FOREWARD
I am delighted to share our first Impact and Learning report, Inspiring change. Since 2006 we have been pursuing a ten-year vision – to see 50 million people released from spiritual and material poverty through a network of 100,000 local churches. Over the last few years it has been incredibly encouraging to see our organisational thirst for powerful learning and robust evidence of impact continue to grow. During the year ahead we have plans to deepen our evidence base, to learn from our work and to make sure this learning is put into practice. Next year we will report in detail what we have achieved against our ten-year vision.
We are committed
Over the past ten years I have been deeply impressed by the commitment of both our staff and the local partner organisations (with which we work) to strive for the greatest effectiveness in their work and to seek continual improvement across all they do. As change accelerates and complexity increases, we know that we must become more agile and responsive, adapting to the needs and contexts in which we work. Our passion to learn and to grow is vital here.
As a faith-based organisation we are deeply committed to understanding more fully how faith in all its many aspects enables communities to thrive and to flourish. Lasting and sustainable transformation is only possible when negative behaviours, mindsets, norms and narratives are changed. Faith plays a vital role in helping people to discover hope, meaning and purpose in their lives. We are investing greater effort to support our staff and partners to distil front-line learning and marshal more evidence of how faith contributes to flourishing individuals and restored communities.
We are committed to going where the need is greatest. As we do so, we are especially keen to learn what is working well and how we can replicate, scale up and innovate from this existing work into new countries and contexts. As the international aid sector discusses future sustainable development targets, we also want to be driven by ambitious targets that will benefit the communities we work with.
We are achieving
Tearfund’s contribution to helping release people from poverty and injustice is only effective in conjunction with the professionalism, skill and energy of the front-line partners with which we work – local organisations, churches, faith networks and individuals. Their commitment and passion inspire me every day. As I hand over leadership of Tearfund later this year, I am encouraged and inspired by what we are achieving collectively through our work, as highlighted in this report. Inspiring change marks an important milestone in Tearfund’s journey. I hope you find the report as inspiring as I do. We invite you to join us on this journey of change.
Matthew Frost CEO
Tearfund – May 201