CREATIVE COFFEE LEICESTER, 31 JULY 2013

At Phoenix this morning, for the regular fortnightly meeting of Creative Coffee Leicester. I've been unable to attend the last three sessions (since 5 June) so am glad to be here today - although I can only stay for the first hour.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see Julie-Ann and Barry Heath here. I'd be pleased to see them here any time, of course, but it's especially the case since I'd been with them at Cathedral AM hardly an hour-and-a-half before. Julie-Ann is in her civvies, here to follow up on a recent exhibition of her art at LCB Depot.

I meet, for the first time, Hannah Patterson, presenter and voiceover artist fort TV, radio and the web. Hannah used to work at BBC Radio Leicester. I mention about occasionally having been on the station, doing things like Thought for the Day from time to time. Hardly do I say this when my iphone rings. It's John Florance, from BBC Radio Leicester, asking me to come in to the studio and record a Thought for the Day!

That's Hannah on the right in the photo above, with Michael Tedstone, composer and musician, one of the regulars at Creative Coffee Leicester.

Just before 1100 I dash round to Curve, for a workshop for members of all those working on Leicester's bid to be declared UK City of Culture 2017.

CATHEDRAL AM, JULY 2013

David Monteith, Dean of Leicester (centre)

Cathedral AM is an early morning networking event held at Leicester Cathedral, gathering together people from different parts of city and county, with a special mission to share news and experience on aspects of life in the the city centre. The meetings are hosted by Urban Canon Barry Naylor and Julie Ann Heath, Chaplain to the Cathedral. Breakfast is served from 0730 then there's a speaker from 0800.

This morning's speaker is David Monteith, Dean of Leicester. David speaks about his own background, the steps he has taken which have led him to this post. He's only been Dean of Leicester for a couple of months, taking on the role at one of the most challenging and exciting times in the life of Leicester Cathedral, with the imminent development of the Cathedral Gardens and the unfolding story around Richard III and plans being laid for the internal renovation of the Cathedral itself.

There's a buzz around the tables about the article in the Independent on Sunday's New Review, which everyone seems positive about - even a few folk who were interviewed and hoped to be mentioned in the article, but didn't feature in the published version. 

I walk out at the end with John Florance of BBC Radio Leicester. As well as giving me his informed opinion on Pacific Rim (which I intend to see this weekend), he asks if I'd be amenable to recording another Thought for the Day soon. Of course I would!

BBC RADIO LEICESTER, THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: BAHÁ'Í COMMENT ON G8 SUMMIT

 

Early this morning (on the way out to the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir on Gipsy Lane to meet up with the Year 5 pupils from Sandfield Close Primary) I pop into BBC Radio Leicester to record a Thought for the Day with John Florance.

 

When we met at Cathedral AM last Wednesday, John asked if I would do one of these 90-second spots this week. He told me then that he could trust me to pick my own subject. I asked him which hat he wanted me to wear for this: speaking as a local Bahá'í or as an employee of Leicester Council of Faiths. He said that I'd have been on for the Council of Faiths often recently (which is true) so he asked me to make it on from a Bahá'í perspective. So here it is:

Good morning

Shortly, the G8 summit takes place in Northern Ireland. Leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations will meet to discuss ways to restore strong and sustainable growth to the world economy and mull over how to address the most pressing issues of the day.

The summit takes place under the presidency of the UK. But is it right that we should be concerned with social and economic problems in other countries when there is so much to be fixed here at home?

Bahá'ís would say that it is not only right, but necessary. Indeed it’s a moral and political obligation of the strongest nations to lend a hand to those struggling even more than we are right now.

These increasingly common and frequent summits and conferences represent unsteady, faltering steps toward the realisation of a truth stated by Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Bahá'u'lláh said then that, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” This memorable phrase is the foundation of what Bahá'ís believe and the inspiration behind how we work for positive change around the world.

