Leicester Speaks 2011 steering group

A meeting this morning of the steering group for Leicester Speaks 2011 at Leicester Adult Education College, Wellington Street. Apart from ourselves, representatives from the following organisations are attending:

• Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service
• Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce
• Novas Scarman Group

We debrief on the pre-launch event in Gallowtree Gate three weeks ago and watch the video of that day that's been posted on the Leicester Speaks website. To give us better access, capacity and control, the Leicester Speaks website will shortly be migrating to a dedicated service based at the Adult Education College. The website is already very impressive - and it gives good promotional exposure to Leicester Council of Faiths.

We discuss the connection of Leicester Speaks to other events happening in the city before our week, most significantly, Our Leicester Day in Leicester Market on Sunday 11 September. We also talk about the content and structure of the week and tentatively agree that while we'll encourage diversity and variety of activities across the city during the mornings and afternoons, we'll try and we should aim for just one badged event each evening to obtain maximum support and exposure. The first major theme for potential discussion at one or more of our events emerged this morning: volunteering.

The big launch on Wednesday 12 October will be an all-day event focused on Humberstone Gate, where there will be a variety of exhibitors, entertainment and participation of the City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby. Our "Just a Minute" feature, that was so successful at last year's launch will be done three times during the day.

Libraries, community centres, Leicester Adult Education College and a number of other venues under City Council control will be available free of charge (subject to availability) to community groups who want to put on any activity during the week of Leicester Speaks.

HINDUS MARK LORD KRISHNA'S DAY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Hindus mark Lord Krishna's day 

There was singing, dancing and feasting as hundreds of Hindus gathered for one of the most important festivals in their calendar. 

Krishna Janmashtami, which celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna, is marked every year by millions of worshippers all over the world. 

Among the celebrations were two days of festivities hosted by the Iskcon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Hare Krishna group at Leicester Coliseum in Melton Road. 

These started on Sunday and are due to continue until midnight tonight – believed to be the exact time of Krishna's birth over 5,000 years ago. 

The group's chairman, Pradyumna Das, said: "We like to take the opportunity to bring the ingredients of culture and devotion to God to the people of Leicester." 

It is the first time in Iskcon Leicester's history that the festival was celebrated outside temple premises, following an explosion which destroyed their building in Thoresby Street, North Evington, in September last year. 

The group has lodged a planning application to change the use of the grade II-listed former HSBC bank, in Granby Street, from a bank into a new place of worship.

In the photo above: Bansh Dhari Govanda Das (right) with Himani Solanki, from Oadby

CASTLE PARK HERITAGE & ARTS FESTIVAL

Today is the start of the Castle Park Heritage & Arts Festival - one of the most popular such events in Leicester's calendar, now in its 22nd year. These posters have been up all over the city - and it's interesting to note that two of the images on the poster are faith community related: Leicester Cathedral (main picture at top) and the Nagarjuna Kadampa Buddhist Centre in Guildhall Lane (second from right).

BEAT BOBBY SHOWS SOLIDARITY BY FASTING WITH COLLEAGUES

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Beat bobby shows solidarity by fasting with colleagues 

By Ciaran Fagan, Social Affairs Corresspondent

A police officer wanted to know how Muslim colleagues and people on his beat felt while fasting during Ramadan – so he went without food himself. 

Sergeant Danny Graham, who works at Leicester's Spinney Hill Park police station, abstained from food during daylight hours for three consecutive days this week. 

On each occasion, he then went on to break his fast with worshippers at the Masjid Umar mosque in Evington Road. 

He said: "I wanted to do it because it gave me a small insight to what colleagues and people in the community do during Ramadan. 

"I did it for a day last year, but I went for three days this time. 

"It is a challenge but it was a pleasure to break the fast with the people at the mosque each time. 

"It makes you focus your thinking and appreciate all the things we have and that there are many poor people in this world who have little or no food and water." 

Inspector Bill Knopp, commander at Spinney Hill Park station, said: "Danny is responsible for an area which has a very diverse Muslim community and he wanted to step into their shoes for a while. 

