BBC RADIO LECEISTER: FAITH COMMUNITIES & CITY OF CULTURE BID

This morning I'm on BBC Radio Leicester, speaking with Monica Winfield (photo above) by phone about Leicester's faith communities and the bid to become UK City of Culture 2017. Here's a transcript of the interview.

MW: Now then, let’s have a look at Leicester’s bid to become the UK City of Culture for 2017. Next week the bid will be submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Going up against ten other areas (including Chester, Hull and the combined forces of Portsmouth and Southampton), Leicester’s bidding team hopes that the city’s arts, ethnic diversity and of course archaeological assets (I think you know what I’m alluding to) will help us win the title. But how much might religion play a part and tip the odds in our favour? George Ballentyne is from the Leicester Council of Faiths and he joins me on the line now. George, good morning.

GMB: Good morning Monica.

MW: This is an incredible opportunity for Leicester but I just wonder, how big a part are we allowing the faith culture of Leicester to play in our kind of cultural culture – if you see what I mean.

GMB: Well it’s quite interesting you say how big a part are we allowing – I’d like to see what could be done to keep the faith communities and organisations out of the process, because it is something that Leicester is very well known for. There’s an upside and a downside to that and I hope that we get the chance to speak briefly about both of them. But I would also say that, you know, there’s more than one meaning of the word “culture” and sometimes people can get the wrong end of the stick about what culture would mean and what the City of Culture might mean. You know, there’s the kind of high culture aspect, which is about, you know, art and opera and exhibitions and the like and there’s a kind of pop culture version of it too. But you also think that, you know, people can use the word “culture” to mean a kind of messy laboratory set-up in which experimental things happen and unpredictable things and interesting, organic, lively things can be generated out of that. So I hope that all three of those meanings of the word are going to come up when we‘re talking about this over the next few weeks and months

MW: Absolutely. And I take it that the faith communities are absolutely on board with this and backing it to the hilt?

GMB: Well, we’d never presume to speak for absolutely every faith community and organisation in the city, but we really do feel confident that there’s a strong, solid backing for the bid.

MW: Now in what way will the backing – you know, are they kind of quietly backing it, or is it going to be part of the bid?

GMB: Well, I don’t need to tell you that Leicester has become well-known, or famous even, for its faith festivals, you know, we make such a big play of having the biggest Diwali event outside of India, there’s a huge Vaiskahi event that happened just last week and we have Christ in the Centre at Easter time. Per head of population, Leicester has more – and more varied – places of worship than any other city in Britain and these are facts about Leicester that would surely be used in support of the bid. But on the other hand – and I’m sure that you’ll know that I speak about this often enough, whenever I get the chance– there aren’t that many occasions when the people of Leicester see the faith communities in all their diversity standing together, out in public. So we’v e got things about the faith communities as individual groups and then we’re going to have to do some stuff about getting them together to do a kind of collective response to it and a collective presence.

MW: That will be a really exciting thing to do and a real purpose behind it, it’s not something you’re just doing for the sake of it, there’s a real aim behind it, isn’t there?

GMB: Yes, well all these festivals and these events will go on, whether we’re granted this City of Culture status or not but they’re part of the organic, regular life of the city, they really do have to feature quite prominently in any kind of attempt to get us into that position.

MW: Absolutely – and earlier on, when you were describing the different meanings of the word culture, I just think the religious aspect takes our bid to a deeper level, I think.

GMB: Yes, I think so. I don’t think that any of the other cities that are bidding have actually got this string to their bow like we have.

MW: Absolutely not. So, are you like me, are you holding out high hopes for Leicester to win the bid?

GMB: Well I should say that, you know, Glasgow was made European Capital of Culture (which is a different thing altogether, the Leicester bid is for UK City of Culture). But back in 1984, Glasgow was made the European Capital of Culture, which – that came to a city which was really on its last legs I think – and completely transformed its fortunes and it’s become a proper, European cultural city. I know that some of your listeners might find that hard to believe and I always fly the flag for Glasgow, but it really did make an incredible difference, not just to how other people saw the city but to how the people of Glasgow saw themselves. It just coincided with the year I left Glasgow [MW laughs] so I didn’t get all the benefit of all that, but t I’ve seen, first hand, what this kind of thing can do to a city. There’s some scepticism and cynicism about why are we doing this and why now, when there’s such pressure on funding, but if we get this I really think it will make a huge impact and 99% positive

MW: Absolutely. It’s interesting what you say about Glasgow because I don’t see it in the light of being run down any more. I see it as a very vibrant place, somewhere I would like to visit, so it’s almost like a vote of confidence isn’t it?

