Former Bishop of Stockport, Bishop of Derby, Rt Rev Libby Lane, says:

“The wonderful thing about Spaces of Hope is that they are what we call in the church ‘incarnated’; they live in and come out of their local communities, as we understand that God chose to do. So, they are really responsive to the local environment, but there are common threads, which come up through each place. So there is real value in Spaces of hope gatherings in local communities having contact with one another, so that we can learn from each other and build on the good things that are done in one place, that maybe learned from and translated into a new place, while recognizing that each place is unique and special.”

"Spaces of Hope brings together all our different parts and elements into a shared public space to be able to discuss openly and fully with one another, each from our own experience and belief base and world view and with our expertise, in order to discover how we best care for one another. So, I think the opportunities for Spaces of Hope are almost endless because they will be necessary and valuable in every community, potentially"

“Increasingly we are recognizing that we need to work together, in partnership, for our local communities and those of us who are embedded in our local communities will not only identify what needs to be done, but actually have the capacity to attend to those things. So, Spaces of Hope responds to our current climate of wanting to work together across faith and statutory bodies and faith and voluntary bodies, to identify the things that are important to our local communities and then work together to address them.”

“We are as a church community in Stockport giving attention to how we can fulfill what we see as our calling as people of God in Christ, to be servants for our local community. It is not just the conversation that we want to facilitate, but be partners in the delivery of what comes out of them. We have really high hopes for Stockport Town and Borough and think the church can be really important element of creating better communities for everybody that lives and works in Stockport.”

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