FAITH FESTIVALS & FOOD: PETERBOROUGH INTER-FAITH COUNCIL

A short road trip with Rosemarie Fitton today, to take part in Peterborough Inter-Faith Council's annual "Faith Festivals & Food" event.

Rosemarie and I hosted a visit to Leicester by Peterborough Inter-Faith Council on behalf of Leicester Council of Faiths in September 2012. We said then that we'd be happy to join in any activities on their home ground, should the occasion arise. So here we are, in Peterborough Town Hall!

First item of business today is the Annual General Meeting, which is done and dusted in 15 minutes - including approval of accounts, appointment of new officers and all necessary vote of thanks! Then it's on to the presentations - ten of them in all, each of us having ten minutes each to speak. Rosemarie, being keynote speaker, gets five minutes extra. The theme is how form and function are related in places of worship of the different faiths. Speakers and topics are shown below, just as they're listed in the programme.

Welcome and Introduction Dr Jaspal Singh, Chair of Peterborough Interfaith Council

Keynote Speech- Religious places of worship and how their structure is related to function Rosemarie Fitton, Programme Leader Interior Design, De Monfort University

Bahá'í places of worship George M Ballentyne, Equality & Diversity Officer, Leicester Council of Faiths

Buddhist Temples and how they operate Dr Hung, Drolma Kadampa Buddhist Centre Peterborough (unfortunately, Dr Hung was unable to attend)

Christian Churches; how their structure is related to function Dr Clive Morton, Civil Engineer, Churches Together Peterborough

Hindu Temple and their diverse structure Dr G.L. Bhan, MBCHB, FRCS, Chair of World Council of Hindu Temples, Vice chair of Interfaith Network for UK

Jewish Places of Worship (Rev. Malcolm Weisman, OBE, QC, Minister for Jewish Memorial Council) 

Sikh Gurdwara; Their Structure and Operation Dr Daljit Singh Virk, Prof of Agricultural Genetics Bangor University, TV Presenter

Muslim Mosque; Their Structure and Function Dr Musharraf Hussain, CEO, Chief Imam

Local Places of Worship, Past & Present Gillian Beasley, LLB OBE, Chief Executive of Peterborough City Council

Multi faith Skyline of Peterborough Mayor of Peterborough Cllr George Simons, Mayoress Sylvia Simons

Thanks, presentations & buffet Lunch

Jaspal Singh, Chair of Peterborough Inter-Faith Council, ends the formal part of the meeting by quoting Harbhajan Singh Yogi: "If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all." How very fitting.

At the close of proceedings, each of us is given a small commemorative cup in thanks for our contribution today. I haven't received anything like this since I was Dux of Bankhead Primary at age 11 in 1971. I feel inordinately pleased.

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY ON CAMPUS: RELIGION OR BELIEF SHOWCASE

After much planning, we're celebrating diversity on campus with the Religion or Belief Showcase at De Montfort University today. The event has been rescheduled a couple of times, but is going ahead today, pinned to World Religion Day, which was celebrated yesterday. Not even the heavy snow and ice still lying underfoot can put us off this morning! At four hours duration, it's a relatively short event (by the standards of we auld hands) but we manage to pack in a lot.

Student societies promoting religion or belief are gathered in the Atrium. Rosemarie Fitton, Senior Lecturer in Interior Design at DMU (and member of Leicester Council of Faiths) has a display of her students' work (including a video presentation) on show throughout the day. The event is promoted throughout the Students' Union on digital billboards. Halfway through the event, DMU Vice-Chancellor, Dominic Shellard, pays a visit to the Atrium and chats with student and staff exhibiting there. Here's a gallery of those taking part today.

African Student Society

Ahlul Bayt Islamic Society

Cathsoc: Leicester Universities Catholic Society

Christ Embassy

Hindu Society

Islamic Society

Krishna Consciousness Society

Leicester Council of Faiths display (half of it)

Kash Bhayani & Sheri Paige (VP Welfare, DMU Students' Union)

Leicester Council of Faiths display (the other half!)

Leicester Secular Society

Stamp It Out!

BELIEF, FAITH, RELIGION AND NO FAITH OR RELIGION AWARENESS DAY AT DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY

A meeting this morning at De Montfort University (Eric Wood Building, The Gateway), planning for an inter faith event to be held on campus later this year.

