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Faith Covenant for Cornwall


On 13 November 2024, during Interfaith Week, faith groups from across Cornwall came together at Lys Kernow in Truro to sign Cornwall’s new Faith Covenant. This is a joint commitment between Cornwall Council and Cornwall’s faith communities to work together to support Cornwall residents.

The Faith Covenant is a significant milestone in our partnership with our faith communities. It highlights our shared values and the desire to help bring communities together and promote a sense of pride in Cornwall’s diversity.

Read the Faith Covenant

Members of the Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islam, Jewish, and Pagan faiths, alongside a representative from the Humanist community signed the Covenant document on behalf of their communities. The Covenant was also signed by Cllr Linda Taylor, Leader of Cornwall Council and Kate Kennally, Chief Executive on behalf of Cornwall Council and Andrew Yates (Chair) on behalf of Cornwall Faith Forum.

What is a Faith Covenant?

The idea of Faith Covenants was developed by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Faith and Society.

The APPG’s aims are to highlight the contribution to society by faith-based organisations, to identify best practice, and to promote understanding of the groups providing innovative solutions around the country.

Support to the APPG is provided by the charity Faith Action.  Faith Action is a national network of faith-based and community organisations seeking to serve their communities through social action. 

Together the APPG and Faith Action developed a model Covenant document. We have used this model in Cornwall to develop our own Faith Covenant. 

Development of Cornwall’s Faith Covenant

Our commitment to working with faith-based organisations to explore the development of a Faith Covenant for Cornwall was an important element of our 2022-2026 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Cornwall Council is the first local authority in the south-west and the first wholly rural authority to develop a Covenant.

Faith communities in Cornwall already make a significant positive contribution to the lives of people and communities of Cornwall. The Covenant recognises and builds on this existing work. It seeks to improve our partnership working and promote open, practical working on all levels. And, ultimately for the benefit of Cornwall and its people, creating a welcoming, safe and flourishing place in which to live, work and grow up. This is very much in line with Cornwall Council’s mission for a carbon neutral Cornwall, where everyone can start well, live well and age well.

An initial meeting about a Faith Covenant was held on 14 November 2023 (during Interfaith Week 2023). This meeting included Cornwall Faith Forum representatives and relevant officers at Cornwall Council. Everyone agreed to work together to develop a Faith Covenant for Cornwall.

Over the next year, we worked together to:

  • Develop a Covenant based on shared values, that promotes community cohesion and celebrates and promotes a sense of pride in the diversity of Cornwall.
  • Ensure that the Covenant built on existing work.  Therefore, it references Cornwall Faith Forum key themes and Cornwall Council’s Business Plan objectives.
  • Agree that there needs to be tangible outcomes delivered through the Covenant.
  • Identify potential areas of work as an initial focus.  This includes development of a faith literacy programme. Also social action mapping of the work of all our faith communities.
  • Engage widely with faith communities, relevant Cornwall Council services and other interested parties. This included information and a survey on Let’s Talk Cornwall.
  • Consider all feedback received. This information was used to agree a final Covenant document. 

Next Steps

The Faith Covenant Working Group worked hard to get to this point. The group are even more committed to ensuring that there are real tangible outcomes delivered as a result of the Covenant. 

A Faith Covenant Partnership Board is being set up. One of its first priorities will be confirmation of its work programme. 

Religion and Belief in Cornwall

Some of our faith communities in Cornwall are very small. They are spread across Cornwall without a building or space to meet and practice their faith. This demographic profile around religion, faith and belief reinforces the importance of the Covenant work.

We are also fortunate and quite unique in Cornwall to have an established Cornwall Faith Forum. Our faith communities already work collaboratively through this Forum.

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