First 'Church for a different world' award for Oldham Street Angels

The Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker with Oldham Parish Church, Oldham Street Angels

The Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, is delighted to announce projects, including Oldham Parish Church, Oldham Street Angels, have been commended with the first ‘Church For a Different World awards’.

The Oldham Street Angels were formed in 2011 and work from a base on Yorkshire Street provided free of charge by a local businessman. At first it was just members of Oldham Parish Church that patrolled Oldham’s streets on a Saturday night, offering any support they could to people out enjoying a goodtime. But this group has now grown to 19 volunteers, all from different walks of life, giving up their free time to help others.

Sixteen projects were highly commended by Bishop David at an awards ceremony last night and a further 11 received written commendations.

The awards celebrate the inspirational and innovative work that is growing across Greater Manchester as we become Church For a Different World. Sometimes this is through major projects; often, it is through the small-scale, involving just a few people. But the effect is the same in both cases: to glorify God and to make him known.

Bishop David said: “I announced the Church for a different world awards last summer, inviting you to share good practice, help us learn from each other, and celebrate what is good. I have been delighted by the number and quality of applications for an award.

“The projects reflect our five priority areas of delivering church, addressing social injustice, nurturing people, spreading spirituality and transforming communities. I am very impressed with the range of projects demonstrated, and I hope that by sharing ideas, you might be encouraged to try new things that have been shown to work well in different contexts.”