This is the second meeting of this steering group. The first (19 September) was attended by Rosemarie Fitton, Senior Lecturer in Interior Design at DMU and nominated member of Leicester Council of Faiths.

This event was originally scheduled for Wednesday 21 November, during Inter Faith Week. That's proving to be a popular day, with a number of activities planned:

• Highcross exhibition (0930-2000);
• Choice Unlimited II at Leicester Tigers (1000-1800);
• Brooksby Melton College's Interfaith Events Day (0930-1415);
• Leicester University World Faiths Advisory Group lecture (1230-1400).

It might have been difficult to fit in another commitment! Thankfully, it's already been decided before this meeting to move the event back a week to Wednesday 28 November - an auspicious date for me as that's my birthday.

I'm given a few minutes to introduce myself and say what the Council of Faiths can bring to the table. We should be able to make available our full exhibition and drum up support from all our member faith communities.

I'm glad to be able to do one thing which I consider an improvement. The group has (it appears to me) tied itself up in knots, trying to cover all the bases, not offend  anyone or leave anyone out, entitling the event "Belief, Faith, Religion And No Faith or Religion Awareness Day". I persuade the steering group to drop this in favour of something simpler, such as "Religion or Belief Awareness Day". I like that "religion or belief" formula and it is what's used in the Equality Act 2010 after all, for good reason.

ART & DESIGN DEGREE SHOW AT DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY, 2012

At De Montfort University this evening for the Art and Design Degree Show. I've been invited by Rosemarie Fitton, Senior Lecturer in Interior Design (and member of Leicester Council of Faiths). She introduces me to Evadine Okoye, one of the students whose work is on show here. That's Evadine in the photo above, in front of the display of her work (Rosemarie is on her left).

Evadine has worked on a project that combines spirituality and mental well-being: Restore, a Spiritual Healing Facility. This is a theme that's been a thread running through my post and through this blog.

Here's Evadine's page in the Interior Design catalogue (in which she lists her likes as Afrobeats, Jesus and mango juice; and her dislikes as rainy days, yam, public transport)

When considering an interior, I view it as a very important aspect especially when it comes to an individual and how they connect with a building and its spatial attributes. I believe that the interior space has a significant influence and also plays a vital role in determining a person's feelings as well as the environment they are in. While studying at De Montfort University I have gained a key interest in Theatrical/Set Design and recently, the ideology of Holy and Spiritual Places. My passion for both of these areas stems from the desire to understand the connection users have with the space and how they interact with the environment they are placed in.

Restore: A Spiritual Healing Facility 

Civilisation today offers various facilities and services such as Retreats, Rehab centres and Mental Institutions. These facilities require their own unique system, methods and schemes that are available to patients who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia; offering them the help and support they need. However a question that generally arises is how can we find another unconventional mechanism to assist, aid and support those who have been discharged from institutional units and are still desperate for a solution?

"For many living with schizophrenia, religion and spirituality have an important and positive role ... religion plays a central role in the processes of reconstructing a sense of self and recovery." (Dr D. Cornah, on behalf of the Mental Health Foundation, 2006)

Restore as a spiritual intervention within mainstream health care is a concept that has been designed to help aid the restoration of discharged schizophrenic patients who are still on the road to recovery. By using the practices of Christianity as a catalyst, it becomes an inspiration for the design that reinforces and penetrates a purity of hope and healing through the facility. With the concept relying on the sun path as the main source of lighting, the facility is emphasised as a place to seek a positive future for all sufferers.

MAPPING FAITH & PLACE: 1st SEMINAR

Faithful reader, won't you welcome please, guest blogger Rosemarie Fitton:

I attended the first seminar of a project, Mapping Faith and Place, run by Leicester University, "investigating the significance of South Asian religious and cultural heritage in Leicester's urban landscape." This took place at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery. There are two further seminars to run next year followed by a public conference. I was wearing a number of hats, firstly as the creative director of Heterarchy, my interior design practice, based here in Leicester, secondly as an academic from DeMontfort university and thirdly, after George had asked me to write a blog about the seminar, as a member of the Leicester Council of Faiths. 

The seminar was organised by Dr Deirdre O'Sullivan and Dr Ruth Young, both from the School of Archaeology & Ancient History at Leicester University. 