If this Bahá'í could offer a word of advice to the great and the good gathered at the G8 summit next weekend, it would be this quotation from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh: “Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self.” If such an attitude informed their discussions, then we might see effective action that brings about genuine change for everyone in our world.

It sounds a bit flat on the first take, so John asks me to read it again, just to vary the tone and put a bit of bounce in it. I don't feel much bounce in myself this morning (probably because I was still up writing this in the wee small hours), but give it another go; it comes out much better the second time.

I arrived at Radio Leicester this morning at the same time as Martin Gage from Christian Aid, who is leading the regional arm of the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign. He's here to record his own Thought for the Day, for broadcast later this week, about the Hunger Summit that precedes the meeting of the G8. Martin is sitting in the small studio with John and me while we record my piece. He offers a helpful comment that would certainly improve it, so I rerecord a couple of sentences, incorporating Martin's suggestion.

After I've done and John is showing me out of the building, I suggest that my son Harry come in and record a Thought for the Day, to be broadcast toward the end of next week, just before the release of Man of Steel. John is a fellow comics fan, so I don't have to work too hard to persuade him.

CATHEDRAL AM, MAY 2013

Canon Barry Naylor (left) & Riaz Ravat

It's a very short walk between BBC Radio Leicester and Leicester Cathedral, so hardly five minutes after my appearance on Jonathan Lampon's breakfast show, I'm sitting down to a breakfast of my own at Cathedral AM. Half a dozen attendees are seated already when I arrive. At least two of them tell me that they just heard me on the radio!

When I used to live this side of town I came to Cathedral AM often, but this is the first time I've made it in 18 months (literally; the last one was 30 November 2011).

Cathedral AM is an early morning networking event for people with particular interest in the city centre. From the start, the meetings have been hosted by Canon Barry Naylor and Julie Ann Heath. Breakfast is served from 0730 then there's a speaker from 0800. This morning it's Riaz Ravat, Deputy Director at St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society.

Just before leaving, I have a brief word with Jo Tallack, General Manager at Highcross. She asks me if we'll be coming back for our exhibition during Inter Faith Week in November. When I say yes, she asks me to send her the dates so she can put it in the diary.

CATHEDRAL AM, NOVEMBER 2011

At Cathedral AM this morning (the first one I've been able to attend in quite a while). The advertised speaker is Mayor of Leicester City, Sir Peter Soulsby, but his place is taken today by Assistant Mayor Councillor Ted Cassidy.

Our hosts are this morning, as at every one of these gatherings, are Julie Ann Heath (left, in photo above) and Barry Naylor (right). I'm always glad to see Barry, fine fellow that he is, but I'm especially pleased to see Julie Ann, so shortly after our exhibition in Highcross during Inter Faith Week. It as Julie Ann who first got us into Highcross and I still think of that as being her baby. She was unable to come and see the exhibition last week and we were both sorry about that.

We're meeting not in the usual venue of the Cathedral Visitor Centre, but in the neighbouring St Martins House. I've not yet been beyond the reception area of St Martins House before, so it's nice to get a little further into the building today. It's also nice to be able to mix and mingle without every conversation feeling like a promotion for Inter Faith Week!

VCS CEO LEADERSHIP NETWORK

An early start this morning with a breakfast meeting of the Voluntary and Community Sector Chief Executive Officers (VCS CEO) Leadership Network. We're meeting at Apex Works, Charles Street AT 0745.

I've mentioned before that we don't have a Chief Executive Officer at Leicester Council of Faiths. It would be daft if we did, with only 1.5 full time equivalent (FTE) staff (and the likely CEO being the 1). However, not all the organisations involved in this network (certainly not all of those here this morning) have someone with the actual title of CEO, so I'm not the only one in this position (also, I've got the agreement and support of our Chair to do this).