GMB: Yes it is, but what you’re talking about there is the impact of more than 20-odd years ago that that happened and it’s almost – well, 30 years ago actually – and it’s really had a fantastic positive effect on the people and the place - and we can get that.

MW: Absolutely - not that we haven’t got it already, [indeed] but it would take us up a notch won’t it? Have you been part of the bid at all? Has the Council of Faiths been involved?

GMB: Well, our Chair – Councillor Manjula Sood – she’s Assistant Mayor with responsibility for communities, cohesion and equalities so she’s very closely involved in the bid and some of our members (I always stress that I am an employee of the Council of Faiths, not a member) [right] we’ve taken part in the stakeholder bud events which the Mayor hosted at Curve about ten days ago and made contributions to them, and we’re soliciting suggestions  and ideas from our member communities and from prominent individuals in the Faith or religion sector (as it were) in the city. So yes, we are playing, I think,  a strong and positive role in what’s going on right now and we would like to, you know, If we get on the shortlist then we hope that that will increase and there will be more momentum from the faith communities behind the bid.

MW: Absolutely. It’s an exciting time to be in Leicester and it’s nice to know that so many people are on board and backing our bid. George, great to talk to you this morning

GMB: Okay, thanks Monica.

MW: Thank you [okay] George Ballentyne, from Leicester Council of Faiths. Next week it is, when Leicester will submit its initial bid to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in a bud to become UK City of Culture for 2017 competing against ten other bidding areas for that title, which could bring massive benefits to the city not least of which economically – huge economic benefits  as well. So watch this space and you’ll hear more about that I’m sure, here on BBC Radio Leicester.

Follow Monica Winfield on Twitter: @MonWRL

BBC RADIO LEICESTER: GOING ON BEYOND

This morning I'm on BBC Radio Leicester, speaking with Monica Winfield (photo above) by phone about the new Christians Aware / Faith Awareness course, "Going On Beyond: Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths". Here's the transcript of the interview.

MW: You’re listening to BBC Radio Leicester. It’s eleven minutes to eight. And it’s a little while since we heard from the local organisation, Christians Aware. This is a network of individuals and groups of various denominations dedicated to working for justice and peace. They’ve just started a series of talks with the title, “Going On Beyond (Meditation and Mysticism in the World Faiths)”. Some very distinguished speakers from various faiths and denominations will be appearing, including George Ballentyne, who works for Christians Aware and I’m delighted to say he joins us now. George, good morning.

GMB: Good morning Monica.

MW: Now the last thing I want to do is ask you to give the game away of what you’ll actually be talking about, but you’re looking at this from a Baha’i perspective, aren’t you?

GMB: Yes, I’m one of the speakers. We’re going to have a nine-week course, it starts tomorrow evening at 7:30 and it’s based in Christchurch which is in Clarendon Park. And these courses have been running for quite some time now and, really, the purpose of this set is to not just talk about meditation and mysticism in the different faiths of the world but to actually give a little taster of how it’s practised in each of these faiths and religions and beliefs. So there’s quite a wide variety of speakers. I usually do one session out of the course, but we’ve also got a Muslim speaker, we have a Jewish speaker, we have a Sikh speaker and, for the first time, we have a Pagan speaker as well and we’ll have a Hindu and at least one Christian tradition represented.

MW: That sounds absolutely fantastic. And the title is “Going on Beyond” and I assume each of your speakers will have a different idea of what that means.

GMB: I do hope so, or else it’s going to be very dull [MW laughs] to be honest if they all say exactly the same thing. But it really is part of the interest of the course that they are so different. And when you experience this not just in, you know, the one evening, but over the whole length of the course, it’s amazing both the variety but then again the similarity between them and that’s the purpose of it – you know, it’s like going into a beautiful garden: the flowers are all lovely but they’re all different.

MW: Do you know that’s one of the main things that’s come home to me presenting this programme on a Sunday morning? That there’s a lot of similarities but, as you say, a lot of differences as well. Who do you think would get the most out of this series?

GMB: Well it’s for people really, who are interested in finding out some – it’s a basic level introduction to how the different faiths approach this. It’s not academic and no one would have to feel that oh, you know, because they’ve missed previous courses that they can’t join in this one. It’s a very entry-level one for people who are really interested in getting that experience from the different faiths, learning something about different faiths, meeting people from different faiths, sharing some kind of inter-faith fellowship. Well, you’ve had me on the show so many times before, you know that’s the dimension that interests me so much. So we’re always talking about the diversity in Leicester but there are actually very few opportunities for people to experience it, especially for people who are not professionally involved in the religious life of the city. So this one will work for – you know, we’ve had students, retired people, people, you know, who’ll pop in after work. It’s a very straightforward but really quite interesting and stimulating kind of course.

