Tuesday 18 January 2011

Leicester Council of Faiths: full meeting

We have a full meeting of the Council of Faiths in the Welcome Centre this evening. Seven of our eight member faith communities some of them in a variety of denominations.

Our topic this evening is a Code of Conduct for members. A Code of Conduct for Directors / Trustees has already been agreed - at this meeting we're discussing how this can be adapted to fit members of the wider Council.

Some members of longer standing, some past office bearers in years gone by, refer to a Code of Conduct produced by the Inter Faith Network of the UK, that had been agreed and adopted in the past. Not only that, Leicester Council of Faiths has played its part in developing this code and is a signatory to it on a printed list on the published version of the code itself (which is available in a variety of community languages). At some point, the fact that we'd signed up to this dropped off our radar and when it was felt again that such a thing was necessary, a new one was created, based on good practice among charities and and voluntary organisations, rather than turning to this one.

Rahter than simply junk this recently written one in favour of the existing code by the Inter Faith Network (which seemed like an option at one point), we discussed how to use them in a complementary way, recognising the special nature of our institution and our work in Leicester. We had a similar discussion about the relation between a Code of Conduct and our Articles of Association.

By the end of the evening, we'd collectively read through the proposed Code of Conduct, trimming and refining it, and agreeing on its wording. I think we were all pleased with how this evening went. The meeting was conducted in an affable, supportive way, with a lightness of touch.

When we're provided with the accepted form of this Code of Conduct, I'll publish it here.

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