Growing Faith Learning Hubs Application Form 2027

Growing Faith is the movement that exists to change the culture of the Church of England so that everyone instinctively puts children, young people and families at the heart of all the mission and ministry of the Church.

It involves churches, schools and households working together to help children, young people and families have life in all its fullness.

The Growing Faith Foundation seeks to benefit children and young people, helping them create the world they want to live in, specifically through the lens of the Christian faith.

We are now seeking to resource a further cohort of Learning Hubs across the country. They will act as strong developmental communities of practice from which other school, trust and church leaders (both regionally and nationally) can learn. The Learning Hubs are centres of innovation, where schools/churches/households are resourced to further embed creative practices that build the strategic partnership between school, church and home.

For this round of Hubs, the Foundation are keen to see how all applications demonstrate a clear commitment and strategy for empowering children and young people as leaders and decision makers and enabling equity diversity and inclusion.

For our 2027 Hubs, we are offering a 2 year model with an annual grant of £10,000 over a 2 year period (£20,000 in total).

This money will support Hubs' further development in placing children, young people and families instinctively at the heart of their mission.

Learning Hubs will:

Intentionally generate and systematically share learning around the effective implementation of a Growing Faith approach
Empower children and young people to shape their work and be key decision makers
Help the Church of England become younger and more diverse through learning how it can better meet the needs of children and young people
Be innovative and creative spaces that model Growing Faith in the intersections of church, household and school
Inspire and encourage other leaders on their Growing Faith journey through sharing learning and outcomes through reports and videos
Be a key point of contact for the Growing Faith Foundation to gather stories and working models to share more widely
Participate in the Growing Faith workstreams as appropriate
Commit to contributing to the work of their Diocese and to creating an active, mutually supportive relationship

Application

If you would like to put your community forward to become a Growing Faith Learning Hub, please complete the following form. It is essential that this form is completed collaboratively by the church and school partners, and others where appropriate, including a representative from the Diocesan Support Staff team.

Please complete this form having read carefully the Learning Hubs Application Guidance document:

Learning Hub Application Guidance TO BE UPDATED

The closing date for applications is 2nd November 2026.

Names and roles of those completing this form:

Hub Address:

Hub Postcode:

Contact name (one key contact required):

Contact email (one key contact required):

Contact phone number(one key contact required):

Diocese:

Who are you? Describe your location and unique context e.g. parish, benefice, deanery, school, MAT (100 words):

What is your idea - An Overview

What is your vision for your Learning Hub and why is it important? (max 150 words) (It's advisable to create the text elsewhere and copy and paste it in)

How will you do it?(max 150 words)

What difference do you hope your learning hub will make? (max 150 words)

Please provide evidence of the following (50-100 words per box. Please note the Learning Hubs Application Guidance as you complete this section).

Your approach

We are a community where there is already (or where there is a strong intention to have) a strategic relationship between school, church and household:

Explain how your Hub will commit to work within the church sphere (and overlap with the other spheres):

Explain how your Hub will commit to work within the school sphere (and overlap with the other spheres):

Explain how your Hub will commit to work within the home sphere (and overlap with the other spheres):

We are/intend to be a Hub where the voice of children and young people is shaping our work and where they are key decision makers and leaders:

We already/intend to demonstrate a clear commitment to equity, diversity, belonging and inclusion, including proactive engagement of under-represented groups. Please identify the key groups you are or seek to work with:

We already/intend to have outlet/s for sharing story regularly e.g. newsletters, website, podcasts, social media channels.

We collaborate with other churches, parachurch organisations, or have a commitment to explore this in the following ways.

We have an active working relationship with our Diocese or have a commitment to develop this in the following ways:

Please submit applications by 2nd November 2026.

Please ensure you are available for possible shortlisted interview on 24th, 25th or 26th November 2026.

All applicants will be notified of the outcome by 30th November 2026.

For any questions, please contact mandy.christopher@churchofengland.org

The National Society (Church of England and Church in Wales) for Promoting Education (operating as the Growing Faith Foundation) is committed to processing personal information in accordance with all applicable data protection laws and will ensure that the rights and interests of data subjects are weighted appropriately.

A detailed privacy notice about how this data will be used can be found by clicking here