A major new book on how to address urgent housing needs across Britain is being published by the think tank Ekklesia.
Its launch, at Manchester Cathedral on Thursday 14 April 2016 at 7pm, will feature the Anglican Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev David Walker, and other speakers with specialist understanding in the housing field.
The book, Foxes Have Holes: Christian responses to Britain’s housing need has been brought together by community theologian Andrew Francis, and commended by concerned individuals in the world of faith, politics and public policy – including Professor Danny Dorling from the University of Oxford and the Rev Dr Sam Wells, vicar of the iconic St Martin-in-the-Fields church in central London.
Topics covered by the multi-author volume include the history and spirituality of housing development, the changing role of local authorities, mutual housing, green spaces, the changing city landscape, rural housing, and the need for reform of the housing market to ensure that human need comes ahead of speculative greed.
Contributors to Foxes Have Holes (named after a reference to an itinerant Jesus in the Christian gospels) are housing expert Paul Lusk, architect Helen Roe, landscape specialist Helen Woolley, Scottish rural housing adviser Raymond Young, lawyer Chris Horton, financial inclusion housing manager Sean Gardiner, and Housing Justice CEO Alison Gelder (Foreword) – alongside the Bishop of Manchester (who writes on ‘A Sense of Belonging’) and editor Andrew Francis with Trisha Dale.
The book – backed by the national Christian charity, Housing Justice, and others – concludes with a ten-point Action Plan that lays out positive steps to tackle the housing crisis – and a call for Christians and people of good will, whether believers or not, to take up the challenge.
*Ekklesia (www.ekklesia.co.uk) is a think tank concerned with the relationship between beliefs and values on the one hand, and political and economic decision-making on the other. It is Christian in inspiration, but works closely with people of other faith and with those of no religious belief but strong ethical commitment. It seeks to generate innovative, practical policy ideas that draw on the experience and expertise of those living at the cutting edge of these issues.
* For ordering details and review copies, please write to office@ekklesia.co.uk