In 2015 when the Diocese published its Strategy Ely 2025, one of the five Levers of Change addressed church buildings and their place in the mission of the church in the 21st century. In order to discover more about this area, in 2018 the Diocese teamed up with the Cambridge Judge Business School to undertake the REACH Ely project. During 2019 the Team gave presentations to every Deanery Synod, explaining the work of the project and what it hoped to achieve. In the same period the Team has also visited a diverse group of more than 40 of our churches, compiling a detailed case study of each.
REACH Ely (Reimagining Churches as Community Assets for the Common Good)
REACH Ely (Reimagining Churches as Community Assets for the Common Good) project was run from 2018 to 2022 to help communities make fuller use of their historic churches. The project was implemented by the Diocese of Ely and Cambridge Judge Business School with the support of Benefact Trust (formally known as the Allchurches Trust) and Historic England.
This innovative research project in a church context provides an understanding of the relationship between communities and the wider use of church buildings as well as the contribution that churches make to the common good. The project determines community values, needs and opportunities that can be used in the most effective way to ensure a win-win outcome for communities and sustainable future of historic church buildings.