'Give smarter' urges charitable foundation as skills exchange is launch
Only a radical overhaul in the way people give can save more than 300 small UK charities from closing, says a charitable foundation ...Eleven years on and still making a Noise in Bristol
For the 11th year running, around 1,000 volunteers from churches all over Bristol will be spending their May Bank Holiday weekend (5-7 May) taking part in practical community projects as part of 'The Noise'.
Teams will tend gardens for vulnerable adults, tidy public spaces, wash cars, play football with kids, cook burgers and feed 
senior citizens in North Bristol and in the East of the city.
In the run up to the weekend, people have signed up to take part in ‘100 Days of Prayer’ to intercede for specific issues, for communities, and for the whole of the city.
One Noise volunteer shared this story from 2011: “A Muslim French speaking Senegalese family moved into one of the urban estates in North Bristol. They were completely isolated and suffered from some serious racial abuse and hatred. They were referred to a local church, were welcomed and began to feel more at home, and in May the whole family volunteered for The Noise weekend.
“On the first day they were working together to clear and improve the garden of a family in their community whose racial prejudices were pretty intense. This unplanned moment of seeing a bit of the upside down Kingdom of God break in to our city was awesome.”
