Editor's note: This article was updated on 1 April 2023 with corrections to the percentages shown in the article.
A new study by Tearfund has found that the outreach of churches in their local communities leads to a social return of 28 times the level of investment.
The study found that every £1 invested in communities through local churches unlocked a further £7 of time and resources, generating £211 in social value - or a social return of 1:28.
The study was carried out by the State of Life consulting agency on behalf of Tearfund and surveyed the impact on people living in communities across Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe that engaged with Tearfund's church training and investment programmes.
The study received 8,000 survey responses showing that people in these communities were 62% more likely to invest in assets like animals, land, a house or business, than communities that did not have any church-led training or investment.
They were 51% more likely to have the same or higher earnings than last year; 45% more likely to feel that people would be there for them if they needed help; 26% less likely to have a member of their family miss school; and 26% less likely to have gone without enough food.
The study also found that the impact was long-term and sustainable, as the wellbeing of people remained significantly higher even five years or more after the initial training and investment.
Tearfund said the study showed that investing in communities through local churches was "a highly cost-effective way of improving wellbeing".
Dr Ruth Valerio, Director of Advocacy at Tearfund, said: "Thanks to food banks and support programmes people have become increasingly aware of churches' outsized contribution to our communities during the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
"Now we've shown that investing in churches is also an incredibly cost-effective way of helping people in lower-income countries, all the more important given squeezed aid budgets.
"This report proves what Tearfund has seen around the world for over 50 years: that the church is a superhero."
