At the Christian Funders Forum awards evening at Lambeth Palace last week, Boaz was recognised for outstanding contribution, commitment, and impact in the 'Thriving Communities' category.
It was so encouraging to be at an event celebrating projects rooted in faith, compassion and a desire to see people thrive. We were also delighted to meet Radio 1Xtra DJ, Swarzy, during the evening.
Boaz Trust was founded 22 years ago by Dave Smith, responding to God's call to welcome the stranger - people who were seeking asylum or who had been granted refugee status. Dave started by asking people to open their spare rooms. As need grew, we moved into shared housing, and today we offer specialist, trauma informed support built around each individual person, through a mix of housing-based support and our outreach work. Last year we worked right across Greater Manchester with more than 800 people from 64 countries.
That growth didn't happen in one leap. It was a series of small steps, each one building on the last, and it happened thanks to relationships and connections within local communities. As a faith-based organisation, centred on the teachings of Jesus, we believe we're all called to share this kind of welcome - now more than ever.
We are so grateful for all of the support we have received from members of the Christian Funders Forum over the years, and we are delighted that our work in welcoming people has been recognised in this way.