There were a series of talks which were preceded by an introduction to the project by Dr Chris King, who had originally conceived and obtained funding for the research; Dr King, formerly of Leicester University, is now based at Nottingham University.

Dr King outlined the purpose of the project which is for academics and non-academics to work together to share knowledge and insights in order to gain an understanding of Leicester's cultural and religious landscape. In this series of seminars we will be looking at ways to take the project forward and how to best connect with people from the different communities. 

Dr Deirdre O'Sullivan and Dr Ruth Young talked about the work that had already taken place, which has resulted in The Faith Trail, most of the work for which was carried out by students at Leicester university. There is a website and booklet which accompanies this part of the project.

We then had a talk by Linda Monkton of English Heritage, who is head of research policy for places of worship. She spoke about the National Heritage list for England which includes an on-line database of all nationally designated heritage assets and the National Heritage Protection Plan, which is a framework for the key priorities for research over protection issues. She was very interested in finding out ways that English Heritage could foster good relationships with local contacts in the different faith communities. 

I then gave a talk on the work my company had carried out on the interiors for the new Swaminarayan Hindu temple on Gypsy Lane, which opened on the 8th-9th October. Describing how we had become involved in the project and how we set about the design process, to create interiors which reflected the rich cultural heritage of the Swaminarayan faith yet in a more contemporary style.

Rupert Allen, Assistant Church Buildings Development Officer for the Diocese of Coventry and Leicester spoke about the re-use of historically significant buildings and ways in which these could be sympathetically re-ordered to accommodate the new occupants.
In the afternoon we had lively discussions which initially looked at the issue of the Leicester orthodox synagogue which has recently been put up for sale, and the significance of religious buildings and their heritage as "sustainable sacred space".

This was followed by looking at ways to move the project forward and what the major issues were for the different faith communities in terms of buildings and the built environment and other groups who had an interest such as English heritage and academics.

Thanks Rosemarie, your contribution is much appreciated. I look forward to you having future stints as guest blogger.

MAPPING FAITH & PLACE: FAITH TRAIL LAUNCHED

At New Walk Museum and Art Gallery this evening for the launch of the University of Leicester’s Faith Trail. Today’s event marks an important stage in the development of Mapping Faith and Place, a project based in the university's School of Archaeology and Ancient History. Today is the day the project goes public.

Leicester Council of Faiths has lent occasional assistance to this project over the last year or so. Most recently, I’ve had the chance to make some slight amendments to the text of the printed booklet that goes with the Faith Trail and to ensure the use of a decent version of our logo.

Here’s an extract from the address given by Deirdre O’Sullivan, who is project leaders (along with Ruth Young, from Archaeology).

“Mapping Faith and Place has grown out of our shared interests in the archaeology of the great World Religions and the ways in which places of worship are understood, and used, by both members of faith communities and people outside those communities. Be they fellow citizens, tourists and visitors, or archaeologists seeking to understand placed in the past. 

“The study of religious monuments occupies a substantial section of any archaeology curriculum, From the temple complexes and shrines of the ancient civilisations of both the old and new worlds, through the abbeys, churches and cathedrals of Western Christendom, to the beautiful mosques of the Islamic world, archaeologists have recorded an enormous range of buildings that have served faith communities in both the past and the present. Understanding such places, however, requires more than familiarity with architectural terminology, or carefully scaled admiration for the skills and resources of their architects, builders and decorators. The meanings of such places need to be accessed in some way.

“The range of contemporary faith communities in Leicester offers a remarkable  opportunity to do just this. Over 400 different places have been used for worship in the city. Many of these buildings have disappeared; others have changed hands and moved between different faith communities, or in some cases, been adapted for secular use. All of the major contemporary world religions are represented.

“It is an educational axiom that in order to explain something you must first understand it yourself. Although the world seems unfortunately rather full of people trying to explain things that they don’t understand.  Our educational ambition is simply the development of understanding of places of faith in the present, and in the past. Not just the whats and wheres, but they whys and hows of what things mean in Leicester, which is so remarkable as a successful multi-ethnic community in 21^st century Britain. If we are to explain this success, we must first understand how it works.

