OUR CULTURE CITY RIVALS ARE "CRAP"

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Our culture city rivals are "crap"

by Peter Warzynski

Leicester's three City of Culture rivals have been included in a national list of the UK's "crap towns''.

Hull, Dundee and Swansea all appear on the Crap Towns longlist – a collection of the 100 worst towns and cities in Great Britain.

However, Leicester – the home of Richard III, National Space Centre, Curve theatre and the Attenboroughs – is nowhere to be seen on the roster of rubbish places to live.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby welcomed the news, but said the real test would come in November when the 2017 UK City of Culture winner is revealed.

"Well, I already knew Leicester wasn't crap," he said.

"But I rather suspect that this list is a bit tongue in cheek because I know the three other City of Culture contenders have a lot to offer.

"So let's wait until November and we can prove once and for all we are the best city."

The 100 nominees will be whittled down to 50 via an online vote and included in a book of the UK's worst places to live.

Also making it on to the longlist is York – whose supporters are locked in a bitter battle with the University of Leicester over where the remains of Richard III should be laid to rest.

Despite Leicester's exclusion from the list, one county town made it into the top 100.

Loughborough can be found nestled comfortably between London and Louth, in Lincolnshire, on the alphabetical census of crapness.

Hearing the news yesterday, Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan said: "How deeply unfair. This has clearly been put together by someone who has never been to Loughborough.

"I know it's all a bit of fun, and tongue in cheek, but nobody wants to hear their home has been nominated as a 'crap town'.

"Oh well... I just hope people get voting and make sure that Loughborough doesn't make it any further than the top 100.

"We have a great town here, with a fantastic community spirit, wonderful tourist attractions and a top-class university."

David Cameron's constituency, Chipping Norton, is also on the longlist.

The quaint Oxfordshire market town – home to Jeremy Clarkson – is a surprise addition, but Crap Towns Returns editor Sam Jordison said it was not all about appearance.

He said: "Crap comes in many forms. Very often, the kind of towns that estate agents would describe as 'desirable' are the most stultifying, the most ugly and the most unpleasant to live in.

"They also tend to be full of the most ridiculous people. Our correspondents don't like Mayfair any more than they like deprivation and squalor.

"In fact, they often finger the affluent places as the cause of all the trouble in the first place. Or at least for failing to do anything about it and for having terrible, terrible pubs."

MY JEWISH SOUL

Anthony & Ann Gimpel

At Quaker Meeting House, Queens Road, this evening for the launch of Anthony Gimpel's new book, My Jewish Soul (published by Christians Aware).

There are more than 60 people in the room when Barbara Butler (Executive Secretary, Christians Aware) opens the meeting, inviting David Patterson to speak first. David is a neighbour of Anthony Gimpel and his wife Ann in Loughborough. He speaks about Anthony's influence on the way that Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated there and how this is informed by Anthony's personal engagement with the Holocaust, as described in the book.

In the worldview Anthony espouses in his book, forgiveness must come before understanding, not the other way round as has long persisted in the classic British liberal model espoused by influential figures such as George Eliot and John Stuart Mill. Understanding oneself comes before understanding others. So  it follows that in order to understand oneself, one must forgive oneself.

Anthony - and of course his book - are deeply influenced by Quaker spirituality. The book is a search for his own inner soul, but at each stage of that search, it shows how he is engaged with the outer world: family, community, society, the world, always leading back to himself.

Next to speak is Ruth Fraser. She, in common with Anthony, describes herself as a Jewish Quaker. She offers the memorable observation that for a Jew to dwell on the Holocaust feels like applying a Brillo Pad to the soul.

David Clark, speaking next, says that he would locate the essence of Anthony's book on page 57: but he won't say what that is, or read the passage to us. If we want to find out for ourselves, we should buy the book! For the sake of the blog, I prevail upon him later and he points out the following paragraphs:

A friend was asking me about prayer. I answered saying that perhaps prayer is what happens when your heart genuinely wants something and the universe responds. It is instructive to hear my friend's comment: She said something like "you mean when I really want in my heart to do something." No, that is not what I meant. You may think it is what I said but listen carefully and notice the addition of one little word in her comment: I. It is quite different for your heart to want something and for you to want something in your heart. In the first case the universe responds: in the second the universe remains silent. That is why "I want never gets."