MW: And is there a bit of audience participation required?

GMB: Well there will be, because we’re going to be getting a little taster, ten minutes or so of how, you know, how does this brand of Hinduism meditate or how does a Jewish person experience that kind of mystical dimension. Now, nobody is going to be enlightened in ten minutes on a Monday evening in Clarendon Park, but it will just – it’s a way of showing that there’s nothing alien, nothing strange, nothing threatening about the way people do these things. And everybody can find one out of these little pieces of practice that will that work for them and that they might want to take further – they might want to go on beyond with, as it were.

MW: Absolutely. And do we need to sign up for all of them all in one go or can we come and go?

GMB: No, it’s very variable. The biggest number of people I‘ve seen turn up for one of these sessions on a Monday evening was 52 – we had to find another room to be in the church – and the smallest number was three. I should say that, that evening I was the speaker [MW: Oh George! You –] It coincided with Half Term, that was the thing – but no, people are just able to – if folk want to make contact with the Christians Aware office or they can even do it through me, it’s very easy to find my contact details on the net – but there’s no pressure to do that. People really can just turn up for one or skip a few or pick the ones that interest them most.

MW: It sounds fascinating, it really does. Just tell me a little bit more about Christians Aware; what do you do the rest of the time?

GMB: Well, Christians Aware is an organisation that really works to present a united front of Christians from different denominations, who are looking particularly at social issues. One of the big ones on their calendar this year is food security. So there’s a number of – there’s a talk coming up at the end of February (you might want someone to come into the studio and talk about that) that Christians Aware is hosting, from the World Development Movement on that issue. And then there’s a summer school that they’re sponsoring later in the year which will take a whole week to look at it. It’s very practical, very down to earth, very grounded. There’s nothing airy-fairy about what they’re discussing. It’s not about theological niceties or the structure of the church, it’s about how do people of faith – and that’s people of different faiths – work with the issues and the problems of the world to make life better for all.

MW: What higher aim can there be [GMB laughs], to be quite honest with you? You know, I think you’ve got to aim high because that way you’ll achieve what you want to. Just give us the rundown again on the course we’re talking about here, these Going On Beyond talks.

GMB: Right so it’s “Going On Beyond (Meditation and Mysticism in the World’s Faiths)”. It’s going to start tomorrow evening and it’s every Monday for nine weeks at Christchurch, Clarendon Park, And that will start at 7:30 and it finishes at 9. And if anyone would like more details, contact Christians Aware on 254 0770.

MW: Lovely, 0116 [GMB: Yes] 254 0770.

GMB: Yeah.

MW: Brilliant. George, great to talk to you today, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

GMB: Thank you.

MW: Thanks for being with us.

GMB: Thanks, bye.

MW: Take care, bye bye. That’s George Ballentyne there, from Christians Aware. Sounds brilliant, doesn’t it? If you go along and you go to that first one and you want to let me know what it was like and what went on, I would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with me next week here at BBC Radio Leicester.

Follow Monica Winfield on Twitter: @MonWRL

BBC RADIO LEICESTER: DISCUSSING FAITH AND FILM WITH MONICA WINFIELD

On BBC Radio Leicester this morning, 0800-0830, with Monica Winfield. Our topic is "Faith and Film". No prizes for guessing that the reason for choosing this subject is the current furore over the video posted on YouTube, "Innocence of Muslims".

This is my third appearance on Monica's show this year. The first, discussing forgiveness in February; the second in July, discussing reconciliation. (You can read the blog entries for those occasions by clicking on the each of the topics respectively). Both those times, I was part of a panel of three contributors, to whom Monica would speak in turn. This time, it's been decided to have just two interviewees. I'm booked to appear alongside Dr Halla Diyab, a Muslim film-maker based in Leicester. Her company, Liberty Media Productions, has made a documentary entitled "Breaking the Fast", which follows Jon Ashworth MP (Labour: South Leicester) as he fasted for one day during Ramadan earlier this year. At the end of that day, there was an Open Community Iftar in St Philip's Church, Evington. I was there, along with people from several other communities of religion or belief in Leicester, while a crew from Liberty Media Productions filmed it (though I can't see myself in any of the trailers for the documentary that have been posted on YouTube).

Dr Diyab's credentials for taking part in this feature are impeccable and I'm sure she would have made interesting and thought-provoking contributions to the discussion. But by the time we go on air shortly after 0800, she hasn't arrived at the studio. Monica starts with only me on the other side of the desk and we end up managing the whole thing between the two of us.

