Christian Aid

An Introduction

Our Essential Purpose

Supported and sustained by the churches, driven by the Gospel, Christian Aid is inspired by the dream of a new earth where all people can secure a better and more just future.

Christian Aid's purpose is to expose the scandal of poverty, contribute to its eradication, and be prophetic in challenging the systems, structures and processes that work against the interests of those who have been made poor or marginalised.

The organisation recognises that such change will only come about as a movement is built, of people who are committed to a better world for all, bringing their faith and talents, their energy, their influence, their gifts and their actions, to achieve what should surely be possible.

Our Vision and Values

• To strive for a new earth transformed by an end to poverty
• To help promote the dignity and basic rights of everyone
• To provide the resources which enable people to raise their quality of life
• To work with poor and marginalised communities struggling for justice and to support them as they tell their stories, so that no one can plead ignorance
• To empower people to reform the systems that keep them poor
• To ask questions and take the risks which spotlight the causes of poverty
• To capture the hearts of young and old, poor and rich, in a global movement which changes the course of history
• To work with our partners in the Church and people of other faiths and beliefs, and all those who side with the poor
• To be inspired by the Gospel of good news to the poor, which promises a fulfilling life for all nd the hope of a new earth

Our Status and Origins

Christian Aid is the official relief and development agency of 40 Sponsoring Churches representing most of the non-Roman Catholic denominations in the UK and Ireland. Christian Aid works closely with the official development agencies of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales (CAFOD), Scotland (SCIAF), and Ireland (Trocaire).

Worldwide, Christian Aid works in 60 countries, in partnership with over 500 organisations. It has close links with ecumenical development agencies in Europe and regional and national ecumenical councils. Today it is especially linked with the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical partners in ACT International (Action by Churches Together) - an emergency response alliance based in Geneva.

Christian Aid began life in 1945 as Christian Reconciliation in Europe, responding to the needs of refugees in Europe after the Second World War. In 1949 it became part of the British Council of Churches as the Department for Inter-Church Aid and Refugee Service.

In 1964 the organisation changed its name to Christian Aid after its best-known source of income, Christian Aid Week, which began in 1957. The reorganisation of the Council of Churches in 1991 saw Christian Aid becoming a separate legal entity, but it keeps close links with the Council's successor, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI).

The Organisation

Christian Aid is a movement of people working together to make a difference for the poor of the world today. The organisation depends on the unpaid work of many thousands of volunteers who organise Christian Aid Week, carry out local fundraising initiatives large and small, and who campaign to change the systems that keep people poor. In Christian Aid Week an estimated 300,000 volunteers collect from door to door, organised through 4,000 local committees. These local collectors and supporters are vital to the success and efforts of Christian Aid. They maintain and develop contacts within local churches and communities, raise funds, increase awareness of the organisation and how it works, and campaign. It is the task of all staff to service, support, encourage and develop this network.

The staff of Christian Aid are organised into teams within five departments:

1. Church and Community: supporting, resourcing and encouraging the work of churches and churchgoers, volunteer groups and individuals to pray, act and give in solidarity with the poor and marginalised.
2. External Relations: developing relationships with Christian Aid's constituencies, the wider public and the media; raising public awareness, campaigning and fundraising, and providing a range of educational and promotional materials.
3. International: working with Christian Aid's partners across the world, supporting advocacy, development and relief work; raising funds for large development programmes through the EU, UK and Irish governments.
4. Finance and Information Systems: providing expertise in Finance; servicing and supporting the present and future Information Technology needed to run the organisation.
5. Human Resources: ensuring that personnel and development standards and procedures are applied consistently, enabling the organisation to fulfil its purpose and mandate.

Strategic Linkages

Christian Aid works closely with other development agencies, particularly CAFOD, and through networks such as the British Overseas Aid Group (BOAG), British Overseas NGOs in Development (BOND), the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), and the Trade Justice Movement. This enables greater co-operation, and represents the interests and concerns of the development agencies as they speak out and campaign for justice and poverty eradication.