About us
Our Vision
We want to see hope and wholeness brought to people's lives in Ladywood, North Edgbaston and Harborne, contributing to communities that are thriving and full of life.
Our Mission
Karis Neighbour Scheme is a Christian charity in Birmingham that exists to:
We are a faith-based organisation. Our values are based on the Bible and the person of Jesus.
We're passionate about grace - it's what our name 'Karis' means. This giving and receiving of unearned loving kindness and acceptance underpins all our work.
Our vision of wholeness for people means people being well in their whole person: physically, materially, emotionally, socially and spiritually.
We show compassion and acceptance to everyone we meet. We journey with people to help them flourish. We help build hope, resilience and identity.
We are person-centred: recognising the value of every individual, being made in the image of God. This means we take an asset-based approach, helping people achieve their potential and encouraging people to think how they can contribute to the lives of others.
We seek to meet unmet need while using our resources wisely. We work closely with local statutory and voluntary organisations and faith communities.
We rely on committed volunteers whom we value and support as they care for others.
We want to see hope and wholeness brought to people's lives in Ladywood, North Edgbaston and Harborne, contributing to communities that are thriving and full of life.
Our Mission
Karis Neighbour Scheme is a Christian charity in Birmingham that exists to:
- Provide support to people in our community who are in need by offering a broad range of help including practical and emotional support, advocacy and befriending
- Bring people in our community together by reaching out, offering friendship, providing opportunity to get to know one another, and enabling people to be good neighbours to help others flourish
- Ensure no one is neglected or forgotten about by standing with people, helping them find the support they need, and responding to gaps in provision locally
- Work with other groups and organisations in our community and across the city to strengthen networks of support which contribute to seeing lives and communities changed for the better
We are a faith-based organisation. Our values are based on the Bible and the person of Jesus.
We're passionate about grace - it's what our name 'Karis' means. This giving and receiving of unearned loving kindness and acceptance underpins all our work.
Our vision of wholeness for people means people being well in their whole person: physically, materially, emotionally, socially and spiritually.
We show compassion and acceptance to everyone we meet. We journey with people to help them flourish. We help build hope, resilience and identity.
We are person-centred: recognising the value of every individual, being made in the image of God. This means we take an asset-based approach, helping people achieve their potential and encouraging people to think how they can contribute to the lives of others.
We seek to meet unmet need while using our resources wisely. We work closely with local statutory and voluntary organisations and faith communities.
We rely on committed volunteers whom we value and support as they care for others.
History of Karis Neighbour Scheme
Karis Neighbour Scheme (KNS) is based on the principle of grace - it's what our name 'Karis' means - shown by a good neighbour. We take particular inspiration from the story of the 'Good Samaritan', shared as part of the teachings of Jesus, which gives an example of how grace demonstrated in unconditional compassion and action can be life-changing.
Our story starts with a group of local GPs at the nearby Karis Medical Centre who recognised that their patients' health and wellbeing was being impacted by wider needs that couldn't be met entirely by healthcare - they had a concern for the whole-person, including emotional, social and spiritual needs.
One of the responses to this was, in partnership with local churches, to establish KNS as a charity to mobilise people and resources to respond to needs in our community. We received charitable status in 1999 and began with a broad remit to address social isolation - which was a particular need amongst older people, and to provide practical help to those struggling with living on low incomes - which affected many families in our area.
While the range of projects and activities has developed over the years our work continues to be underpinned by the principles of offering friendship and neighbourly help to those who need it through the time, skills and resources people in our community have to offer.
Our early projects included Karis BeFriends and our Children and Families work, offering befriending to older adults and families - particularly new arrivals - respectively, both areas of work taking shape within the first few years of KNS.
In 2014 we saw our established advocacy work develop into Ladywood Community Advice, adding welfare rights expertise in response to a gap left by another local project ending. In the same year we also took on the Listening and Guidance service, building on established Chaplaincy work in a GP setting, providing spiritual and emotional care for patients.
We expanded our welfare rights work in 2019 with KBF Advice responding to a need for outreach and home visits to those who struggle to get to our base in Ladywood, and since 2023 we began a Men's Space project looking to fill a gap around befriending and meaningful activities for men.
We have been a consistent presence in our community for over 25 years now, being well known and trusted with established programmes of work that address need and, in particular, fill gaps in other service provision. We recognise we don't work in isolation and value and invest in relationships with many other groups locally and across the city.
Trustees
- Ross Bryson
- Becky Cuthbert
- Gillian Harley Mason
- Alex Elphinston
- Pastor Henry Aggrey
- Kathryn Miles
- Steve Watts
- Elizabeth Cudjoe