As well as ourselves, there are 13 VCS organisations represented here this morning (an increase on 10 at the last one):

• Apex
• Care and Repair
• Centre Project
• Community Advice and Law Service
• Emerald Centre
• Focus
• Giving World Online
• Leicestershire Aids Support Service (LASS) 
• LeicestHER Day Trust
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Leicestershire Community Projects Trust
• Lighthouse Learning
• Stride

Four items dominate our agenda:

• ongoing consultation on Leicester City Council's budget (especially as it affects the VCS)
• shadowing arrangements involving our CEOs and elected members and relevant officers of Leicester City Council (not really suitable for the Council of Faiths to take part in this)
• report of a working group on creation of an online information super portal for Leicester (I'm on this group, but was in Glasgow the only time it met)
• non-competitive tendering (a working group was set up to develop this and make a preliminary report to our next meeting in January)

I take a few minutes at the end to speak about Inter Faith Week; All those present take away multiple copies of the flyer for their own staff, volunteers and service users or to display at their premises. I also mention the next meeting of Cathedral AM, at which the City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, is the guest speaker. No one here has heard of Cathedral AM before or been to one of its meetings. I extend an invitation to everyone, as the next  meeting would suit members of this group.

We finish bang on 0930 - just in time for me to dash down to Humberstone Gate eand catch the bus to the Towers, where I have a meeting scheduled half an hour later with Abida Hussain.

ANGEL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN

Julie Ann Heath with a copy of her book, The Angel at the Bottom of the Garden, an illustrated fable for adults

To St Martins House, in the precincts of Leicester Cathedral early this evening, where I've been invited to attend a launch for three books written (and two of them illustrated) by my friend and colleague Julie Ann Heath.

Julie Ann is in charge of the Diocese's Retail Chaplaincy (keeping an eye on the spiritual needs of those who work in the city centre), organises Cathedral AM (the bimonthly networking breakfasts in the Cathedral Visitor Centre) and is a member of Leicester Council of Faiths.

She's been of great help to me in my work, especially helping secure our first exhibition in Highcross during National Inter Faith Week 2009. To me, she's really rather inspirational.

She gives a brief talk about how and why she came to write these books, her own sources of inspiration in C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) and George McDonald (1824-1905) and how her books have been received.

Julie Ann's books are published by Potters Maze.

Cathedral AM (5)

To Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre this morning for Cathedral AM. This bi-monthly networking breakfast brings together people working in, living in, or otherwise concerned with Leicester city centre. When I lived in the West End, barely a ten minute walk from the Cathedral, I hardly ever made it here in time for breakfast. Now I live halfway across the city, I arrive half an hour early and have to park myself in Cafe Nerro with a cappuccino and the morning paper!

The scheduled speaker for this morning (Deb Watson, Director of Public Health and Health Improvement, NHS Leicester City) has called in sick. Into the breach steps Police Sergeant Nick Westwood, Deputy Local Policing Unit Commander, based at Mansfield House Police Station, Belgrave Gate. He was going to speak this morning for five minutes about the forthcoming demonstrations by the English Defence League (EDL) and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) in Leicester on Saturday 9 October - so now he has the floor for longer.

Nick speaks about the preparations that the Police are making, in association with Leicester City Council, to ensure that the day passes off as peacefully as possible. He asks thqat we take this information back to our own communites, groups or organisations, so that as many people as possible might have confidence in what is being done to ensure that they are kept safe and that normal life can go on. He tell us that a large number of officers from other forces around the country are being drafted in for what will be the biggest policing operation that Leicester has seen in 25 years. Police will be patrolling not just the city centre, but will be visible and available in all parts of the city. There will be more officers on duty (on and around the day) specialising in public order and in hate crime. Police will be visiting locations, premises and sites that are considered vulnerable and speaking to local shops and businesses well in advance of the day. The routes of the two demonstrations have not yet been declared. This is one of the areas with which Leicestershire Police are negotiating with both the EDL and UAF.

