Our Story
In 2019 we celebrated our twentieth anniversary after having started in the late 1980s as a project run by volunteers. In 1999 we became a constituted body and registered with the Charity Commission.  In the year 2012 we further developed our status to become an incorporated body as a registered Company Limited by Guarantee and Charity under one constitution. 
Our aim is to improve community relations and community cohesion by raising awareness and understanding amongst people about different cultures; promoting common values; and helping people to develop friendships that cross cultural and community boundaries.
Having developed and sustained our work for nearly two-decades, our history, track record, profile and current work has firmly marked our position as an organisation committed to ground-breaking and innovative work in the field of Education, Interfaith and Community Cohesion.
Meet The Team
QUOTE
"A fantastic organisation promoting integration and cohesion in new, dynamic and innovative ways".
DIRECTORS
Our Board Members
The Board of Directors presides over all decisions relating to the organisations major strategic, economic, financial and technological policies and monitors the implementation of these policies through regular meetings. The current board comprises of 8 members who come from a broad range or professional backgrounds led by our Chairperson Shirley Godfrey.
Our Partners & Funders
As a charity we rely on the support of partner organisations and funders that share our determination and commitment to improving community relations and cohesion. By raising awareness and understanding about different cultures; promoting common values; improving people's confidence to express their views and concerns about a diverse society; and helping them develop friendships that cross cultural and community boundaries.
Evaluation
We are working alongside Uclan on an evaluation framework that measures the impact and effectiveness of our various strands of work throughout Pendle. The findings will firstly allow us to critically analyse our work and secondly give us an insight into what people are thinking and feeling so we can aim to tackle issues raised in our future work.
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For us evaluating the work we do is something of great importance as it allows us to constantly try and improve our working methods and practices to meet both the needs of the community and to adapt the way we work to fit the ever changing face and makeup of the community we operate in.
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The evaluation has two main components. The first is a community survey which was co-produced along with members of the local community. The community survey seeks to measure people’s sense of belonging, commonality, participation, engagement, safety, access to resources, fairness, neighbourliness, satisfaction with the physical environment, meaningful interaction, and tolerance and inclusion of new arrivals.
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The second component is a focus group undertaken with members of the community who have taken part in one or more of the Building Bridges initiatives in order to obtain some qualitative data about how people experienced these activities and the sense of value that they placed upon them.