So what then do I mean about the universe responding? Being aware of what your heart is saying may allow you to be aware of the response of the universe but that is not a given. The response may or ay not accord with your conscious understanding. You may or may not want what the universe if going to give you. Do you really know what your heart wants? Is your ego happy with this? Will you accept the consequences? Only you can know and the universe is not particularly bothered whether you do or not. The key is your self awareness. Your ego and your conscience are irrelevant. It is neither here not there.

Just before this meeting, early news reports of the incident in Woolwich begin breaking. I get the feeling I'm the only one who knows about it, from the simple fact that no one else mentions it. Something of a contrast to what's been going on here this evening, I'm sure you'll agree, faithful reader.

HOLOCAUST VICTIMS REMEMBERED AT COUNTY MEMORIALS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Holocaust victims remembered at county memorials

The atrocities of the Nazi Holocaust were remembered during memorial events in the city and county.

A service was held in Queen's Park, Loughborough, yesterday lunchtime to mark Holocaust Memorial Day – held each year to coincide with the day Auschwitz was liberated in 1945.

Councillor Diane Wise, mayor of Charnwood, led the town's 13th Holocaust Memorial Service at the bandstand, commemorating Jewish lives lost during the Second World War.

"As Mayor of Charnwood, I was honoured to be invited to lead this memorial service," she said. "Although Auschwitz camp was liberated nearly 70 years ago, the effects of what occurred are still felt by many.

"I am proud Loughborough continues to host this service, a poignant reminder of the human costs of war."

The day was also marked by an exhibition in Charnwood Museum, which will run until Sunday. Victims were also due to be remembered at an event at the University of Leicester last night. Communities Together: Build a Bridge was due to be held at the Fraser Noble Hall, on University Road, and was to include displays of work by schoolchildren, on tackling hatred.

Organised by Leicester City Council, Leicester Council of Faiths, the School Development Support Agency and the university's Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust Studies, the evening's programme included presentations by young people who spoke about visiting Auschwitz.

Assistant city mayor Councillor Manjula Sood said: "It is inspiring to see the creativity of young people and the importance of tackling all kinds of discrimination."

PUPIL'S LEARN FROM MUM'S ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Pupils learn from mum's anti-bullying campaign

A mother whose daughter was murdered simply because she was dressed as a goth brought her campaign for an end to bullying to Leicestershire yesterday.

Sylvia Lancaster told a group of young people in Loughborough how her daughter, Sophie, was beaten unconscious in a park in Lancashire in August 2007.

Sophie later died of her injuries.

It later emerged the 20-year-old and her boyfriend had been picked out because they were dressed as goths.

Mrs Lancaster's charity, the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, visits schools, youth centres and prisons to tackle the problem of bullying and intolerance among young people.

The campaign, called Sophie – Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance, Everywhere – came to Loughborough's Limehurst Academy yesterday.

It is the first school in Leicestershire to use an educational pack produced by the charity.

Speaking after she had spent the afternoon with students at the Bridge Street school, Mrs Lancaster said: "After my daughter died I wanted to do something to help prevent anything like this ever happening again.

"The kids at Limehurst were fabulous. They didn't know who I was or what had happened to my daughter until I told them.

"I find young people respond to her story because they know it might have been them, their sister or the girl next door."

All secondary schools in the city and county now have packs, which include a film about Sophie's death and a game which encourages students to examine their preconceptions and prejudices about people who are different to them because of fashion, race, faith, sexuality or disability.

Darren Goddard, Leicestershire Police's hate crime officer, said: "Limehurst Academy does not have a problem with bullying, but I have said to schools that they don't have to have that problem to get involved in a campaign like this.

"It's a very simple message – just because someone doesn't look exactly like you, behave the same or even be able to do things you can do, it doesn't mean they are not a human being.

"It's a message the children can take with them away from school and out into the community."

Sheila Fisher, deputy head of the academy, said: "The message Sylvia brought to the school is very much one we teach every day, but for the students to hear it from someone who has had such a personal experience gave it more resonance."

