A Parish Listens to its Children

Abstract

A sense of rootedness in place is important for our ability to participate in social networks as adults. Childhood is crucial for developing bonding with place. This article recounts the work of an Anglican parish in helping children to explore their sense of place in inner city London. Understanding their perspective enabled the parish to counter the loss of play space in the local park. The initiative for this piece of research and development came from the Child in the Neighbourhood Group of The Children's Society and from the desire of the society to find new ways of working with grass roots organizations. In a social context where the sense of community has been progressively weakened, firstly by the growth of local government and now the cuts in public expenditure, churches remain an important locus of networking. Church networks can enhance their neighborhoods by taking the perspective of the children who live there.