"Last year, he fasted for a day to show solidarity with the four Muslim colleagues we have here at the station who were fasting at that time. 

"This time, he has gone for three days and that is a credit to him." 

Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: "I'm sure members of the community will appreciate Sgt Graham's gesture. 

"It's a good example of how people in Leicester want to learn about each other. 

"Fasting helps people realise how fortunate they are when there are so many in this world who do not have even the basics – as we are seeing in East Africa at the moment." 

The dates of Ramadan, which concludes at the end of the month, change each year because they are governed by the lunar calendar.
This year, members of the community will face some of the longest days in recent times, on occasions fasting for about 19 hours. 

Pc Yusuf Nagdi, who works at Spinney Hill Park station, told the Mercury last week how he combined his duties with his faith commitments. 

He said: "It is a juggling act, but one that I feel I can do well, thanks to a few changes such as when I start work, and fitting in prayers during my patrols. 

"Obviously, if there was an incident that would take priority, but as long as I am not too busy, I am encouraged to pop into the local mosques in my beat, in uniform, and carry out my prayers."

This week's visitors

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 392
2. United States 124
3. Germany 55
4. Latvia 44
5. Slovenia 43
6. Russia 40
7. Netherlands 39
8. India 35
9. Romania 28
10. Canada 19

This week's total: 818 (last week's: 820). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of this map for "now" (whenever that is), today, this week, this month and "all time" (which seems to mean the last 12 months). They're updated each time I look at that them.

Meeting at The Towers

Meeting at The Towers this morning with Abida Hussein (Equality & Human Rights Officer, Integrated Equality Service, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust). We're concentrating on wrapping up the text for the staff resource booklet on hospital care for patients of different affiliations in terms of religion or belief. Copy for the communities who are members of Leicester Council of Faiths has been finalised some months ago; those sections closely follow the text of our leaflets and I have easy access to individuals from those communities to check facts for me. However, the resource is supposed to be more wide-ranging than just those eight faiths, so I've been writing additional sections in similar style on Humanists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Pagans and Rastafarians. Abida wants to sign off on the project later today before she goes on leave for the last part of Ramadan, which means that I have till 1515 this afternoon to finish those additional sections. So it's back to the office, toot de suite, after our meeting to polish off those final sections!

We need an ethos that we can all share

Here's the First Person column from today's Leicester Mercury

We need an ethos that we can all share 

Allan Hayes considers the social problems underlying the outbreak of street violence 

In the last week I have gone through a range of feelings: disbelief, shame; reassurance/relief; and pride in the way communities were asserting themselves. Government must carry out its overriding responsibility for law and order, but we need to ask if there are things about our society that need correcting. 

In his speech to the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury pointed to the importance of the ethos of our educational institutions – he wants them to educate "citizens, not consumers, not cogs in an economic system"; to produce empathy with others and a "deepened sense of our involvement together in a social project". This is admirable and it is surely something that all our schools aim to do – we need to put more into helping them. 

But the ethos must be one that we can all share, whatever might be the motivation or basis that we may bring to it personally or from our own culture; and empathy and a sense of involvement are surely better nurtured when children from different backgrounds grow up together. 

Moreover, we need also to be concerned about the ethos of our society as a whole: is it fair, does it care for all its members? There is a perception, not restricted to rioters, that the poor and the young are bearing an unfair share of the consequences of amoral, detached financial mismanagement; that a game is being played that ignores most of us. 

Government must show that people count, that in deciding policy, the effect on people carries weight. Financial management is important, but we are getting the impression that the financial bottom line comes first and the effect on people is a side issue. 

We need to be aware of some deep problems in our society: gross income inequalities, and how low we rank internationally in care for our children. We need to work on building one community, one caring society; and we need to develop its capacity to act.Central to this will be more and better communication and ways of helping one another: getting to know one another – help from professionals and businesses in providing our youngsters with hope and vision.Should we not replace the present prescribed courses in religious education with an inclusive celebration of our humanity, including our religions? The recent television series on the life of Muhammed was a fine example (the account of his last sermon was particularly moving), and we should teach about the Muslim contribution to civilization – we must be able to be proud of one another. 