There will be a prayer vigil in Leicester Cathedral on the Friday evening before the demonstrations. The cathedral is busy with prearranged activities on the Saturday, otherwise it would be publicised as a safe haven for anyone in the city centre who feels threatened (as was done with the Cathedral in Bradford). Canon Barry Naylor expressed the hope that some other church in the city centre might be able to fulfil this role.

Both Leicester University and De Montfort University have open days on Saturday 9 October, when potential students and their parents, many of whom will never have seen the city before, will be coming to Leicester. Both those institutions are understandably anxious about what kind of impression visitors will get about Leicester that day.

Sarah Levitt, Head of Leicester Arts and Museums, tells us that on Sunday 10 October, the day after the two demonstrations, there's going to be a big, positive public event around the gaint TV screen in Humberstone Gate. "Celebrate One Leicester" will allow the people of Leicester to show how much we love the diversity and harmony of the city. Details will be announced soon.

On other matters, I get to speak to John Florance of BBC Radio Leicester, about Leicester Speaks (AKA Local Democracy Week). He expressed interest in his Sunday morning show covering the Council of Faiths contribution to the week's events.

I also get to meet Jaz Mann (and his Signer, Adam). Jaz works with Action Deafness, where he is Lead Development Officer on the HearNow Project. He's looking for opportunities to promote this project within the faith communities. We discuss ways in which the Council of Faiths may be able to help him.

Find out more about Action Deafness:
http://www.actiondeafness.org.uk/

NAGARJUNA KADAMPA BUDDHIST CENTRE OPEN DAY

At the newly opened Nagarjuna Kadampa Buddhist Centre, Guildhall Lane for their Open Day, 1100-1600. I've been familiar with the name of this group in through the centre they run in Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire, but wasn't aware that they have a long association with Leicester, dating back some 18 years, when they had a centre in the Knighton district of the city.

The premises are certainly impressive, with a big, open and bright reception area leading into a cafe of the highest professional standard (with an imaginative and impressive vegetarian menu) that's open to the public 1000-1600 Monday to Saturday and a book and gift shop on the ground floor. I join a 15-minute tour of the building, starting in the meditation room which would easily seat over 60 people and is adorned with statues and images, the significance of which are explained to us by our guide. Then we go upstairs to a large meeting hall, where (for today only) there are various fund-raising stalls (tombola, cakes, retro clothing and bric-a-brac) and an art demonstration. I get a veggie hot dog with onions and mustard and enjoy a brief chat with Lekmo, a nun who lives at the centre.

St Katharine's Building, where the Centre is located, used to be part of the complex of properties belonging to Leicester Grammar School before it moved out to its new site in Great Glen. A visual record of the transformation of the building for its present use (in a slide series on show in the cafe today) testifies to the amount of work they've put into making it this good. We're told that the big blue door which serves as the entrance to the Centre had been sealed up on the inside and hadn't been used for twenty years.

As well as the fine premises, friendly people, warm and professional welcome, I have to give a nod to the Centre's full and imaginative programme of activities. They're running lunchtime meditation sessions every day of the week; more in-depth weekly classes on Monday evenings; day courses (topics including "Experience Inner Peace", "The Art of Enlightenment", "Finding Stillness", "The Kind Heart"); and weekend meditation retreats. I particularly fancy what they're calling, "Stop the Week ... Start the Weekend" - a relaxation meditation followed by a three-course vegetarian meal. The Centre is being promoted as an island of calm in the middle of the city - and a jolly good thing that'll be too!

I'm going back tomorrow at noon, to have a talk with Kadam Chris Heyes, Resident Teacher at the Centre. There are a few ways in which we might be able to work together, such as during the week-long Leicester Speaks event (October) and during National Inter Faith Week in November. Barry Naylor (the Urban Canon) and I have also discussed making some sort of "Spirituality Trail" through the city centre, taking in Leicester Cathedral, the Jain Centre, the Dark Side Cafe in Cank Street (meeting place for local Pagans) and this new Buddhist Centre. In particular I mention the next meeting of Cathedral AM this Wednesday (21 October). The Nagarjuna Kadampa Buddhist Centre would appear to fit right in with the kind of organisations that attend that event so I'll obtain an invitation for them.

