WHAT did the Romans ever do for us? To paraphrase that famous Monty Python sketch from the Life of Brian – nothing. Except the aqueduct. Oh, and sanitation. Oh, and I’ll give you the roads, etc.

Well, we could ask “what did faith ever do for us?” Well, nothing. Except bring war and conflict? Wait a minute though, what about the basis of our legal system? Britain’s legal system has its roots in the ethics of Christianity.

The concepts of honesty, personal responsibility, opposition to violence, concern for others and respect for their property – which are all part of the fabric of our laws – lie at the heart of the gospels.

Nowhere was that more evident than at a recent event in the heart of Blackburn. Faith leaders – not just Christians, but Muslims, Hindus and others – learned about the contribution faith makes to the lives of those in Blackburn with Darwen.

Christians Together in Blackburn recently performed a faith audit to find out what faith-based groups do for their communities. We found out so much from the responses.

There are 269 projects, which have provided 56,228 acts of support.

There are 1,738 volunteers, and 155 paid staff. If a financial value were to be given to this activity, based on the living wage it would be £4million.

The financial value, whilst significant, is far less important than the fact so many people are serving Blackburn with Darwen.

They are supporting families, children, older people, those facing the challenges of poverty, and reducing social isolation. All faith groups put family at the heart of what they are doing.

There is a massive amount to celebrate in Blackburn with Darwen.

The biggest surprise to all who attended the event was the scale of support which the faith sector is committed to.

Not just in BwD, but across the nation there are 20,000 faith projects every week with two million people who volunteer because of their faith.

Ask again what faith does for us? We are good neighbours dedicated to living out our faith by action, as well as prayer.

This applies to all faiths – we are part of communities which care, working alongside those of no faith, different faiths, to make a difference.