Teachers from about 40 of city and county schoools attended Leicestershire Police headquarters in Enderby on Tuesday to meet Mrs Lancaster, who still lives in Lancashire, and to learn how to use the pack in their schools.

www.sophielancasterfoundation.com

CROWDS ENJOY PATRIOT GAMES AT ST GEORGE'S DAY CELEBRATIONS

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Crowds enjoy patriot games at St George's Day celebrations

Knights, princesses and a court jester kept the crowds entertained as the county celebrated St George's Day.

Hundreds of families headed to Orton Square, Leicester, to join in crafts activities, take maypole dancing lessons, and see a kings and queens-themed fancy dress parade.

For three-year-old Olivia Miller, of Rothley, it was all about the morris dancers.

"I liked it when they danced with the bells, and I thought they were really funny," she said. "The man's hat fell off and it made me laugh, and I like the sticks they carry."

Mum Ruth Ingram, 45, said: "I think this is brilliant. Things like this are a great opportunity for Olivia to get out and see different things.

"We should really celebrate getting out and enjoying the streets of Leicester."

Drawings of dragons were hidden around the cultural quarter. Oumnia Abounovar, seven, was determined to find them all and mark them on her map. "I've come here to find the dragons," she said.

Mum Rachel, 46, from the city centre, added: "We came to support a friend who is playing in the band, but with the weather being dry for the moment it's a good opportunity to get out and make use of this lovely space here."

Curve theatre hosted Makers Mart, a craft and design fair, while Phoenix Square ran arts and crafts workshops, followed by a screening of the film How to Train Your Dragon.

In Loughborough, all-girl morris dancing group Bare Bones painted their faces before entertaining the crowds.

Councillor Paul Harley, cabinet member for leisure and culture, said: "I think St George's Day is a thoroughly under-celebrated event.

"St Patrick's Day, Burn's Night and St David's Day are always popular so it's great to mark St George's Day, too."

Street theatre performances featuring St George and his dragon, a Punch and Judy show and a zumba session kept Hinckley town centre busy on Saturday.

In Coalville, St George, his dragon and a damsel in distress visited Belvoir shopping centre, while Leicestershire Co-op Brass Band played traditional tunes.

The rain poured down on hundreds of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, during their annual St George's Day parade on Sunday.

Youngsters braved the weather, many carrying flags and banners representing their groups, as brass bands and drummers set the pace.

The groups split as they left the market, one heading for Leicester Cathedral and the other for Bishop Street church.

Dan Harrison, seven, of the 53rd Leicester Birstall Beavers, said: "We've come to do a walk around the city and that. It is because of a dragon and St George."

Beaver Joseph Hallet, eight, said: "I like Beavers because we get to do lots of different things, like this walk, but also loads of games and activities."

The celebrations were due to continue today at Leicester Market, from 11am, where there was to be a knight tournament, medieval craft demonstrations and games to play.

There was also to be a re-enactment of St George rescuing a damsel in distress from the clutches of a dragon at 12.15pm and 2pm.

NO ARRESTS DURING CITY CENTRE PROTESTS

This is the official communication sent from Leicestershire Police on their Neighbourhood Alert network about events yesterday in Leicester city centre

No arrests during city centre protests

Leicestershire Police Chief Constable Simon Cole has sent a public thank you to the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland for their support in ensuring today’s marches in the city centre passed peacefully.

Around 700 supporters from the English Defence League (EDL) and 200 from Leicester Unite Against Fascism (UAF) carried out separate marches in the city centre.

There were no arrests directly connected to the marches.

Mr Cole said: “The success of the operation is due to a number of factors, not least the support from Leicester City Council in preparing the city for today’s event and the co-operation of the Leicester public.

“The planning for this day began just two weeks ago with many officers and staff working extremely long hours working out the logistics, meeting with other Force colleagues, partners, businesses, community leaders to name but a few.

“Today more than 2,000 officers and staff were involved in policing the marches joined by colleagues from 17 others forces and to those we owe a huge debt of thanks for their support.”

City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: "Today has passed without major incident and is a real testament to everyone involved - from the police and retailers to our own council officers.

"Whereas the last visit from the EDL ended in violence and the city being brought to a standstill, this year it has largely been business as usual.

“This goes to show that allowing the EDL and UAF to march was the right thing to do.

"The city has proven it takes more than a demonstration like this to pull our communities apart and that when the going gets tough, the city unites.

