A Founder's Story

In 1993, The Rev. Martin Henwood DL was inspired by something Sir Peter Hall said to him after a lecture on the thinking behind his plans for Thames Gateway and its regeneration: “The greatest challenge facing those responsible for its delivery would be the integration of existing communities with the new developments”. Realising that there was no plan to enable this to happen, Martin wanted to respond to this challenge.

Martin spent the first 5 years of his ministry addressing the immediate physical regeneration of the parish church, ultimately reaching out into the community to fund a £2m restoration project that saw other parties deliver their services from the convenient location of the church. In this way, the church became a resource centre for the wider community.

Having worked with Dartford Borough Council (DBC) during this restoration project, it was Martin that DBC approached to spearhead community development in a local area, The Tree Estate. The funding DBC put towards this objective was matched by the Diocese of Rochester, which made it possible to employ a Community Development worker who would uncover the greatest needs of the community by allowing their voices to be heard. Real partnerships between faith, voluntary, public and private sectors were being created, and this was to lead to the founding of the charity “Faith in their Voices”—a name pointing to the connection between having faith that the disadvantaged and marginalised voices would be heard. This was later shortened to the acronym “FIT Voices”, which in itself alludes to fitting different voices together for the mutual benefit of the community.

Many years later, FIT Voices has managed several projects contributing to the uplift and regeneration of North Kent. The charity has worked with and for a number of community organisations, including the Council for Voluntary Services, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Church in Society, local artists, local government and health, youth and education services.

Martin Henwood DL is Vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Dartford, Kent