CENTRE "HAS BROUGHT MISERY"

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Centre "has brought misery"

Neighbours say inconsiderate users of a community centre are making their lives a misery.

People living in Keble Road, off Welford Road, Leicester, said they have faced nuisance parking and late-night noise since Knighton Community and Education Centre opened in July.

The Islamic centre is allowed to open from 7am to 1pm but neighbours said noise had been heard as late as 3.30am.

Maria Moran has kept a log of incidents of traffic congestion and noise in the cul de sac.

She has collected a 15-signature petition calling for action against centre users she said parked on double yellow lines.

"They've got a lease for three years and I can't live with it because I know it's not going to go away. I can't stand one more week of it," Ms Moran said.

She said the centre was at its busiest on Friday afternoon, when up to 70 worshippers attend.

Another resident, Lizzy Webb, said: "The parking is the biggest problem.

"I understand on the odd occasion it needs to be open longer but we are a residential street.

Neighbour Julie Miller said: "I don't think they're being respectful.

"They need to find somewhere suitable but I don't think that's Keble Road."

The centre was due to host a meeting last night with residents, councillors and police.

A statement released by the centre said it was aware of residents' "worries over potential noise and visual pollution caused by an increased flow of people to the area".

It said: "Ultimately, it is our desire to create an education centre which will aid members of our community.

"Furthermore, we desire to resolve any outstanding issues so we may all continue to live in peace together."

Fayyaz Suleman, secretary of Leicester Council of Faiths, said: "People were parking in a way that was not appropriate and we admit that.

"We've held our hands up but there are some people who won't be happy whatever we do."

FIRST SIGHT OF NEW BAPS SWAMINARAYAN MANDIR

Following our meeting with representatives of British Hindu Voice at Shree Sanatan Mandir, I suggest to Minou Cortazzi that we take a quick trip up Catherine Street to see the new BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir.

Despite having heard so much about the temple and having seen various articles and letters about it in the Leicester Mercury, this is the first time I've actually clapped eyes on it. I have set out to see it on foot at least twice already, but never quite made it (thank you Google Maps!)

This will be the biggest Hindu temple outside of Neasden. In a word: impressive!

RE: WE SHOULD TAKE A BROADER VIEW OF BELIEF

Allan Hayes has written the First Person column in today's Leicester Mercury:  

RE: We should take a broader view of belief

Allan Hayes calls for change in the position of religion in our schools' curriculum.

Thank you for your Opinion column, "Compulsory religion is out of date" (Mercury, September 7). It is time that we faced up to these issues. I write in a personal capacity, but with a long involvement with religion and its role in society: I am a director of Leicester Secular Society, a trustee of the British Humanist Association and Humanist representative on the Leicester Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE).

The requirement of compulsory acts of worship could be simply dealt with – it could, and I think should, be removed. That not just because it is widely ignored and the majority of the population is in favour of its removal; compulsion in religion is morally offensive.

Of course, morning assemblies are a valuable part of the school day.

One of the most inspiring experiences during my year as chaplain to the Lord Mayor, was a visit to morning assembly at one of the city's infant schools.

It was a joyous and happy affair with children singing and reading, and reflecting on life and caring. It set the feeling for the school as a caring community – it was good.

Religious Education is a more difficult matter.

In spite of the efforts of teachers and advisers, the subject still gives the impression to many people of the state pushing religious views on to children.

And consider the make-up of SACREs, the local bodies responsible for what is taught: four groups, one for Church of England, one for other approved religions, one for teachers' representatives, one for representatives of the local council. What about other beliefs and the great number who just want to get on with their lives without reference to religion? Millions of people are essentially humanist in their outlook, but Government guidance is that humanists should most definitely not be full members.

In addition to these issues of principle, there are real worries among teachers of RE at the reduction in the subject's status and the resources available, and its not being included in the English Baccalaureate.

What might be done? Can the subject evolve and widen into one in which our humanity is nourished and celebrated, including our religions – a subject where we learn to value one another directly as people and where respecting someone's religion is a consequence of a wider respect for people?

I would like to think that it can, but I don't know. Perhaps, here in Leicester, we have the possibility of bringing this about.

Our schools should bring us together, and it is on this point that, while I welcome your opening up of the discussion, I have to say that I think that your suggestion of simply leaving RE and worship to individual schools would push us in quite the wrong direction. It would lead to division – it could also result in schools rather than the state exercising compulsion.