“The event today focuses on our first concrete outputs from the project, the creation of a Faith Trail by a group of undergraduates in Archaeology and Ancient History and an interactive map of all the places of faith in Leicester alive and dead prepared by Dr Chris Green, which will enable anyone to construct their own maps and trails. Resources from the University’s Knowledge Exchange programme were provided which allowed us to employ an independent heritage consultant, Heather Lomas, to co-ordinate and steer the word over summer and, indeed, organise this launch today,
“These are not just for the purpose of academic enquiry; they are also openly accessible on the web and we hope that we can create useful tools and resources for developing ongoing dialogues within Leicester for a whole range of purposes, not least among faith communities themselves.”

Two of the students take the podium to speak about their work on the project. During this short talk they give a big credit to the Council of Faiths (a bit bigger than I think we deserve, but I’m not going to complain). We do have quite a visible presence at this occasion, with one of our pop-up banners on display at the front and the full range of our leaflets out among the material published by the university.

There’s a very convivial atmosphere among the 50 or so attendees and everyone seems pleased and satisfied with the work so far – as well as being keen and optimistic about future developments.

There’s going to be a series of workshops furthering the Mapping Faith and Place project and the Council of Faiths has been asked to be involved.  I’ll be away in Glasgow when the first of these takes place (Tuesday 18 October) but Rosemarie Fitton will be taking part.

I ask if we could incorporate the exhibition materials on display this evening and the printed Faith Trail booklet into our exhibition at Highcross during Inter Faith Week (20-26 November). The request is met favourably – I think it will be a very good contribution!

REDP Core Reference Group

It's the regular bimonthly meeting of the Core Reference Group of the Regional and Equality Diversity Partnership (REDP). We're meeting at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) this afternoon - and as well as our hosts (representing disabled people), the meeting includes representatives of organisations working in the protected characteristics of faith or belief, older people, race and sexual orientation. There's a smaller torunout today than we've been used to at previous meetings; many of our regular attendees are caught up in tortuous negotiations with funders at the moment.

The following items are on our agenda this afternoon:

cuts in funding and support for equality-focused groups in East Midlands

our collective response to the Coalition's consultation on reforming the Equlaity and Human Rights Commission

our response to the Coalition's Red Tape Challenge to the Equality Act 2010

planning our conference: "Equality Act 2010 and its Duties" in Nottingham, 30 June

our current and future relations with English Regions Equalities Network

At the end of this month, REDP comes to the end of the second year of our initial three-year funding. We've been talking for several months now about how to make the partnership sustainable and a number of irons are in the fire. it struck me today, while discussing our plans for the next 12 months that our project could be described in the format of a three-act summer action-adventure movie (with each act akin to a year of our funding):

Act 1: You're given your mission

Act 2: Assemble and train your team for the mission

Act 3: Carry out your mission

Doesn't sound like much of a movie, perhaps, but I'm sure the bare bones are recognisable. In Act 3, REDP has to make its big impact. Our name has to be seen all over the place - and has to be associated with strong, positive outcomes. I've been put in charge of REDP's social media and am looking forward to using that to advance our cause.

Rosemarie Fitton is shadowing me this afternoon, as she comes to the end of her placement with Leicester Council of Faiths as part of her MA studies in Interreligious Relations at St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society.

Find out more about REDP: www.redp.org.uk

LOOKING FORWARD TO AN INDIAN SUMMER

A lunchtime meeting (despite the distinct absence of lunch) at Phoenix Square Film & Digital Media Centre with Jiten Anand of TouchRainbow Productions, to discuss An Indian Summer, which is taking place at Phoenix Square, 18-19 June.

Rosemarie Fitton's with us, as she's coming to the end of her 30 hours placement with Leicester Council of Faiths as part of her MA in Interreligious Relations at St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multifaith Society. More than that, she has loads to contribute to such an event; Jiten starts reeling her in today for the 2012 version!

Our contribution is a talk entitled "How Diverse is Leicester?" scheduled for 1740 on the Saturday. That's what I'm here to discuss with Jiten, although our conversation spills over into more than just that. We'll be putting up our exhibition in Phoenix Square over that weekend too.

Visit the website for an Indian Summer. 

Check out the Facebook page for An Indian Summer.

