The Church of England in Lancashire is playing a key role in this year’s Christian Aid Week, with the Bishop of Blackburn and a county priest appearing in separate videos during the campaign on the charity’s social channels, to encourage donations.

There will be campaign content on Christian Aid’s channels every day from May 10-16, for what is Britain’s longest-running fundraising week. The Bishop, Rt Revd. Philip North, appears in a video, available now on Facebook here and also Instagram, recorded on location in Kenya during a recent visit he made to the African country.

Meanwhile, Fr Jordan McDermott, Rector of St Mary the Virgin, Eccleston and Christ Church, Charnock Richard, will appear in a video being released later this week, filmed outside St Mary’s.

This year, Christian Aid Week is specifically highlighting the issues of global debt and urban poverty, including sharing stories from families living in Dagoretti, an informal settlement in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, which is home to more than 280,000 people.

Rapid urbanisation has resulted in more than half the population living in these semi-permanent areas of densely packed housing. Homes are often simply built out of steel sheets or concrete, and electricity and running water at home are for the fortunate few.
Bishop Philip recently spent time in that part of Kenya alongside his counterparts from Dioceses around the world with links to The Church of England in Lancashire.

While there, he visited an innovative project run by Christian Aid’s partners, a local faith-based charity called Beacon of Hope.

Bishop Philip says: “Kenya is a young, vibrant, creative place and Nairobi is an alive and exciting city, but for many people there life is hard. With secure jobs hard to find, and most people earning less than a dollar a day to cover school costs, rent and water, some days there isn’t enough for a meal.

“However, we have seen incredible work going on here. Beacon of Hope runs a project called Imarisha Kilimo, which means ‘strengthen agriculture’ in Swahili. It’s beautifully simple: with tools, seeds and specialist training families, especially women and children, are learning how to make the most of small spaces - even rooftops - to grow a steady supply of fresh vegetables to cook and sell.

“It means they can feed their children with healthy food and also generates an income from selling the produce. We heard from a woman who told us because of this project, she could not afford to send her children to school which will make such a difference to their lives.”

James Omwanda, Project Officer with Beacon of Hope explained agriculture is the backbone of Kenya’s economy.

James said: “Despite this, food security is fragile - not least because Kenya feels the full force of the climate crisis. Severe droughts are often followed by heavy rain and powerful floods that devastate crops.

This disruption to the nation’s food supply is a key factor in the rising price of groceries, pushing them beyond the means of many households.”

James is passionate about the faith that drives him and what this project can achieve: “What motivates me is that I can see hope in the eyes, words and thoughts of people in the community. I can hear them say how they are capable of transforming their lives through the support we give.”

Christian Aid Week - from May 10-16 - sees people across Britain and Ireland come together in solidarity to take part in all kinds of events, activities and challenges and raise money for projects like Imarisha Kilimo.

Bishop Philip, who will also feature in a separate prayer video as the week progresses, added: “The acts of love we do now can transform things for many generations. Whether you are holding a coffee morning or a plant sale, doing a sponsored walk or simply putting money in a collecting pot you are making a difference - just £5 could buy the seeds that kickstart a family’s nutritious vegetable garden.
“Supporting Christian Aid Week means you’re buying into something massive. You’re sharing in Christian Aid’s vision to eradicate poverty and shift power to local people. You’re sowing seeds of hope and change for a better, fairer world.”

Meanwhile, in his video, Fr Jordan has filmed a call to action against poverty outside his church in Eccleston. The video will be released later this week and speaking today, he said: "It was very humbling to be asked to produce a piece of content for Christian Aid Week this year. I hope to have reminded Christians of all denominations that quite often we don't talk about the plight of the poor enough in our churches, never mind do something about it.

“Each of us is called to serve those less fortunate than ourselves and supporting Christian Aid's work provides us an opportunity to put our prayer into action."

To find out more about how you can get involved with Christian Aid Week and the work of the organisation, please visit www.christianaid.org.uk.
And to find out more about Bishop Philip’s visit to Kenya earlier this year, please go to the news section of www.blackburn,anglican.org