When I was booked for this slot, I was asked if I'd seen Innocence of Muslims. At that point, I hadn't, but I wouldn't be happy discussing it if I hadn't seen it, so I watched it in preparation for the programme, along with related material available online, such as US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's speech responding to the film and to the violent reaction around the world. In my head, I was hoping that Dr Diyab would speak more directly to the topic this morning from her dual position as both a Muslim and a film-maker, while I would contribute more generally on the basis of "the Leicester way" of responding to this kind of thing, with some reference to the Faiths Film Festival that Phoenix Square ran last year during Inter Faith Week (as well as marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Leicester Council of Faiths). In the end, I get to do both parts - and probably say more about Monty Python's Life of Brian than anything else!

I also get to speak about Interfaith Focus, a charity of which I'm a Trustee. The purpose of Interfaith Focus is to encourage film-makers to produce content which recognises the kinds of inter-faith encounter that are taking place in a variety of settings (formal and informal) all over the world. To record and celebrate what is being done and to encourage more of it. Interfaith Focus is still in its early days, but we hope it will make a positive contribution to relations between faith communities and that there are many positive ways in which people of different beliefs and practices can live and work together.

BBC RADIO LEICESTER: DISCUSSING RECONCILIATION WITH MONICA WINFIELD

On BBC Radio Leicester this morning with Monica Winfield, talking about reconciliation. John Florance contacted Jan McDonald, Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Leicester earlier this week to ask if a Bahá'í could take part in the show, speaking to the topic from a Bahá'í point of view. Jan asked me and I said yes. Our topic arises from the "highly symbolic" handshake between the Queen and Martin McGuiness that took place on Her Majesty's recent visit to Northern Ireland as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebration.

The other two guests on the panel are Canon David Monteith from Leicester Cathedral, who was born in Northern Ireland and is newly appointed Chair of Trustees at St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society and Denise Carter, who is a director of local company, AIM, which offers mediation services to families in crisis. They're in the photo below with Rebecca Bryers, producer of Monica's show. I'm introduced on air as both being a Bahá'í and working for Leicester Council of Faiths. Monica asks me questions that draw on both those threads.

I appeared on Monica's Sunday morning show back in February this year, on a panel of three discussing the topic of forgiveness (blogged here). When we're off-air, I tell her that next time she has to get me on to speak about something juicier, such as - vengeance!

BBC RADIO LEICESTER: DISCUSSING FORGIVENESS WITH MONICA WINFIELD

On BBC Radio Leicester this morning with Monica Winfield, talking about forgiveness. John Florance phoned me last Wednesday morning to ask if I'd take part in the show, speaking to the topic from a Bahá'í point of view.

I walk down to St Nicholas Place from home in Stoneygate (my 11-year old son Harry comes along to keep me company - and to continue our ongoing conversation about DC comics' new 52). That little stroll takes us about 45 minutes at this time of the morning. It's cold, of course, but pleasant enough.

I'm the last of the three guests to arrive, just after 0800. Already there and ready to roll are Allan Hayes, Trustee of the British Humanist Association and past President of Leicester Secular Society and Daud Sameja, Chairman of the Leicester Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group at St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society (in the photo above with Rebecca Bryers, the show's producer).

I haven't met Monica (photo above) before. She keeps us going for a quarter of an hour or so, asking two questions, which all three of us get to answer in turn. Then she allows us each a final thought. It's all very agreeable and matey and a genuinely enjoyable experience.

As well as putting across some of the ways in which I'd say the Bahá'í principle and practice of forgiveness converges and diverges from how it's seen and done in other traditions, I get to use one of my favourite quotations: "Resentment is like taking poison and hoping the other person dies." This is attributed to Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) - although personally, I heard it for the first time uttered by Tim Bayliss an unusually spiritually-centred detective (played by Kyle Secor) in the classic police procedural Homicide: Life on the Street. The quotation came up in connection with our agreement that an important aspect of forgiveness is how it allows us to draw a line under the past and make personal and collective progress.

This is the third time that Allan Hayes and I have sat together in this studio. He remarks (off-air) that he and I will have to put our minds to engineering a public spat of some sort before long, since most people expect the two of us to disagree with each other and we're constantly surprising them that we agree on so much. Thankfully, Monica is not of that opinion and is glad to promote harmony and cooperation on this slot. The programme can be heard on BBC Radio Leicester's Listen Again facility till midnight, Saturday 3 March (our chat begins just after 0810).