Heeley Parish Church

Making Love Known

Community Cohesion

Our PCC has adopted Sheffield Diocese Community Cohesion policy - see below:

Cohesion Statement of purpose for the Diocese of Sheffield

We, the people of the Diocese of Sheffield, will continue to work towards making our communities places where everyone is made to feel welcome and valued, in a community where everyone is treated with dignity & respect regardless of age,(dis)ability, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, language, belief, religion, or financial wealth, and that these values shall apply equally within the family unit, community and places of learning and work, recreation or worship.

Cohesion means people living and working in harmony with respect for each other. This requires building good relationships with neighbours and across the region.  We recognise that good relations require a commitment to equality and justice. We regard economic opportunity and wellbeing as essential conditions for cohesion.

 Working towards cohesion involves:

·         Building relationships where power is shared on a basis of cooperation and collaboration

·         Seeing each other as neighbours, recognising similarities and hearing each other’s’ stories

·         Doing what we can to reduce barriers, particularly related to educational, economic and other inequalities

·         Encouraging integration alongside addressing issues of differences in development between communities

·         Recognising that community tensions are natural - that all voices need to be heard.

·         Supporting skills development that enables people to work through differences and express their needs through open and honest discussions.