EVENT CELEBRATES THE BEST OF OUR CITY

This article (about Our Leicester Day) is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Event celebrates the best of our city 

People turned out to an event promoting local charities, community groups, societies and clubs yesterday. 

Up to 100 organisations showcased their work and activities during the inaugural Our Leicester Day, held at the city's market. 

Businessman and charity worker Richard Brucciani came up with idea after seeing a similar event while on holiday in France. 

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who attended the event, said: "It's a wonderful opportunity for groups from all over the city to share their activities with the whole community. This is a great initiative." 

Dawn Morgan, 54, of Newfoundpool, Leicester, said: "I've just come into town with my daughter and grandchildren and happened across this. I never knew there were so many organisations doing so much good work in Leicester." 

Community worker Riaz Ravat said: "We see Our Leicester Day as a chance to promote the work we do and the opportunities for people to get involved. 

"But what is more significant is that we're showing how Christians and Muslims can work together on the 10th anniversary of 9/11." 

Mr Ravat arranged for leaders from the Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faiths to visit people and businesses following last month's violence in Leicester. He said: "We want to help restore the reputation of Leicester because the city has taken a few knocks recently." 

Our Leicester Day featured a diverse mix of groups, ranging from a sci-fi club and Viking enthusiasts to organisations helping people cope with cancer, HIV, sexual assault and domestic abuse. 

John Niblett, of the Rotary Club of Oadby Launde, said the group hoped to recruit more members by taking part in the event. He said: "It gives the organisations who carry out so much voluntary work in Leicester a chance to make the public aware and hopefully involve them in the work that they do."

OUR LEICESTER DAY 2011

At Leicester Market for Our Leicester Day. This is an opportunity for Voluntary and Community Sector organisations (and a few others) in the city (some from the county too) to present themselves to the general public, to the media - and to each other.

There are more than 110 organisations listed as taking part (described as "Promoters"), but it doesn't look to me as if all of them have turned up. The wind is probably a big factor in that. No one reckoned with the effects of the tail-end of Hurricane Katia. Some groups have had their display material virtually wrecked by the wind. There are leaflets flying everywhere, banners blown over and torn from their moorings and so much stuff being tossed backward and forward, it's a wonder no one is injured.

We share our space with Cooke e-learning Foundation and Menphys. Jim Matthews is helping run the Menphys stall. Jim worked as a reporter with the Leicester Mercury for 35 years. I introduce Gracie to Jim and ask her to tell him what she would like as a career. She makes a good impression on Jim, the outcome of which is that she gets a discount on a bunch of jigsaws (that's my girl!)

Today we're getting people to sign up to our forthcoming email newsletter, that we intend to launch during Community Media Week at the beginning of November.

Our Chair, Councillor Manjula Sood, and I get to speak for a few minutes live on BBC Radio Leicester about the Council of Faiths participation in today's event. I think I respond quite well to being asked live on air if I am Welsh.

A variety of media outlets covered the event, including Citizens' Eye Community News Agency and Pukaar News.

There's going to be a follow-up meeting for debriefing purposes at Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre, Thursday 3 November, 1730. I think that there's been a mixed message about this event, because of the date on which it's been held. On the whole, it's not being taken on by the "Promoters" as being about the tenth anniversary of 9/11 but it's been too convenient and easy (for which, read "lazy") for the media to present it as being so, leading to some skewed perspectives about who is here and what the event is for. Certainly, when I got to speak on BBC Radio Leicester, I wanted to say something different. This is not an event about how Christians and Muslims can get along. I reckon that's a bit of a cheap shot, actually. I haven't seen anything on the promotional material for today's event that would warrant that sort of conclusion. A look at the list of Promoters shows that very few indeed have got anything to do with that angle - even the Council of Faiths itself is not about dialogue and relations between just those two sections of the community. Going on the informal chatter to which I've been privy, the inaccurate emphasis on the Christian-Muslim aspect hasn't gone down well in general and led to a number of people who would have benefited from attending (as visitors or as Promoters) staying away from what appeared, to them, to be an event overtly favouring particular groups who actually turned out to be in a tiny minority here today.

I think that today's event was a success, despite the effects of Hurricane Katia and the tenth anniversary of 9/11, which couldn't help but cast a shadow over anything and everything that goes on today. If Our Leicester Day is to be held again, then hopefully neither foul weather nor the hand of history will set the tone as they have today.

Thanks for helping out today to Ajay, Alastair, Clare, Grace, Harry, Manjula and Rosemarie.

