Faith in Action is a research project looking at the impact of places of worship, in a variety of faiths, on the surrounding. It draws on some of Robert Putnam’s ideas on social capital, which is the awareness that the way in which people relate to each other creates a value in a society which can’t be measured in purely economic terms, but which can generate economic well-being.

Download a copy of Faith in Action.

Printed copies may be obtained from the Faiths Council office.

Read Stephen Bates’ article on Faith in Action in The Guardian for 4 June 2003,

Research in the USA suggests that faith groups are the single most important generators of social capital there, but there is a lack of benchmarked evidence in the UK.

This project focusses on Luton and Peterborough, which are among the places with the highest proportion of people of non-Christian faiths in the East of England. It profiles a number of places of worship in a variety of faiths and shows the extent of the contribution of places of worship to their local community in all the main faiths.

Faith in Action was launched by John Battle MP at the Hindu Temple and community centre in Luton on 15 May 2003.