Oral Answers to Questions

Anna Dixon Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Marsha De Cordova]

I join the hon. Gentleman in congratulating all those who work in our communities and churches. I will be delighted to meet him to see what assistance can be provided for the parish. I understand that St Botolph’s has a target of £175,000 for extensive repairs to the tower. It has already secured £141,000 in donations from the local community and is awaiting decisions on a number of grants. I congratulate the whole congregation and the community on their fundraising efforts to reach that huge figure. The hon. Gentleman makes a good point and shares a good example of why the scheme is so important.

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

5. What steps the Church is taking to support people that are housebound due to a disability.

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

7. What steps the Church is taking to support people that are housebound due to a disability.

[Marsha De Cordova]

I welcome the timely questions from my hon. Friends as we are in the middle of Disability History Month. The Church has started a project to support local parishes to adapt their buildings to make our churches more accessible. It includes standardising signage to make accessibility obvious, training for church leaders and staff, and a grant scheme for adaptations. The Church also continues to develop worship and educational resources, which are available nationally to people who are housebound and their carers.

[Anna Dixon]

In the report of the archbishops’ commission on reimagining care, which I chaired, we recognise the important role of churches and faith communities in supporting older and disabled people. The report asked the Church of England to consider developing resources and capacity in local churches

“to adopt an asset-based approach to engaging with disabled people and older people in their communities.”

Can my hon. Friend update the House on what action the Church is taking to fulfil that recommendation?

[Marsha De Cordova]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for chairing the archbishops’ commission. Along with the pastoral visits made by clergy, resources are made available nationally for disabled people or those who are housebound. They include Sunday services broadcast online on YouTube, each week from a different parish, which have thousands of unique viewers each week and for which British Sign Language interpretation is available. There is the DailyHope telephone line and the Everyday Faith app, with readings and reflections, which is used by 3 million individuals and has been downloaded over 14 million times. There is also the Daily Prayer app, with morning and evening prayer, which has reached over 2.75 million unique listeners since 2021.