INTER FAITH NETWORK UK: ANNUAL NATIONAL MEETING 2010

This is my third time attending this annual event since I began working for Leicester Council of Faiths. The first was in this same venue, Glaziers Hall (2008), the second at Grace Road, home of Leicestershire County Cricket Club (2009). On those two earlier occasions, I acted as note-taker at one of the workshops. This time I'm free to take part in the day in my own right.

The theme of the National Meeting this year is "Shaping Our Shared Society: The Key Role of Local Inter Faith Organisations". Growing numbers of inter faith organisations are working at local level to develop good inter faith relations and to encourage cooperation on social issues. This meeting offers a chance to hear about how they are developing their work and about the challenges they are facing and the opportunities they see ahead. The topic is relevant to all types of body in membership of the Inter Faith Network: to local bodies themselves; to national faith communities which support and encourage their work; and to national and regional inter faith bodies which are, increasingly, looking to find ways to work in partnership with local projects and to support their work.

We're welcomed by Rt Rev Dr Alastair Redfern and Dr Girdari Bhan, Co-Chairs of the Inter Faith Network

Plenary sessions this morning:

Building good inter faith relations locally: a task for our times
Dr Harriet Crabtree, Director, Inter Faith Network, considers the changing landscape for local inter faith work and some of the key issues helping shape this; and reflects on the vital importance of local inter faith initiatives.

Developing good relations in the multi faith city
Kashmir Singh Rajput, Chair of Bradford District Faiths Forum, gives an insight into how this busy metropolitan faith forum has been working to identify issues of importance to the different faith communities in the city and its neighbourhoods and to build a range of partnerships to enable dialogue and social cooperation, both across communities generally and also bilaterally and trilaterally between particular communities.

A perspective from Government on the importance of local inter faith work as part of developing good community relations
Andrew Stunell OBE, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government with responsibilities including community cohesion (including future of Prevent); building regulations; race equality and the Big Society.

Dialogue on the spot
A moment to talk with your neighbours about the themes of the day

Developing local inter faith work in less diverse areas
Dr Maureen Sier, on secondment from the Scottish Inter Faith Council to the Scottish Executive/Government draws on her experience of working with local inter faith groups in Scotland to discuss how inter faith work is being developed in less diverse areas. How – if at all – does this differ from work in a multi faith city?

National faith communities – supporting and encouraging local inter faith work
Moulana M Shahid Raza OBE, Chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) talks about its new initiative to encourage imams to play a role in local inter faith bodies and to encourage their congregations to do likewise.

Inter Faith Week
Stella Opoku-Owusu, Local and Regional Inter Faith Officer and Elin Henrysson, Project Assistant, Inter Faith Network give a short presentation of images of the 2009 Week and ideas for 2010. Fakhara Rehman, Community Faiths Coordinator, Kirklees Faiths Forum: our Inter Faith Week story - a packed Week of events for every age!

Sustaining the vision: resources and structures
Anna Allen, Head of Programmes, Community Development Foundation (CDF), talks about how recent funding programmes have been helping support local inter faith initiatives and reflects on some of the challenges for these of developing sustainable patterns of funding and structures which can help underpin their work well.

Seven workshops are run this afternoon on the following themes:

1. Developing a relevant and lively programme
Hear from two local groups about how they have been developing their programme and exchange ideas with members of groups in other areas.

Facilitator: Patricia Stoat, Chief Executive Officer, Faith Forum for the East Midlands

Presenters: Ryad Khodabocus, Community Relations Development Worker Luton Borough Council/Luton Council of Faiths and Peter Adams, Luton Council of Faiths; Dr David Capey, Suffolk Inter-Faith Resource

2. Outreach and membership
Developing a strong membership base and involving the faith communities in your area. A chance to discuss methods of outreach and patterns of membership, including some of the issues to consider when developing a constitution.

