Near Neighbours
One of GTM's major pieces of work is our delivery of the Near Neighbours programme in Greater Manchester.
Near Neighbours brings people together in communities that are religiously and ethnically diverse, so that they can get to know each other better, build relationships of trust, and collaborate together on initiatives that improve the local community they live in.
Near Neighbours objectives:
Social Interaction
To develop positive relationships in multi-faith areas, i.e. to help people from different faiths get to know and better understand each other.
Social Action
To encourage people of different faiths and of no faith to come together for initiatives that improve their local neighbourhood.
Our current Near Neighbours programmes include:
Why is Near Neighbours needed?
We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us - Jo Cox
Many neighbourhoods in England have a number of different faith and ethnic communities living close to each other, some of these communities rarely interact with one another and instead live parallel but separate lives.
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Such separation can lead to misunderstanding and a lack of trust or respect for each other, which is not healthy for a local community.
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These are also often areas of deprivation, with people living there sharing common concerns for a better community. Despite this shared concern they don’t come together to talk or act on this as much as they could.
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Yet it is local people, in local communities, that are the ones who are ideally placed to identify and develop solutions that can improve their own neighbourhood.
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Near Neighbours brings people together; breaking down misunderstanding and developing trust, and helps them to act to change their communities for the better.
