hopes

Bishop Aldred said: “I’m high on hope. I know not every church will take it on but I’m hoping that a fair number as the years go by will find this report a stimulus for an ideas-based material of what a local church might do.”

A hard copy of the report can be obtained by visiting the Churches Together in England website or by calling the CTE office 020 7529 8132.