MEETING AT HIGHCROSS TO DISCUSS MULTI-FAITH PRAYER ROOM

At Highcross this lunchtime, for a meeting with staff there to discuss the proposed Multi-Faith Prayer Room.


Rosemarie Fitton comes along with me. Rosemarie is on a short placement with Leicester Council of Faiths, as part of her MA course at St Philip's Centre in Interreligious Relations. I've asked Rosemarie to do some desk research on the topic of prayer rooms and quiet spaces in public buildings (which is her specialist academic and professional area after all). She's produced a ring-binder's worth of fantastic material garnered from (mostly online) sources all over the world, showing good and bad practice, public reaction, media coverage etc. She leaves a copy of this with me, so that the Council of Faiths can offer it as a resource to Highcross (and any other premises or organisations who seek our advice on this topic in future). This is a real boon to us and gives us a tremendous practical tool for offering specialist advice in this field. Thanks Rosemarie!


When we arrive, John Florance of BBC Radio Leicester is waiting at the Information Desk. John picked up on this through my earlier blog post. He's interested in recording stages in the development of what might appear to be a small, but significant episode in Leicester's ongoing multicultural story. He interviews Rosemarie and me (separately) for a short piece to be broadcast later in the week. Since it's early days for this project (and since no one from Highcross felt it appropriate to speak to local radio about it at this stage) Rosemarie and I have to be big on general support for Highcross, but sparing on the detail. John said he'd never heard me be so positive - but in a completely nebulous sort of way. That's one of the special skills I've honed while in this post, John!


Two members of staff lead us to the spot that Highcross intends to use as a Prayer Room. I'm not at liberty to reveal its location at the moment, for reasons I'm sure you'll understand and appreciate. Even in a city as comfortably multicultural as Leicester, this is still a sensitive issue for some. Besides, Highcross want to do this right, and for it to reflect well on them as an institution which cares about its customers and will which will take reasonable steps to meet their needs, they don't want it all to go off half-cocked.


Here are some things I can say about the proposed Prayer Room:

• The facility is accessible, both in terms of location and of entry and exit.
• It can accommodate wheelchair users.
• It will be secure, since it can be locked from the inside when in use and from the outside when not in use and it is in a well-frequented, well-lit area of the centre.
• Users will have to ask for the key from the Information Desk (they will have to leave contact details, such as mobile number, in case they wander off without returning the key).

The four of us spend half an hour inside the proposed room, during which time we discussed specific issues about how it should be fitted out so that it's in a fit state for this special kind of use.

• Softer floor covering, perhaps a springier form of tile, easy to keep clean.
• Provision of one or two prayer mats or rugs (which would have to be kept clean to the appropriate standard).
• Low padded seating (Rosemarie's research folder has photos of the worst seating that could be provided for a Prayer Room!).
• Dimmer switch for lighting.
• Emergency pull-cord to be left in place.
• Soundproofing in the form of "absorber boards" with nice finish (not only to reduce noise from outside, but also to prevent people outside from hearing praying or chanting from within).
• Access to running water (and paper towels with appropriate disposal facilities).
• No photographs or religious illustrations of any kind on display.
• Perhaps a set of inspiring quotations could be framed and mounted on the walls.
• Contact information for Leicester Council of Faiths could be provided, rather than individual faiths' places of worship.
• A set of rules for use of the facility should be displayced on the inside of the door.

Here are some of the general questions we consider today:

• How many people would be liable to want to use it?
• Of those who might want to use it, how many would actually do so?
• Which communities would be represented among likely and actual users?
• Would it be fair to ask users to leave basic monitoring information when they ask for the key (e.g. first half of post code, faith community membership)?
• What pressure points would there be on the use of the facility, in terms of time of day and times of the year (e.g. related to particular festivals, commemorations, fasting periods etc)?

As you can imagine, faithful reader, it's not possible to answer many of these questions at this stage. Highcross is viewing this whole thing as a sort of "entry level" project. Its popularity and usefulness will have to be monitored and evaluated over the first year or so, to see if any amendments have to be made. Appropriate and sensitive monitoring and evaluation is an area in which Leicester Council of Faiths can have an ongoing involvement in the project.


While this may appear to be a fairly small-scale development, it is still going to be a significant outlay by Highcross for the benefit of their customers. We at the Council of Faiths appreciate that - and we hope that the eventual users of this facility do too.