Facilitator: Amy Willshire, "Faith Ambassador", Waltham Forest Faith Communities Forum, London

Presenters: Brian Pearce OBE, Adviser, Faith and Public Life, Inter Faith Network; Resham Singh Sandhu MBE DL, Member, Leicester Council Faiths, Vice-Chair, Leicestershire Faith Forum and Trustee Faiths Forum for the East Midlands

3. Resources and training for religious literacy and inter faith understanding
A number of local inter faith bodies now run training for public authorities and others and produce materials to help people learn about the faiths in their areas or to understand what inter faith work is about. A chance to hear from two groups and to share your own experiences of this kind of work.

Facilitator: Rev Andrew Brown, Public Education Programmes Manager for the Woolf Institute, Cambridge

Presenters: Jatinder Singh Birdi, Warwick District Faiths Forum; Jonathan Marshall and Vallabhdas Meswania, Plymouth Centre for Faiths and Cultural Diversity

4. Involving young people in local inter faith programmes
Last year’s Inter Faith Network National Meeting had a special focus on young people and inter faith relations and an Inter Faith Network/National Association of SACREs looked at this in the course of a seminar on joint working by local inter faith bodies and SACREs. This workshop is a chance to talk about how local inter faith bodies are working to involve young people in their activities.

Facilitator: Ramona Kauth, Birmingham Council of Faiths

Presenters: Pastor Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Faith Network 4 Manchester; Dr Phil Henry, Director, Multi Faith Centre at Derby University which is developing a Derby Youth Inter Faith Forum (in consultation with the Faith Forum for Derby)

5. Multi media approaches to making the work known
Websites, radio interviews, DVDs, leaflets, newspaper articles. What are some of the ways that local inter faith bodies are using to gain more profile for themselves?

Facilitator: Jyoti Mehta, Institute of Jainology, Young Jains and Inter Faith Network Executive Committee member

Presenters: Paresh Solanki, Assistant Director (Communications and Development), Inter Faith Network; Selina Brown, Executive Communications Officer, West Midlands Faiths Forum

6. National faith communities and support for local inter faith work
Looking at how national faith communities are helping local members building good inter faith relations locally – and also learning from local inter faith groups.

Facilitator: Mgr Andrew Faley, Assistant General Secretary, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and Inter Faith Network Executive Committee member

Presenter: Philip Rosenberg, Interfaith Officer, Board of Deputies of British Jews

With brief responding reflections from Dr Joy Barrow, Inter Faith Relations Officer, Methodist Church in Britain and Ramesh Pattni, Co-Chair, Hindu-Christian Forum and Chair of the Interfaith Committee, Hindu Forum of Britain

7. Inter Faith Week: Looking back to 2009 and forward to this year’s Week
Discussion about the 2009 Week and plans for the 2010 Week. Come and share your news and ideas.

Facilitator/ Presenter: David Vane, Buddhist member and Secretary, Southampton Council of Faiths

Presenter: Rev Alan Bayes, Chair, Inter Faith Council for Wales

The final session of the National Meeting is:

Perspectives on the development of local inter faith work for the future
Short reflection pieces from: Deanna Van der Velde, Newcastle Council of Faiths, Chair, North East branch of Council of Christians and Jews and Chair, Newcastle SACRE, and member, Task Group, North East Regional Faith Network Ganesh Lall, member of South London Inter Faith Group and Caribbean Hindu Society; Mehru Fitter, member of Coventry Multi Faith Forum, Executive member, West Midlands Faiths Forum and member of Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe.

electronic rights

Phone call this morning from friend and colleague, Maureen Sier in Glasgow. Maureen is Interfaith Development Officer for the Scottish Government (that's her speaking at the launch of National Inter Faith Week for Leicester and Leicestershire, Mon 16 Nov at County Hall, Glenfield). One of the local authorities in Scotland with which she's been working is interested in purchasing the rights to the leaflets and banners that Leicester Council of Faiths has produced and adapting it for use in their own area. We're able to sell the electronic rights to the leaflets, which allows the purchaser to adapt it to their own circumstances. We estimated the cost of the leaflets to be around £10,000 all in. We sell the eletronic rights for a mere £450. The advantages in buying these texts from the Council of Faiths is that:

