WORSHIPPERS across Oxfordshire devote a total of 12,500 hours of their free time to the community a month.

A new survey revealed that faith communities in the county clock up a combined 150,000 volunteering hours every year.

The effort would be worth about £850,000 a year if multiplied by the minimum wage rate of £5.80.

Their community projects include the Blackbird Leys Credit Union, set up after residents began taking out expensive loans and spiralling into debt, and The Gatehouse, which provides food and support to homeless people in Oxford.

Last night religious representatives described the findings as ‘heart-warming’ – and said the true number of hours volunteers gave could be considerably higher.

The Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Rev Colin Fletcher, of the Oxfordshire Stronger Communities Alliance, which commissioned the Building Better Neighbourhoods survey, said: “Without these faith communities we would be poorer as a community.

“Faith communities are hugely valuable both to society and to themselves.”

Worshippers in the county, including Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs and those from other traditions, invest £8.5m each year paying staff to keep community projects running.

They also help generate £1.7m for the tourist economy in Oxfordshire every year by opening the doors of their historic buildings to visiting members of the public.

Findings of the £69,000 report, which took Coventry University a year to draw up, were unveiled to more than 100 people at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium yesterday.

Among them was Neil Townsend, of Wantage Community Church, who helped set up the Wantage and Grove Street Pastor scheme last year to help quell late-night trouble on the streets.

He has 24 volunteers who patrol the town on Friday nights giving out flip-flops to women who cannot walk in high heels, and lollipops to calm down drunk people.

Mr Townsend said: “The church has an amazing source of amazing people who give to the community and change it for the better.”

Dr Hajjat Ramzy, director of the Muslim secondary school Iqra School at Littlemore, said: “Faith and volunteering is helping people to keep everything together as a big family and a big community in Oxfordshire.”

Meru Ostlund, of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, said: “Sometimes we need a report like this to realise what faith communities are doing.

“They are an integral part of society.”

  • THE Blackbird Leys Credit Union was set up 20 years ago so people on the estate could save money, take out cheaper loans, cash cheques and pay in wages and benefits.

It was established by the Church of the Holy Family after unregulated doorstep lenders began charging extortionate interest rates on the estate.

Pensioner David Bruce, of Tern Walk, Greater Leys, who has been using the Credit Union for 10 years, said: “Absolutely it has been a valuable service to the estate. The alternative is loan sharks charging 500 or 600 per cent, which is a terrible thing.”

The Credit Union has about 15 volunteers, 600 members, currently lends about £120,000 and has almost £200,000 in investments and savings.

Office manager Saul Goode said: “I think it’s very valuable to lots of people.”