The contribution of faith communities to the Yorkshire and Humber economy totals almost £300million per year say the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum (YHFF). Yesterday, Isobel Mills, Deputy Regional Director of Parliament and Communities Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber officially launched Grace and Generosity, the finding of the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum’s economic impact assessment of faith communities in the region saying “I very much welcome this report which documents, in a practical and concrete way, the contribution of faith communities to the economy of this region. What is particularly striking is the enormous diversity of this contribution which ranges from sharing with national and international visitors the majesty of York Minster, to helping the homeless help themselves through projects such as the one St Georges Crypt in Leeds runs.” Isobel Mills concluded her commendation for the findings by saying she urged all partner agencies to read the report and reflect on what more they can do to support all this excellent work and said she looked forward to the continued success of this vitally important sector.
The economic impact assessment research, undertaken on behalf of the YHFF by HE Research was commissioned to demonstrate with evidence that faith communities make a considerable economic contribution to the region, a contribution that has largely been unquantified and often undervalued. The findings are significant. Faith communities employ the equivalent of 540 full time staff and give one million hours of time on a voluntary basis. This has an economic replacement value of around £282million. Adding to this the £10million in equivalent rent by the use of faith buildings for social projects and £4million from day-visitors and tourists to faith heritage sites the total contribution to the Yorkshire and Humber economy is around £300million per year.
Inderjit Bhogal OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum welcomed seventy five invited guests to SHINE in Harehills. Guests included representatives from the faith communities, Central and Local Government and a number of partner agencies including Yorkshire Forward and Yorkshire Futures.
In addition to the published report Grace and Generosity, Plug and Tap, the Yorkshire and Humber Faith Forum’s communications agency, had illustrated the work of some of the faith communities who had responded to the research by producing a short film about some of the their social projects. Narrated by the projects’ own volunteers and workers these short stories got to the heart of the spiritual values which underpin the economic value of their work.
When asked to reflect of the findings of the research, the Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum, Bishop of Pontefract Rt Revd Tony Robinson said “I welcome the results of the report. Grace and Generosity shows how much the members of the faith communities give of their time and talents for the good of the well being of the communities they serve throughout the region. Our members work in humility to serve God and other people. We often work with others to develop new ways to respond to the needs of the most disadvantaged.”
Click here to download a copy of the full report.
‘Grace and Generosity, the contribution of Faith Communities to the Yorkshire and Humber Economy’, is the Executive Summary from the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum research report ‘Economic Impact Assessment of Faith Communities in Yorkshire and the Humber. If you would like a hard copy of Grace and Generosity please email administrator@yorkshireandhumberfaiths.org.uk
