Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

A national photography competition which showcases the positive impact of faith in the community launched today. Faith Through a Lens - www.faiththroughalens.co.uk - aims to inspire amateur photographers from across the UK to capture the essence of faith and the community.

The competition, now in its third year, is the creation of national church insurer Congregational & General. This year it includes an additional category to promote ‘A Year of Service’, a new initiative that is highlighting, encouraging and linking up faith-led volunteering throughout this Diamond Jubilee year. This initiative is supported by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Faith Through a Lens’ judging panel is led by internationally renowned photo-journalist Don McCullin, who will be joined by Secretary of State for Communities, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP.

Revd Dr David Cornick, General Secretary of Churches Together in England, Paresh Solanki from Inter Faith Network and John Glass, General Superintendant, Elim Churches UK complete the judging panel. The entries will be judged based on a variety of criteria including visual impact, composition and emotional connection.

The three categories now open for entries are:

• Moments of Faith
• Community Spirit Against the Odds
• A Year of Service

An exclusive awards ceremony will be held in central London as part of the national celebration for A Year of Service during Inter Faith Week. The winning photographer in each of the three categories will receive a prize pack valued at £1400, which includes a Nikon V1 camera. Winning photographers can also nominate a faith, charity or community group to receive £1000 of audio-visual or photography equipment of their choice.

Members of the public have the opportunity to influence the final selections by voting for their favourite image through the dedicated microsite – www.faiththroughalens.co.uk - when the public voting stage of the competition opens on 1September.  Entries will also be available to view on Congregational’s social media profiles including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

Margaret Slater, Marketing Manager at Congregational, said: “Faith in the UK is vibrant, diverse and plays a very important role in many people’s lives. In launching the 2012 competition we want to encourage people to capture everyday demonstrations of faith that enrich so many people’s lives.

“Following last year’s success, we are delighted to be working with the ‘A Year of Service’ initiative in this significant Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year and we hope to encourage continued interaction with various faith communities across the UK whilst supporting photography at grassroots level.”

For further details of the competition, including prizes and entry requirements and to upload your images please visit: www.faiththroughalens.co.uk

ENDS –

Notes to editors

For further information or interviews with Congregational Insurance contact Adrian Johnson adrian@umpf.co.uk or Jonathan Priestley jon@umpf.co.uk or Ali Gritt ali@umpf.co.uk in the Congregational press office on 0800 4 10 20 10

About Congregational:

1. Congregational & General Insurance (C&GI) is a specialist insurer of places of worship and a provider of distribution and servicing capability for other insurance organisations. More information is available at www.congregational.co.uk
2. Based in Bradford, C&GI is wholly-owned by the Congregational & General  Charitable Trust which to date has received over £6million for disbursement through grant application to churches and other worthy causes.
3. A ‘Year of Service’ consists of 12 special days throughout 2012 – coinciding with a religious festival of a different faith or an existing volunteering Day, plus a National Celebration in central London on 26 and 27 November during Inter Faith Week. Each special day will focus on a particular theme and each faith in turn will organise volunteering activities involving everyone in their community. A ‘Year of Service’ project might be a church that not only encourages its own congregation to contribute food during Harvest Festival, but also invites the local mosque and a Sikh Gurdwara to join in.  Further details on a Year of Service can be found at  www.ayearofservice.org.uk