• all the research and writing has been done;
• the treatment given to the faiths arises from questions asked of, or asked by, professional contacts;
• the writing is in a consistent tone or voice;
• all eight member faith communities are treated in an even-handed manner;
• copy is provided in easily digestible chunks;
• an equal amount of copy is devoted to each faith and to each topic;
• the language is "outward-facing" (i.e. not for practitioners of the faiths, talking about themselves to themselves);
• the material is focused on practical issues that might arise on a day-to-day basis;
• it's been contributed to by practising, knowledgeable and experienced members of faith communities;
• it's been approved by authoritative representatives of faith communities

Anyone buying the texts like this has the rights for multiple use, and is free to amend it to different purposes and circumstances without coming back to the Council of Faiths for further permission. All we ask is that the purchaser doesn't resell or gift the rights to anyone else and that they give a simple line credit to say that the items using the text are based on material orginally produced by Leicester Council of Faiths.

So far, these electronic rights have been bought by East Midlands Ambulance Service, Leicestershire Constabulary and Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust.

That slogan, "We have faith in Leicester!" is very adaptable.

2009'S TOP 10: 6

Launch of “Beyond Tolerance” DVD,

University of Glasgow,

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Dr Maureen Sier and her daughter Sonya (Director of Freshlight Films) launched the DVD and education pack, Beyond Tolerance, an inter faith resource for young people and adults. Young people from a variety of religious and national backgrounds were interviewed in the film and spoke at the launch about the ways in which interfaith engagement had made a positive impact on their lives.

I was invited to attend this event and I just couldn't say no. Great to see this happening in my old stomping ground, have the chance to catch up with some old friends and colleagues from the early days of my interfaith activities in Glasgow - and, hopefully, to make some new ones.

In Sonya's presentation at the launch she told the story of how this inspiring project got started (Sonya's words below are lifted wholesale from the Firstport website.

"This interfaith documentary project all started a few months before my mum, Dr Maureen Sier, left for America in August 2007. She'd received a UK/US Fulbright Interfaith Scholarship and I was very proud of her and eager to hear about everything she'd be doing. We were sitting at the dinner table late one night, mum was excitedly telling me about the amazing people she would be meeting in America; activists and scholars from around the globe who were at the forefront of interfaith learning. The plan was for the Fulbright scholars to share what they knew and explore ideas for the future. Each scholar would then go to a different grassroots project, to see what life was really like on the ground. Finally they would each return home and use their experiences to improve interfaith relations in their home country. 

"My mind was buzzing, this was really something - people who cared, who wanted to really make a positive difference. At the same time I started being plagued by the question - How were people going to hear about this? The answer came to be in a flash, literally a light bulb moment. I was convinced that if I could make a documentary about mum's journey, the people, places and organisations she met along the way it would be of interest to everyone, especially to young people who I think are the key to making real change in the world. At the same time as all this was happening I noticed whenever I watched the news, it was a doom and gloom, in fact depressing, broadcasters showed nothing but images of war, terrorism and violence, as one of the my interviewees says in the DVD 'if it bleeds it leads!' No wonder people feel hopeless!

"And so it was from this desire to make a difference, to show the world in a more positive light that Beyond Tolerance was born. I wrote a proposal and sent it to everyone I knew and sometimes people I didn't. Mum left for America and there was no sign of funding, and I was beginning to feel like perhaps it was not meant to be. Then all of a sudden some funding arrived from the Scottish Government, the Baha'i Council for Scotland, British Airways, and Scotland UnLtd. It was enough to take a small crew to America. 

"There we found wonderfully inspiring people especially youth, in fact so many people wanted to share their stories and experiences that we ended up with over thirty hours of footage. When I got home I knew the one thing that was missing was UK and Scottish voices, particularly those of young people and so another bout of filming took place and I was able to interview amazing young people from the UK. 

"The editing process was a long labour of love there was so much footage than we could ever have anticipated and I really wanted to make the most of it. Thankfully some further funding arrived from the Sikh Community and the Scottish Inter Faith Council an this allowed for the process to be completed. While the post production work was happening, work started on the education pack which could be used in schools, universities, religious groups, homes and youth centres. It had to be relevant to issues of diversity, full of activities that could be done anywhere from a small classroom to a large church hall and it had to be engaging for the participants. A tall order I hear you cry. Well, yes, but we had the assistance of many wonderful consultants from across the learning and artistic sectors. The final combination of interfaith documentary and education pack is something we're very proud of and it's already being used here in the UK."