CATHEDRAL AM

It's Cathedral AM this morning at Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre. This bi-monthly networking breakfast brings together people working in, living in, or otherwise concerned with Leicester city centre. For the first time in a long while, I actually get there in time to have breakfast! There's a smaller turnout than usual today (maybe only half what we're used to) which host Canon Barry Naylor blames on "the July effect". I guess that means a lot of people are on holiday just now.

Our speaker this morning is John Florance (photo above, with Barry Naylor) from BBC Radio Leicester. He gives us a whistlestop tour of the past, present and possible future of local radio in general and BBC Radio Leicester in particular. Leicester was the first city in the UK to have its own radio station (from Nov 1967) and it pioneered certain aspects of radio broadcasting that we now take for granted, such as the on-air phone-in. John is very funny (if a bit risque for this time of the morning) and he provides an enlightening and entertaining 20 minute talk. At the end of the session I get the chance to tell him that BBC Radio Leicester's web page on Inter Faith Week was featured in a presentation to delegates at the Inter Faith Network UK national conference in London just last week. This web page was, in part, based on the content of an interview John conducted live with Noel Singh, Ibrahim Moghra and myself on the first day of that week in November last year.

Speaking of Inter Faith Week, this morning I meet Mark Murphy, who has recently been appointed General Manager at Highcross. After introducing myself, I speak with him about the possibility of Highcross once again mounting the Council of Faiths exhibition when Inter Faith Week rolls around again later this year. It's a friendly first meeting and he asks me to drop him a line soon, so that Julie Ann and I can explore this with him and his staff.

CATHEDRAL A.M.

An early start at Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre for Cathedral AM, starting 0730. This bi-monthly networking event brings together people with a special interest in the city centre - living there, working there or otherwise concerned with it. Following a light breakfast, we listen to this morning's guest speaker: Anna Ellis, Manager of the Dawn Centre.

The Dawn Centre is a project for homeless people providing temporary accommodation, support, advice and assistance on health, housing, life skills and education all in one place.

I'm pleased to hear Anna's talk, for two reasons in particular. Firstly, the topic of homeless people has come up at just about each and every one of these meetings I've been to. Because of that, I've prompted Julie-Ann Heath and Barry Naylor (who run Cathedral AM) to get someone from the Dawn Centre to come along and speak. Secondly, I used to spend part of my working week there, teaching adult literacy skills, when I was employed by the City Council on its ReMit and Reach adult education programmes.

hot cross buns! hot cross buns!

This morning, during the BBC World Service live broadcast at Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, Urban Canon Barry Naylor mentioned he'd be involved in an Easter activity at lunchtime in the city centre, handing out hot cross buns in Leicester Market.

There's a gazebo in the market, with a number of folk from the church under it, offering freshly warmed (and buttered) hot cross buns to passers by. I recognise Revd Pete Hobson and Bishop Tim exercising generosity to the passing shoppers.

I know this isn't exactly on the scale of Leicester's celebration of Diwali or Vaisakhi, but I've heard a lot of ill-informed comment over the past few weeks that the prominence of other faith communities in Leicester has meant the downgrading of the place of the church in the public life of our city. I just wanted to put this in to show that that's not necessarilly the case. Chatting with Barry earlier today, I expressed my thoughts that one could look on what's going on at Leicester Cathedral as being the church's innovation unit - by which I mean Cathedral AM, Street Pastors, the Workplace Chaplaincy (add to that the forthcoming development of the old Grammar School). These are ways of serving the whole community with practical acts of love, compassion and kindness.