"It is now important to get our city back to normal. The Leicester Comedy Festival is in full swing and on Tuesday the city will be hosting the second Big Eat.

"I'd encourage residents to come into the city and take part to show that Leicester is a peaceful and warm city, with something for everyone."

Chief Superintendent Rob Nixon, city commander, said:  “I would like to pay tribute to the way our communities in Leicester and local businesses have responded to the challenges of today.

“We appreciate the support we have received from the community and can now begin to get the city back to normal.”

During the morning some of the protesters stopped at towns in Leicestershire on their way into the city but there was a policing operation in place across Leicestershire and Rutland to deal with this.

Chief Inspector Sanjiv Pattani, who was part of the team policing the wider counties today, said:  “There was a gathering of around 300 EDL supporters in the Nottingham Road area of Loughborough.The supporters were good natured.

There were no incidents of disorder in anywhere the in the county [sic] and we would like to thank local people and businesses for their patience and support during the operation.

“We tried to keep people updated throughout the day and sent regular messages to nominated community members.  This was well received and people told us they were grateful for being kept informed.”

take a seat

To Loughborough this afternoon, to meet Patrica Stoat, Chief Executive Officer of the Faiths Forum for the East Midlands. We're meeting to discuss how to fill a vacant seat for religion and belief on the Core Reference Group of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP). Each of the Protected Characteristics and related topic areas has its own particular criteria for membership. the one for religion and belief is as follows:

An inter-faith/multi-faith organisation or body with representation from a variety of faith/belief communities and not specifically identified with (or led by) one faith community.

Represented organisations should be actively involved (or willing and able to be involved) in promoting good relations

• between different communities identified with religion or belief

• between the general community identified with religion or belief and other communities of interest regarding issues of equality, diversity and human rights,

• between the wider community identified with religion or belief and society in general.

Pat and I spend a couple of hours considering who's around in the East Midlands and who might fit the bill. While we can't simply put our finger on one organisation who meets all the criteria, we come up with a proposal for filling that one remaining space that we'll put before the Core Partners at their next meeting, early September.

Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood AGM

At Loughborough Town Hall this evening, in the Council Chamber, for the AGM of Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood. Here I run into some of those whom I see at various events and occasions around the region, whom I've come to consider dependable colleagues.

Speaker for the evening is Dave Thomas, Headteacher at Ashmount School, Loughborough, which serves students with special educational needs. He makes a special feature of the use of "Keep Safe" cards, which have helped young people with special learning needs in the local area (and in various parts throughout the country, where the scheme has been trialled) become more confident in social situations that they might otherwise have found tricky and which have previously resulted in police involvement. Nice to see something that works and makes a positive difference.

I was hoping to put up a banner for the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership, but it wouldn't have been appropriate in this setting. It's not nice if it looks like you're crashing someone else's party. But of course I do get the chance to talk with several people about REDP, including Councillor Jill Vincent, Mayor of Charnwood. She was at the AGM of the Faiths Forum for the East Midlands in Loughborough University last week, but I didn't have the opportunity to speak with her then. Before leaving for the train back to Leicester, I get the chance to talk openly to all attending about the possibilities of joined up working between REDP and HR&EC, especially around the topic of Hate Crime.

Find out more about Equalities & Human Rights Charnwood:
http://humanrightsandequalitiescharnwood.aj-services.com/

Find out more about Ashmount School:
http://www.ashmount.leics.sch.uk/

BIG RISE IN WOMEN WHO FEAR FORCED MARRIGES

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Big rise in women who fear forced marriages

Police have seen a huge increase in the number of young women who fear they will be forced into marriage seeking help.

Officers said the rise was down to the success of an awareness campaign about the issue and the help which is available to victims.

They have dealt with 101 cases of women from Leicestershire's Asian communities over the past year-and-a-half who were concerned they would compelled by their families to wed.

Detectives said the victims, many of whom were teenagers, had been subjected to violence and abuse when they objected to their relatives' plans for their future.

Officers are raising the issue because the summer is a period when young women are vulnerable to being taken abroad against their will because schools are unable to monitor them.

Detective Inspector Pete Williams, head of the force's domestic abuse, stalking and honour crime and forced marriage unit, said: "Forced marriage and honour crime are not new problems but it has been under-reported in the past.