The launch went without a hitch and the guest speakers included Dr Rose Drew, from the Glasgow University Centre for Inter-faith Studies, MSP Fergus Ewing and Haroon Ahmed, Magdalen Lambkin, Frances Hume and Dr Maureen Sier, all of whom are interviewed in the film. The atmosphere was one of hope, excitement for the future and positivity about the role interfaith can and does play in building good community relations. Many personal stories were told and MSP Fergus Ewing spoke of the continued need for education against sectarianism, bigotry and religious hatred. Dr Drew said, "This project is timely, education is vital and not just the academic level at the grassroots is really where it will make the biggest difference." There are great plans for Beyond Tolerance, already Sonya has been in discussion with Australia and New Zealand about it being used down under so it is with great expectations that we "watch this space" for further development of this inspirational project.

Many Faiths: One Future

To Leicester College, Freemens Park Campus, this lunchtime for their student conference, “Many Faiths: One Future”. This has been a long time in the planning and is being held in collaboration with the Council of Faiths. They have about 100 students, not just from Leicester College, but from the three other FE colleges in the city: Gateway College, Regent College and Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth I College. There’s a nice lunch (I arrive in time to get some of the food, thankfully), the conference is formally opened by our Lord Mayor (a busy man for this cause) and on the stage are Dr Don Brooks (Vice Principal, Quality and Planning, Leicester College), Councillor Manjula Sood (Deputy Mayor of Leicester and Chair of the Council of Faiths), Minou Cortazzi (past Chair of the Council of Faiths) and Maureen Sier (Inter Faith Development Officer for the Scottish Government) who is the keynote speaker, as she was  at the launch of the week in County Hall on Monday evening. Introductions are done by Vinod Chadusama (Inclusion Coordinator, Student Services, Leicester College). Vinod has been the main man behind this event (along with Sharen Kang, the college’s Faiths and Enrichment Coordinator). Any success here should be credited to them. Naim sings again, we have our speakers, then the students break into groups around the tables to discuss and consult. A sizable group get up and walk out together just after 1430, just before Maureen finishes speaking; when asked why they’re leaving, one says “It’s Wednesday; we always go home at half-two on Wednesday.” Some more take the opportunity to sneak away during the break, but enough stay behind to make for good discussions. I can’t stay for that, as I’m off back to the exhibition in Highcross.

National Inter Faith Week: day 4

Here’s how the arrangements work for those volunteering to help out on the display at Highcross. No more than three people on duty at any time, in two hour shifts. Anyone can do more than one shift, some people do a few on the trot. Across the whole week, that’s 99 individual slots. By the time the exhibition started on Sunday, all but one of those slots was filled, by 56 different people. A small number have had to pull out because of illness or because of unexpected work, study or family commitments; a smaller number just haven’t turned up. I’ve tried to ask people whom I know and trust to do the job right, but I’ve had to take a few people on others' recommendation. On the whole it’s all worked out fine. There’s been no time where everyone on the exhibition has come from just one faith community. The way we’ve arranged the rota has itself gone some way to meeting one of the goals of National Inter Faith Week: to increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious belief. We’ve provided some guidelines for how volunteers should conduct themselves on the stall, but for the most part, folk can be left alone to get on with the work.

This morning is a nice example of that mix, in a more visible form than usual, with an Anglican priest and two Buddhists taking a turn on the display.

Today’s “First Person” column in the Leicester Mercury is by Allan Hayes, President of Leicester Secular Society. He's written a very strong and positive piece that fits in with the tone of National Inter Faith Week without compromising his or the society's humanist principles.

I never look at the "Thoughts for the Day" in the Mercury; I've never been a fan of that sort of roadside pulpit approach. I should though, from a professional point of view. So I read today's. There's always two pieces: one from the Old or New Testament and another from one of the other religions in the city. Today's "other" is a lovely quote from Paris Talks by 'Abdu'l-Bahá: "It is my fervent prayer that the star of the East will shed its brilliant rays on the Western world, and that the people of the West may arise in strength, earnestness and courage, to help their brethren in the East."