And I recently heard someone say that if the traditional song is correct ("Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!") then they were the first recorded BOGOF promotion: Buy One Get One Free.

Cathedral AM (2)

At Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre for Cathedral AM, starting 0730. This is a bi-monthly networking event, bringing together people working in, living in, or otherwise concerned with the city centre. We have breakfast together (assuming we arrive in good time!) get the chance to listen to a relevant guest speaker for half an hour or so, then quiz them. This morning we get two for the price of one, with Julie-Ann Heath and Barry Naylor. Julie-Ann and Barry have been organising these meetings since the start. Attendees at Cathedral AM have often asked Julie-Ann and Barry about their own work; they thought it time to present something direct about that today.

Julie-Ann's background is in retail management; she was ordained four years ago, Barry was ordained in 1976 and had several months' experience as a monk. She's given up the Mercedes, he's given up giving things up! There's definitely a pilot for a sitcom in there. "She's an ex-barmaid; he used to be a monk. Together they walked the streets of Leicester city centre - with hilarious consequences!" Or an offbeat detective pairing, maybe ...

They spoke to us about the Workplace Chaplaincy and about Street Pastors. Both these ministries are prayer-based; both have, at their core, the establishing, maintaining and furthering of partnerships. Julie-Ann and Barry describe how this involves them going out with love, care and compassion - going out to encounter people where they are, going through whatever it is they're going through at that time, with whatever they have in their heads and hearts, who want to share whatever is on their minds or in their hearts, whether it's good or bad. They tell us that their chaplaincy is all about active listening. They listen to people tell their stories, express their thoughts, to someone independent of their workplace. They give time to listening to people who often have no one to speak to in their dialy lives. People's work in the city centre has become more target-focused; the Workplace Chaplaincy is spirit-focused, working with the whole person.

The Workplace Chaplaincy (which is more Julie-Ann's sphere of influence) has a distinct multi-faith dimension to it (for which, it has the support of the Council of Faiths). Street Pastors, on the other hand, is identified as a more overtly Christian ministry. Neither is conducted with the intention of seeking to convert anyone though. Many of the people they meet in the city centre can't believe that they are Christian, let alone that they are Christian clergy! Most young people have an image of the church - and of church people - as being aloof and disinterested in them.

There is the possibility of extending Street Pastors sometime within the next year or so, with appropriate training. The possibility was raised from the floor that city centre businesses could sponsor the work of Street Pastors. If 100 such businesses pledged just £5 per month, it would free them from having to raise funds and allow them to just get on with their work.

Today is Julie-Ann's birthday. There's a nice-looking cake that gets cut up and passed around.

Find out more about Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre:
http://www.cathedral.leicester.anglican.org/visitor_centre.html

Find out more about Leicester City Centre Street Pastors:
http://www.streetpastors.co.uk/ProjectArea/Midlands/LeicesterCentre/tabid/425/Default.aspx

cathedral AM (1)

At Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre for Cathedral AM, starting 0730. This is a bi-monthly networking event, bringing together people working in, living in, or otherwise concerned with the city centre. We get the chance to listen to a relevant guest speaker for half an hour or so, then quiz them. This morning's speaker is Chief Superintendent Rob Nixon, City BCU Commander. He speaks about the challenges facing city centre policing in the year ahead. I take the opportunity to introduce myself after he's spoken. I also meet Clare Taylor, Head of Student Welfare at the University of Leicester. She's involved in running a "World Faiths" group at the university and is keen to have input from the Council of Faiths.

After the meeting is over, Julie-Ann Heath (Workplace Chaplain - among other things - and largely responsible for running these breakfast meetings), Sarah Harrison (City Centre Director) and I go back to the Cathedral Centre for half an hour or so, share a pot of tea and a nice chat that revolves mostly around our differing experiences of having a go at writing.

Find out more about Leicester Cathedral Visitor Centre:

http://www.cathedral.leicester.anglican.org/visitor_centre.html