PROGRESS REPORT AT HIGHCROSS

A meeting early this afternoon with Jo Tallack, General Manager of Highcross Leicester. Canon Barry Naylor and Julie-Ann Heath are involved in the meeting too. Two topics for discussion:

• Inter Faith Week (2001 and 2012)
• Multi-Faith Prayer Room

The Multi-Faith Prayer Room has been in active public use for just over a quarter of a year now (it opened at the end of the last Inter Faith Week, in the last days of November 2011. There's been an overwhelmingly positive response: Highcross hasn't received a single negative comment about it, either from users criticising its location or the fact that it's been converted from its previous use as a disabled toilet or from anyone opposed to it in principle. It has proved popular with customers and is virtually in constant use. At certain times on certain days, people have even been prepared to queue to use it.

A number of prayer mats have been left in the room, which have been collected in Lost Property. No one has claimed any of them. It may be the case that users of the room have left these deliberately, as Highcross decided from the start not to provide prayer mats in the room.

Some users have taken it upon themselves to mark on the wall the direction of Mecca (someone keeps writing Qibla (Arabic for "Point of Adoration", the direction to be faced when offering the Muslim salat, or Obligatory Prayer). Highcross staff have been cleaning this off, only for it to be done again. They'll be putting on some permanent, professional-looking mark to indicate this direction shortly.

Signage throughout Highcross will be upgraded soon and this room will be included, making it accessible and visible from all over the site.

Hammersons has looked upon this as a test case and they're very pleased with how it's gone so far. They'll now ensure that all new-build properties have a similar facility provided from the get-go and that suitable space is provided in existing sites.

On the topic of Inter Faith Week 2012, some tentative ideas were floated regarding making the display even more attractive and interactive. possibly involving live music and dance, as well as planning visits by school parties. There's a constant stream of schoolchildren coming to the site every week as part of the ongoing "Learn Highcross" project; during Inter Faith Week this could include a planned visit to our display. Watch this space for further developments!

I'm grateful to Jo for accepting posters and fliers for REDP's forthcoming Choice Unlimited event, that she'll ensure are put on display around Highcross.

MULTI-FAITH PRAYER ROOM PROPOSED IN HIGHCROSS

Leicester Council of Faiths has been invited to advise Highcross (the city's biggest shopping venue) on establishing a Multi-Faith Prayer Room for customers. Following an exchange of emails in the last week, I have a positive conversation on the phone this morning with Jack Payne, Buildings Manager at Highcross and we arrange to meet on site and discuss the development on Tuesday 31 May.

I understand that this sort of facility exists for staff, but this will be the first time that Hammersons, the company which owns and runs Highcross, will have done this for customers at any of their shopping centres. So, once again, Leicester leads the way!

I remember there was a bit of a push to ensure that Highcross would have a prayer room before the venue opened. Although that campaign didn't appear to come to anything at the time, That sort of gentle pressure appears to have paid off in the medium term.

Of course, the Council of Faiths has a good relationship with Highcross, as regular readers of this blog will know. We've put on a display there for National Inter Faith week (at the invitation of Highcross) two years running - and we hope we'll be able to go back for that event this year, when it rolls around in November. Highcross also made a substantial contribution to the exhibition that's been used in those two special weeks - and on many other occasions in several sites around the city in between.

Leicester Council of Faiths is grateful for the opportunity to lend its weight to this project, which we're sure will prove of benefit to Highcross and to its customers, as it seeks ever more fully to reflect the makeup and meet the needs of the diverse community it serves in this city. We're also glad to be able to strengthen our relationship with Highcross, which is such an important part of Leicester life.

There's a full meeting of the Council of Faiths this evening, so this will be a piece of good news to relate there. Undoubtedly we'll be promoting the idea that this kind of facility has to work as something that will be appealing and useful to people of all faiths. Still, it's going to be of more interest to members of some faith communities than of others. It will be helpful to get input from members who have used this kind of facility in other public places; there may be some who've been involved in setting up this kind of prayer room elsewhere. All comments and feedback welcome - from anyone who wishes to express an interest!