Here are some of the comments written in the reflective journal by volunteers on the exhibition today:

“It was a valuable way to spend a morning with faith colleagues, witnessing to our unity in the midst of this temple of consumerism and materialism. Well worth doing and I hope it touches many people.”

“Thank you very much for organising this event. I liked very much the presentation. I have been here in quiet time, but still feel the importance of it. It would be great when the panels will go to other places, schools … Thank you.”

“Thoroughly enjoyed being part of this event. I hope there will be many more to come. Received great interest and many people were friendly.”

“Thanks for the opportunity to present unity in diversity. Although few people stopped to talk for long, many passers-by did read the quotes on the faith banners and many others will have subliminally registered the stand and its message. I’m sure events like this help to sustain Leicester’s reputation as a peaceful, cohesive and diverse city.”

“I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to meet, talk to, work with other people from faith groups in Leicester. Only a few passers-by interested to stop and take time to talk, but interesting conversations with those who did. A very worthwhile initiative.”

“Delighted to be involved in this initiative – small steps in sharing faith for better understanding and co-operation. Wish more people were less suspicious when seeing the word ‘faith’!”

“Thank you for inviting me to be part of this inter-faith initiative. Although many passed by only a few people stopped. The couple of conversations I did have, however, with people of different faiths were very enlightening – quality not quantity!”

“Delighted to be part of something so positive. Many people took leaflets and stopped to ask questions. Many positive comments about the display. I think many people thought we were there to convert them, which of course isn’t true and that’s why they were suspicious to come and ask questions. It was an enlightening experience for me and I would happily be part of something like this again.”

“It’s been a very interesting and, if I may use the word, ‘comforting’ week. I have loved the fact that so many people have stopped to read the banners and so many young people have shown an interest in faith.”

At the end of the evening, I have dinner in the Holiday Inn with Maureen, debriefing on the past few days and reminiscing about our shared experiences and common friends in our younger days back in Scotland.

INTER FAITH WEEK 2009: LAUNCH EVENT AT COUNTY HALL

This evening is the official launch of National Inter Faith Week for the city and county at County Hall, Glenfield (seat of Leicestershire County Council). Since I stayed at Highcross for the change of shifts at 1800, I arrive at County Hall after most of the food and drink has gone. Thanks to Sugra Ahmed, for guiding me to some vegetarian items that were left. Thankfully there aren't many vegetarian Muslims here this evening.

This is a well supported meeting, in the Council Chamber, in the presence of the Leader of the County Council, Councillor Roger Wilson, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Leicester (for the second time today) and the Bishop of Leicester. It’s chaired by the Venerable Paul Hackwood, Archdeacon of Loughborough and Chair of the Interfaith Forum for Leicestershire. There’s an interesting mix of speakers and topics: Islam Awareness Week; Faiths Forum for the East Midlands; an “inter-faith recipe book”; an extract from a panto staged by Loughborough Council of Faiths; the signing of an “Inter-Faith Charter” by faith community leaders and representatives. Resham Singh Sandhu (Vice-Chair of Leicestershire Inter-Faith Forum and former Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths) delivers a typically rousing closing address. The evening concludes with a solo musical performance by Naim Cortazzi. I find out later that this was the first time a guitar had ever been wielded in the Council Chamber at County Hall!

Noel Singh gets a well-deserved ovation for his work in co-ordinating the week’s events and for being directly involved in organising this evening. In his own presentation, introducing the County Council’s small grants for community cohesion work, he's clearly conscious of the schedule running over by almost half an hour; I’ve never heard him speak so fast!

The keynote speaker is Dr Maureen Sier, Interfaith Development Officer for the Scottish Government. Scotland has had its own annual National Inter Faith Week for several years (theirs starts next week) and Maureen was speaking about the Scottish experience, how it has developed over the years and what we might learn from it as we hold the first such week nationally in England. I’ve known Maureen for over 30 years and I’m glad she was able to come down from Glasgow to speak at this event. She’s given me a lot of encouragement and support in the two-and-a-half years I’ve been at Leicester Council of Faiths and has been something of a touchstone to me in this important work that I'm fortunate enough to be doing.