The Archbishop ended by referring to this time as a moment "which could be crucial for the long-term future of our country and our society" – I think he was right. 

Allan Hayes is director of Leicester Secular Society

AWAY DAY WITH NOTTINGHAM INTER FAITH COUNCIL

I'm facilitating an "away day" for members of Nottingham Inter Faith Council. Our host for this occasion is their Treasurer, Richard, whose lovely big garden is the setting for the photo of today's attendees.

Being the sort of meeting that it is, it's no surprise that those attending are from a variety of backgrounds and traditions - but I do like to list these all the same: Bahá'í, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhist, Christian (Anglicans and Roman Catholics), Jewish, Muslim, Quaker, Sikh.

Patricia Stoat, Chair of Nottingham Inter Faith Council (and who represents them on the Core Reference Group of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership) poses three questions at the start of the meeting which we return to during the plenary sessions and which form the topics for our buzz groups:

• "Where is the next generation?"
• "What resources might be available to carry on our work in the future?"
• "What is inter faith activity for?"

Of course, it would be improper to go into detail about our discussions here today. Suffice to say, we consider inter faith activity, dialogue and work in the context of the changing landscape of relations with civil authorities and service providers, public and private funders, legislation such as the Equality Act 2010 and the proposed Bill of Rights.

I'm grateful to my friends and colleagues in Nottingham Inter Faith Council for inviting me to join them for the day, to help facilitate their discussions. I hope we'll find reasons to collaborate again.

Transforming Local Infrastructure in the county

Fourth meeting of the day: 1400 at Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL). This si the second part of today's  meeting to discuss Transforming Local Infrastructure, the latest tranche of money to be released by The Big  Fund. If you want to find out more about The Big Fund and what it's funding in a big way, faithful reader, then visit the Transforming Local Infrastructure website. I'm not going to try and explain how this one works here - my head hurts enough trying to understand it myself.

As well as ourselves and VAL, there are ten infrastructure service support groups represented here this afternoon, each of which has expressed an interest in this bid:

• Communities in Partnership (CIP)
• East Midlands Racial Equalities Consortium (EMREC)
• Imagine LeicesterShire
• Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL)
• Leicestershire Ethnic Minority Partnership (LEMP)
• The Race Equality Centre (TREC)
• Voluntary Action Charnwood
• Rural Community Council
• Voluntary Action Melton

This is the second of two meetings at VAL on this topic today. The morning meeting looked at a potential bid for this funding in relation to the city; the afternoon meeting is doing the same, but for the county.

Stronger Communities Partnership

Third meeting of the day - and it's still only 1100. I'm at 16 New Walk for the Stronger Communities Partnership. Iris Lightfoote (who chairs the Partnership) and I have dashed over here from the meeting on Transforming Local Infrastructure at Voluntary Action Leicestershire (which will go on till 1300 in our absence).


Leicester Council of Faiths has been represented on the Stronger Communities Partnership by our Chair, Councillor Manjula Sood. However, Manjula was appointed one of six Assistant Mayors who make up the Cabinet of Leicester City Council. The Assistant Mayors are being asked to attend meetings of the Stronger Communities Partnership when it discusses topics realted to their portfolios. To avoid potential conflicts of interest, Manjula asked if I would take her place in representing Leicester Council of Faiths on this body. I have attended these meetings several times in the past, but then I was representing the late lamented Equality and Diversity Partnership (EDP).


The theme for today is Children and Young People. There are several members of the City Council's Children's Trust here today, to make a presentation and to asnser questions. We also have the benefit of Assistant Mayor Vi Dempster attending (she is Cabinet Lead for Children and Families). Other community groups represented here today:

• Leicester Multicultural Advisory Group
• Refugee Action
• The Race Equality Centre