SACRE AT CHARNWOOD PRIMARY

I'm attending the regular meeting of Leicester SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education), held this time at Charnwood Primary School, Nedham Street.

I've brought two guests with me today: Sam Newton, Editor of the Leicester Wave, is here at my recommendation to make some contacts, gain interest and drum up support from teachers and govenors at this meeting for an article about young Muslim women in Leicester and the burka. I've also brought Rosemarie Fitton, who's shadowing me as part of her MA course in Inter-Religious Relations at St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society. The photo above shows (left to right) Sam, Rosemarie and Jill Carr (Secretary of Leicester SACRE). They're standing before one of the displays created by pupils of Charnwood Primary in the school's "Walk of Faith".

At today's meeting we bid farewell to Rev Dr Alan Race, Vicar at St Philip's Church and Director of Studies at St Philip's Centre. To describe Alan as a mainstay of SACRE would be an understatement to put it mildly. He's a mainstay of everything inter-faith in Leicester and farther afield. He'll definitely be missed around here.

MEETING AT ST JOHN'S HOUSE

Meeting this morning at St John's House, East Street, with Abida Hussain, Equality and Human Rights Officer at Leicestership Partnership NHS Trust.


I'm accompanied by Rosemarie Fitton, who's shadowing me as part of a 30 hour placement required on her MA course in interreligious relations with De Montfort University (through St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi Faith Society). Rosemarie and I meet at Coast Coffee in London Road half an hour before the appointment at St John's House, so I can brief her on relations between Leicester Council of Faiths and the NHS locally. Briefly, we have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the local NHS which requires us to do certain pieces of work for them each year. The meeting today is to review progress on that work.


The main thing we're looking at today is the text of a booklet entitled, "Health Care in a Multi-Cultural Multi-Faith Society". This was given to me in the form of a small ring binder with laminated pages, with "Draft - field trial" printed on the fist page. No one seemed to know where this booklet originated or if it's been trialled anywhere except here. It seemed a good practical piece of work for us to do in the context of our SLA. With the help of contacts within the faith communities and some original research, I've been amending the text of this booklet, making it more specific to the needs of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (which coves the city of Leicester, the county of Leicestershire and Rutland Unitary Authority).


I emailed Abida the text of a revised version of this booklet in advance of today's meeting (not very far in advance, but all the same ...). I think it's in a reasonable state in terms of the eight member communities on Leicester Council of Faiths, but still I need to finalise copy for other groups included in the original booklet (e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Rastafarians, Seventh Day Adventists, Spiritualists).  The original has three entries for Agnosticism, Atheism and Humanism, which I'll roll into one (under the title of the last of these three). There are another couple of groups that I'd like to include (Pagans, Zoroastrians). The original booklet has sections on groups that don't stand out as being faith communities (Chinese, New Age Travellers). If I can find ways to make them fit, I will.


The draft booklet opens by stating that it contains "Simplified guidelines to help medical and nursing staff in the care of patients from many different parts of the world". I don't think that gets it off to a very good start, making it sound like everyone who presents for treatment in local hospitals comes from another country. It doesn't acknowledge or recognise that settled communities, established for generations are part and parcel of our society. Furthermore, the guidelines seem more about avoiding the negative - trying not to upset patients and their families - than on celebrating the positive aspects of diversity. So my work on this booklet is not only checking facts, ensuring equality and consistency of treatment, but also changing the tone.


Abida's going to circulate the text among her team and ask for their feedback. I'l take whatever they have to say about it and see how that reflects on our own sources - and whether that can help me improve them. I'm hoping we can establish a virtuous circle!


We discuss how to make progress on the Faith Community Health Champions initiative, which we've been mulling over for a number of months now. We both come up with ideas for this that leave us positive and excited.


Other work fitting in with our SLA is discussed. If you'd like to know what they involve, faithful reader, then I have to say, "Watch this space!"


Hang on in there Rosemarie: only 26 hours to go!

PAVILION OF PEACE AT THE ECOHOUSE

Second meeting of the day at St Philip's in Evington; this timethough, it's in the Centre rather than the Church. This evening’s meeting has been convened by Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire in the context of their programme for revitalising the EcoHouse.