In the photo above: Councillor Manjula Sood (Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths) and Ajay Aggarwal (Leicester Council of Faiths Co-ordinator). Note how the the wind is playing havoc with our pop-up banner!

ABANDONING OUR HERITAGE

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Abandoning our heritage

I was amazed to read the headline "Compulsory religion is out of date" (Opinion, September 7).

This is a bit like saying there's no need to bother with English or maths either.

Knowledge of Christianity is such a basic part of our heritage.

Schools used to have a daily act of worship, and as a schoolboy I really enjoyed heartily singing a couple of hymns before going into class. It was also an opportunity for the whole school to gather together.

Experiences like this help our children to make up their own minds about their beliefs in future.

If we do not teach our children about the Ten Commandments, and they do not go to church, how may we expect them to understand the difference between right and wrong, and how the laws of the land must apply to everyone?

There is no other moral code. The Ten Commandments come from the very Top!

Lack of observance is one of the reasons why we have such an increase in violence, unruliness, burglary, fraud and murder in our society.

It would be imprudent to abandon God by eliminating Him from our schools.

As a nation we need all the help we can get. If only half our people believe in God, that will still count in our favour.

God will be our shield and we shall be rewarded. As was Abraham (Genesis 15).

Nigel Mutimer, Coalville

DAY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Day that changed the world

Civic and community leaders have recalled where they were on the day that changed the world.

City mayor Peter Soulsby said: "I was at the gym in Leicester on the running machine. The TV was on with no sound, and the pictures of the twin towers came up on the screen. One by one the machines stopped, and everyone gathered round to watch as they realised this was not a film, but reality.

'What struck me most after the event was the sense of outrage, and the solidarity people felt with America and with the families and friends of those who had been killed. For us in Leicester it did have some positive outcomes. The establishment of a group of faith leaders – the Faith Leaders' Forum – was very welcome.

"It helped to remind us that community cohesion, as we call it now, isn't something any of us can take for granted."

Bishop of Leicester the Rt Rev Tim Stevens said the first he knew about 9/11 was through a phone call from his secretary.

He said: "The rest of the afternoon was spent being interviewed by the media. Within 48 hours there was an interfaith gathering in the city centre."

In the decade since then. he said great work had been done building up trust between the city's faith communities.

Jagdev Kaur Gill, chairman of the Leicester Sikh Centre, said: "My son called me and told me a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Centre towers. I turned on the television to see the second plane crash.

She added: "At first I thought it was an accident but it was soon clear it was deliberate.

"It was not just an attack on America, it was an attack on the whole world.

"But I believe most people in Leicester condemned what happened and the communities have come closer since it happened. Hopefully, we will continue to work together."

Lord Mayor of Leicester Robert Wann said: "I was staying at my father's house in Cyprus and he called me into the lounge. We just sat glued to the television watching the horrific events unfold."We were just in shock. It was unbelievable."

But when he returned to Leicester he was struck by the atmosphere.He said: "There was a real sense of people coming together from all the communities to condemn terrorism. I believe Leicester people have grown to understand each other better since the attack and we must continue to co-operate to ensure that acts of terrorism are resisted."

Jashvant Chauhan, vice-president of the Hindu Shree Sanatan Mandir temple, consoled his daughter as her friend from university was on one of the planes that crashed into the towers.

Mr Chauhan said: "She rang me in tears telling me her American friend she met at university was on a flight from Boston which crashed into the tower.

"So it was a very personal tragedy for us. But I think the atrocity acted as a wake-up call for us all."

County council leader David Parsons said: "I remember the awful feeling of shock when the news came through but then the dawning realisation that it would have a long-lasting impact on international relations. I pay tribute to the Leicestershire servicemen and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan to keep us safe."

LET'S BURY THE IDEA THAT FAITH DIVIDES PEOPLE

The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, writes the First Person column in the Leicester Mercury every Saturday. Here's his piece in today's paper.

Let's bury the idea that faith divides people 

The Bishop of Leicester looks forward to a positive legacy from the terrible events of 9/11 

Taking a break from writing this column during the summer has meant missing some of the key news stories of the year. The riots or disturbances across the cities of England are now past and the prospect of further economic recession seems to be growing. 

But the big story of this weekend is the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In the Cathedral on Sunday some of us will be remembering those events and lighting candles in honour of those who died, were injured or bereaved. We shall be recalling the horror of it all and the consequent wars and conflicts which are still with us 10 years later. Many friends and relatives of those who died or who still suffer from post traumatic stress will find this weekend a particular trial and strain. 

