Covid Recovery - ChurchWorks Collaboration With YCW

The ChurchWorks Commission for Covid recovery emerged as the next step of YourNeighbour.org in co-ordinating the Church’s response to the national Covid-19 pandemic. As the nation turns its attention to Covid recovery, ChurchWorks brings together leaders from over 10 major national church denominations and networks to have strategic conversations with government around Covid recovery.

In response to this work, the YCW was proud to be asked to support this project, particularly because it focused on areas relevant to young people but also because it highlighted issues that we have previously identified and worked on.

The Commissioners identified two priorities for the Commission in their first meeting in October 2021: mental health, and social isolation. They asked that interventions be targeted towards those disproportionately affected by the pandemic, namely, young people and people of colour.

Several years ago, the YCW ran the “Mind! The Gap” national campaign, which identified mental health and loneliness as a major issue facing young people.

We have therefore committed to support this commission and helping look at the role the Church can play in Covid Recovery.

Marc Besford, National President, said: “This is a great opportunity to bring our authentic experiences and those of our young leaders to national attention. We will collaborate with ChurchWorks to share these experiences and hopefully influence some change as a result.”