"We started recording incidents in 2004 and by November 2008, we had had 34 reports. Since then, we've had 101.

"These have been people who have become aware that their families may have wanted to take them abroad to marry and needed help.

"The fact we are getting more reports is positive because it helps us help the victims. The culture is changing."

Det Insp Williams said victims would often seek help from within their family, or community but "it can be hard for them to know who they can trust".

He said: "It takes a lot for a victim to seek help from someone outside their family."

The police are working with faith groups and inside communities to raise awareness of honour crime and forced marriages and the help available.

They have also gone to the courts to help a 16-year-old, from Loughborough, who was tricked into travelling to Bangladesh to attend a family wedding, only to discover it was she who was to marry.

When the teenager returned home, in November, she went to the police who secured a civil court order, getting her safe lodgings away from her family and banning them from contacting her for two years.

Meena Kumari, of Safe, a police-backed support group in Leicester, said the victims were usually girls but sometimes boys.

She said they could be as young as nine but were often 15, 16, or 17.

She said: "We can help them by arranging accommodation away from their families and ensuring they know that they have options and their future doesn't have to be defined, against their will."

Chayara Chowdhury, a liaison officer for the Bangladesh Social Association, in Loughborough, said cases like the one in the town that prompted the police order were very rare.

She said: "Here, we are fortunate because views in the community have moved on a lot.

"A point often not understood is that arranged marriages are different to forced marriage.

"I was brought up here, had an arranged marriage in Bangladesh and my husband and I have been happily married for 20 years.

"Arranged marriages are where families come to an agreement with everybody's consent.

"Forced marriages can involve threats and we have moved on a long way from that."

In June, survivors of forced marriages are to visit Leicester, as part of a nationwide tour arranged by the charity Karma Nirvana.

For help with a forced marriage issue, call police on 0116 222 2222 or Safe on 0800 022 3353.

HATE INCIDENT ACTION PROJECT

At the Ramada Hotel, Loughborough, this evening, for the launch of the Hate Incident Action Project. This is hosted by Human Rights & Equalities Charnwood, which has obtained funding from the Equality and Human Rights Commission for this significant initiative. This new project will extend support to victims of hate crime across all the equality strands (age, disability, faith or belief, gender, race, sexual orientation). It will provide training for those involved with victims of hate crime (including visiting reporting centres, helping them extend their activities to all equality strands).

Among several interesting presentations, PC Pete Bumpus of Leicestershire Constabulary offers a look at the definition, history and current status of "hate crime". Leicestershire Constabulary deals with a total of 362,000 incidents per year. Of these,

• 24,000 involved domestic abuse
• 122 involved same sex domestic abuse
• 2,400 involved people with mental health issues
• 1,500 were race-related
• 220 involved religion or belief
• 200 were homophobic in nature
• 13 were disability-related

By far the majority of these were cases of verbal abuse (although that does not diminish their significance for the victims). I've asked Pete for a copy of his presentation, so I can lift some of the content for the blog.

This is one of those frequent occasions on which I'm speaking up for both Leicester Council of Faiths and the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership. Laura Horton's here, Ian Robson (Director of the LGBT Centre) and Jai Parmar (from LCIL). That's them in the photo above (then Laura and me in the photo below). We have an REDP display as well as one for the Council of Faiths.

LEICESTERSHIRE GIRL SAVED FROM FORCED MARRIAGE AS POLICE SECURE PROTECTION ORDER

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicestershire girl saved from forced marriage as police secure protection order

Detectives have secured a groundbreaking court order against the family of a teenage girl who was tricked into going abroad and forced to marry a stranger.

The 16-year-old, from Loughborough, sought help from the police after she was taken to Bangladesh in November.

Officers said she was told she was going to a family wedding – but found it was to be her own.

Family members threatened to abandon her in Bangladesh if she refused to marry the older man they had chosen.

Officers said the youngster, who is not being named, contacted police on her return when her family tried to make her sign papers that would allow her husband to move here.

The police went to Leicestershire County Court within two days of her complaint to secure the force's first Forced Marriage Protection Order.

They put the girl in safe accommodation in a location unknown to her family and used the order to seize her passport so she cannot be removed from the country.

Every member of her family has been banned from harassing her for two years. If they breach the order, they could face up to two years in jail.