In an earlier incarnation as Environ, Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire played a leading role in establishing Leicester as Britain's first Environment City in 1990. The EcoHouse, in Leicester's Western Park, was Britain's first environmental show home. Both supporters and detractors feel that the Eco House has lost its cutting edge in the past few years. Consequently Groundwork is embarking on a major project to refurbish the EcoHouse and its grounds, a project which it is hoped will keep it in the forefront of its field till the year 2050.

With specific reference to the city's faith communities - and to Leicester Council of Faiths - Groundwork is intending to build a Pavilion of Peace within the grounds of the EcoHouse. The Pavilion of Peace will provide a space for prayer, contemplation, meditation and reflection for people of all faiths or of none. It will be set amongst the greenery and abundance of the gardens. The hope is that the Pavilion will provide a focus for sacred ecology. All sacred texts call on us to honour and conserve natural resources, and to reverence God's creation. We all have a duty of care as guardians, toward honouring, protecting and nurturing the great gift of planet earth to humanity.

While this is clearly a worthwhile project that will surely be of interest to all members of Leicester Council of Faiths, Groundwork hasn't chosen the best day or time for this meeting, with little chance of the kind of support they'd hoped for this evening. It's Holy Week, which means many of the Christians who might have been able to attend are occupied; it's Passover, which means most of the local Jewish community are busy; and it's the First Day of Ridván so Bahá'ís are engaged in celebrating the most sacred festival in their calendar and electing their local Spiritual Assembly.

A number of steps are considered and tentatively agreed with the desire of engaging faith and cultural communities in the city and county so that we can make collective progress not only on the Pavilion of Peace but on the more general refurbishment and relaunch of the EcoHouse and its environs.

Three years ago, in the summer of 2008, I took part in an educational project based at the EcoHouse and using the ancient oak tree in Western Park. This was called "Tree of Life" and involved several local schools in day-long sessions of storytelling, handicrafts, honing their thinking and speaking skills, music and movement - and new ways of seeing, thinking about and expressing their relationship to the natural world. It was one of the highlights of my many activities in this post and stands out as a beautiful, enjoyable and fulfilling experience on a number of levels. The sun shone the whole week long and the warmth and light of that week and the relationships that were strengthened then continue to nurture and illuminate my life and work in special ways today. I speak briefly this evening about Tree of Life but it doesn't seem to ring any bells. I'd like to see us be able to make something of the legacy of that project; that would be a fitting way for Leicester Council of Faiths to pitch its contribution to this new ongoing project.

This Pavilion of Peace has the potential to be one of the most significnt and practical contributions to inter faith relations in Leicester for a long time. The fact that it will be a permanent structure, located in an accessible and attractive site, have an educational purpose and be associateed with one of Leicester's most successful and distinctive brands are all very positive aspects indeed. And it seems to me that this would be something highly suitable for us to get behind, in public, during our 25th anniversary year.

In the photo above: Raheema Caratella (Leicester Interfaith Youth Hub), Rosemarie Fitton (MA student in Interreligious Studies at St Philips, who is shadowing me as part of a 30-hour placement with Leicester Council of Faiths), Penny Poyzer (Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire). They're sitting in front of a display of the proposed work to be done on the EcoHouse and its grounds. Among the group of eight people here this evening, two work with the Black Environment Network (BEN).

ME AND MY SHADOW

Rosemarie Fitton

Meeting Rosemarie Fitton this afternoon in The Crumblin Cookie on the High Street, to discuss a placement with Leicester Council of Faiths as part of her MA In Interreligious Relations. Rosemarie is pursuing this degree part-time through the St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society. She needs to do 30 hours of placement work (and write it up) before the end of May.

Heterarchy, the design company that Rosemarie and her husband Tony run, is closely involved in the design and fitting of the interior to the new BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Leicester. When it opens later this will be the biggest Hindu temple in the country outside that same organisation's mandir in Neasden. She's working on a spiritual centre for the same group there. She's lent her support to some of the activities which I've promoted for Leicester Council of Faiths over the past few months (e.g. the Inter Faith Week exhibition in Highcross last year and the panel presentation at Amplified Leicester last month), so I'm glad to be able to return the favour.

Rosemarie will be shadowing me on three specific projects between now and the end of May. She's liable to feature regularly in this blog - and contribute to it occasionally - over this period.