Bishop launches £1 million fund to aid social justice work

The Rt Revd Christopher Lowson, who was in Spalding on Sunday with leaders and members of St John the Baptist Church, has joined forces with Lincolnshire Community Foundation to create The Bishop of Lincoln’s Social Justice Fund to support voluntary organisations and projects in the county.

Mr Lowson was joined by the Bishop of Grimsby, the Rt Rev Dr David Court and Rev Philip Stevens, a trustee of the fund, for the launch in Louth yesterday.

Mr Stevens said: “The money set aside by the Bishop will help churches and other groups to work together, giving practical support to people who face various kinds of need in our communities.

“Churches have always tried to show the love of Christ in our communities and this is another opportunity to continue that mission in the diocese.

“This is such an exciting moment for the Diocese of Lincoln in its desire to help transform lives in the traditions of basic Christian beliefs – to love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

Charities and groups involved in serving the needy through foodbanks, domestic violence refuges, drug and alcohol rehabilitaion centres, sexual abuse clinics and homeless shelters are among those in line for grants from the fund.

At a church service in March, Mr Lowson said: “The daughter of one of my clergy friends was so impressed when she heard Mother Theresa speak in London in the early 1990s, she now lives in Rome where she spends her long days caring for the poor.”

For more details, call the Diocese of Lincoln office on 01522 504095.