Detective Constable Keeley Mansell said details had been released in the hope those in similar situations would seek help.

Det Con Mansell said: "Many people are not aware this legislation exists or that we can use it even after someone has been forced to marry. Here, we have been able to use it to protect a vulnerable girl.

"If anyone is experiencing a similar situation, we will do everything we can to help."

Sgt Kev Wright, from the police's domestic abuse team, said: "Consent is essential to all marriages.

"The new legislation gives individuals – female and male – who find themselves being forced into a marriage a way to protect themselves and their future without criminalising their family."

Det Con Mansell, Sgt Wright and colleague Det Con Clare Hill all received a Chief Constables Certificate of Service Excellence this week for their work.

The police's domestic abuse investigation officer can be contacted on 0116 222 2222, extension 4022.

REDP INVOLVEMENT EVENT: LOUGHBOROUGH

To Loughborough Town Hall, for the fourth of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership's "Involvement Events" spread across the East Midlands over seven weeks. We're getting the hang of these meetings nicely now and are able to be pretty laid back and relaxed about them. That's helping bring out the best in other attendees, I would say. I chair the morning session, in which Iris Lightfoote from The Race Equality Centre (TREC) presents the Beginners' Guide to REDP. then we go turn about in the afternoon when Iris chairs and I do a presentation on the new Single Equality Bill. We get some lively and informed engagement from the audience, which helps the whole thing go with a bit of a swing.


I take the opportunity today to pass on one of the Council of Faiths' "generic" banners to Gulnaz from East Midlands Ambulance Service. EMAS made a contribution to the cost of our new exhibition and their logo is on each one of the banners. This one will go on permanent display, touring ambulance stations in Leicester and Leicestershire.


Our guest speaker this afternoon is Vidar Hjarding, Diversity Manager for ITV News Group. Vidar himself is blind.

Lost in Loughborough

To Loughborough, to conduct an “Equality and Diversity Good Practice Healthcheck” with Voluntary Action Charnwood. This is one of the responsibilities I have as part of my duties in REDP’s “Mainstreaming Equality” project: to have written this healthcheck document, visit the different “voluntary action” bureaux etc in Leicestershire and Rutland to go through the questionnaire. The questionnaire would seem rather daunting in size (at some 56 pages) but it’s been designed in such a way that when participants answer a section on one of the equality strands –age (young people and old people have their own sections), disability, gender (and gender identity), race, religion or belief, sexual orientation – those answers can be taken as good for the other sections. Of course, each one of these strands has its own particular questions that don’t necessarily relate to the others (e.g. about physical access for disability issues, translation of materials in the race section). But for the most part, the questions are such that what works for one equality strand works for all. When I first went out to conduct this healthcheck, it took more than two hours. Now I’ve got it down to about 45 minutes. Just as well, really, as I mange to get lost in Loughborough and am late for my appointment at John Storer House with Neil Lambert, CEO of Voluntary Action Charnwood. When I get off the train, I decide to save time and effort by getting on the link bus that should take me to the town centre. But I don’t recognise the town centre (it’s smaller and passes by quicker than I expected) and stay on the bus all the way out to Loughborough University – and back again. Thankfully, Neil is an affable and sympathetic fellow who gives me a warm and good-humoured welcome.

INTER FAITH WEEK 2009: DAY 3

A few of my personal highlights on the exhibition today: An elderly man, holding the hand of a small boy, no more than four or five years old, They took a few minutes to walk by the display, while the older man pointed out various things, speaking to the boy in their own language. A young couple walked quickly by the display, hand in hand. The guy pointed to the Jain banner, “Jains! I’m a Jain!” he said, pointing to himself (pointing to his heart, if I'm being specific). The girl pointed to the next banner: “And I’m Jewish!” she said. They turned to each other and both went, “Oh!” with smiles on their faces, as if this were the first time they had ever spoken about this to each other, smiled and kept walking. Then, in synchronised fashion, they sucked on their flavoured coffees and walked on. And, staying with Jains, a group of four teenagers came to the stall, one shy girl in the front, the other three arranged behind her. She told me that she's a Jain, but had never been able to explain her faith to her friends. Did we have a Jain leaflet? We were happy to give them one each and they walked off slowly, reading them.

After inexplicably failing to get my hands on a copy of the Leicester Mercury yesterday, I make sure I get it first thing this morning. In today’s “First Person” column for National Inter Faith Week, Dr Siri Ram Chhabra “outlines the tenets of Hinduism. Dr Chhabra has been secretary of Geeta Bhawan, a Hindu temple-cum- community centre in Loughborough, for the last 30 years. The Mercury carries a disappointingly thin and silly article about National Inter Faith Week itself, which mentions only the football match at Judgemeadow College on Saturday. Something will have to be done about that before the end of the week.

The goals of National Inter Faith Week are: to strengthen good inter faith relations at all levels; to increase awareness of the different and distinct faith communities in the UK, in particular celebrating and building on the contribution which their members make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society; and to increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious belief. It’s useful to bear them in mind when reflecting on this exhibition and related activities, today and in other blog entries.

Much inter faith activity is undoubtedly “preaching to the choir” (what John Florance picked upon in his radio interview with us on Sunday morning). Conferences, seminars, workshops or retreats for clergy, professional religious people, people focused on religion to the exclusion of many other things in their lives, academics or earnest enquirers. This is necessary and there’s plenty of it going on during National Inter Faith Week of course. But your regular punter doesn’t get a look in there. This exhibition in Highcross is a rare opportunity for people in Leicester to find out who the major faith communities are in their city and to see them represented side by side.

Since we’re in such a busy place, we couldn’t put up a display that requires lots of reading, or would need explanation by the people fronting the stall. Of course we’re happy for visitors to take their time going round the banners and for them to stop and chat, but this exhibition also has to work quickly for those in a hurry. It wouldn’t be right to say that we’ve selected soundbites from each of the faiths (that would be trivialising it). But we have had to choose quotations that passers-by can “get” without too much effort. And they have to be positive, uplifting, inspirational, not preachy, or assert any one religion’s superiority over any others. They should offer some ancient, eternal or tried-and-tested truth that is relevant to our world today. Phew: I don’t believe in making things easy, clearly! We want people to be able to walk past, slow their pace a little in the middle of all this bustle, catch a glimpse of the names of the faiths, their symbols and the quotations and go, “Never heard of them before”, “Oh, I like that” or “That’s nice”; to read something and think “That’s alright by me”, “I never knew they believed that” or “That’s what I’ve always thought”. We’ve used core texts from each of the faiths as our sources, so that people of different denominations, sects or interpretations within the faiths can feel confident that something authoritative is being presented. This also avoids any problem of visitors to the exhibition asking, “Where did you get that quote? Who said that?” or protesting that what we’ve got doesn’t properly represent their religion.

The banners are stylistically keyed to the leaflets on each faith that we’ve had for about 18 months now. At first glance, the banners appear to be the front of the leaflets, expanded to be six feet tall. The banners are linked to the leaflets by colour, typography and design, so there’s a sense of continuity between them. Here are the quotations on each of the banners:

“Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self” (Bahá’í – from Bahá’u’lláh’s “Tablet of the World”)

“Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world, through love alone they cease. This is eternal law.” (Buddhist – from the Dhamapadda)

“God is love. Those who live in love live in God and God lives in them.” (Christian – from the First Epistle of John)

“Where there is joy there is creation. Where there is no joy there is no creation. Know the nature of joy” (Hindu – from the Maitri Upanishad)

“Do not injure, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture or kill any living being” (Jain – from Jain scripture)

“Devote yourselves to justice; aid the oppressed. Uphold the rights of the orphan, defend the cause of the widow.” (Jewish – from the Book of Isaiah)

“We have created you from a male and a female and made you into different nations and tribes so that you may know each other.” (Muslim – from the Qur’án)

“A place in God’s court can only be attained if we do service to others in the world.” (Sikh – from the Guru Granth Sahib)

The banners are arranged alphabetically by the name of the faith community. I do as much s possible alphabetically in this job. The alphabet is God’s gift for impartiality and even-handedness. Then no one can question why so-and-so is here instead of there. One visitor to the display was delighted to see the Jewish banner alongside the Muslim one. “However did you think of that? Was it deliberate? Are you trying to make a point here?” he asked me. “No mate, it’s alphabetical”, I replied. But then, sometimes things like that are just a wee gift from above.