But in the Cathedral we have felt it right also to include an act of thanksgiving. We want to give thanks for the many hidden acts of kindness, courage and friendship which have grown and developed in this city and indeed in cities around the world as people have come to see the need for deeper understanding and relationship between peoples of different faiths. 

I have said many times that we often take for granted the good relationships which have on the whole developed here in Leicester. Our best memorial to the 9/11 disaster is to ensure that we never become complacent. We must move beyond peaceful coexistence to ever deeper levels of understanding and engagement. We cannot afford to settle happily for communities living parallel lives in the same city with little connection. 

And yet this work of relationship building and understanding takes a long time. It is inter-generational work. And we need to be developing the next generation of leaders who will drive it forward with more imagination and more vigour than ever. 

That's why I am proud that we were able to establish the St Philip's Centre six years ago as a Christian centre for the study of other faiths and for engagement with other faiths. Out of that initiative is now being born the Near Neighbours Scheme which will provide small grants for local initiatives in relationship building at neighbourhood level. I hope that scheme will grow and develop here and around the country and show the world that people of faith are good at relationship building and understand what community is all about. 

The true memorial to 9/11 would be to bury once and for all the idea that faith creates conflict and divides people. While that has been true in parts of our human history and struggle, there is another truth, namely that people of faith have been able to build bridges, heal wounds and grow communities. We have made our contribution to that in this city. This weekend, in spite of the tragedy that was 9/11, we have much to give thanks for.

I'll let others, for the moment, reflect and comment on the central thesis of this piece. Its most interesting aspect, from the point of view of this blog and my post, is the authoritative definition of the St Philip's Centre as "a Christian centre for the study of other faiths and for engagement with other faiths." That's the clearest statement of its nature and purpose. I'm often asked the difference between Leicester Council of Faiths and the St Philip's Centre. When asked that question in future, I'll adduce the Bishop's words as reproduced here.

The Bishop of Leicester is Patron of Leicester Council of Faiths. I'm sorry to see that he does not mention the Council of Faiths in this article.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (954)

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

1. United Kingdom 452
2. United States 218
3. Russia 64
4. Germany 56
5. Romania 47
6. Ukraine 36
7. South Korea 27
8. Norway 19
9. France 18
10. India 17

This week's total: 954 (last week's: 801). 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.

Wikio's updated rankings were published earlier this week. This blog fell from 45 to 71 in the chart for Religion and Belief. That's a bit of a disappointment, naturally, but I take heart in that the general direction of travel is upward. Well, that rather depends on the October ranking of course, but I remain optimistic! 

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 that 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 them.

LEICESTER'S FIRST FAITHS FILM FEST GETS GO-AHEAD!

Meeting at Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre this afternoon with Andy Jones, Programme Manager. From this point on, the proposed Faiths Film Festival during National Inter Faith Week (Sun 20 - Sat 26 November) is a goer! I've set my hopes on this one for ages now (certainly since well before National Inter Faith Week last year); I'm delighted that we've got the green light now.

Phoenix Square often features such festival presentations, often linked to local activities, events and occasions.  Our Faiths Film Fest will be included as part of Phoenix Square's regular public programme, promoted through its printed and online brochure, double-badged in association with Leicester Council of Faiths, showing our logo.

The films will not be put on  for members of the faith communities alone. The intention is certainly not that the "Buddhist" films (for example) should only appeal to Buddhists. The films have to be commercially viable, available for screening in a decent format and the kind of movie that will bring in up to 75 patrons (for Screen 2) or 30 patrons (if shown in the smaller Screen Room). Proper films, in other words - accessible and appealing to the kind of audience that uses Phoenix Square (and definitely not any kind of propaganda material).

We're hoping to be able to schedule at least one film from each of our eight member faiths. As much as possible, I'm taking recommendations from people who adhere to these faiths themselves, so that they can get some buy-in from the communities. It's not our desire to be contentious or controversial, but we also have no wish to be comfortable or bland.

Here are some of the titles we hope to be able to show:

• A Serious Man
• Little Buddha
• Lourdes
• The Message
• My Name is Khan
• Phörpa (The Cup)
• The Robe
• Ushpizen

That's two Buddhist titles, two Christian, two Jewish and two Muslim. We're on the lookout now for two each that would work from Bahá'ís, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. If any of them can't recommend a suitable title, we may be able to show something that exemplifies or illustrates a theme that chimes with that particular faith community (e.g. on the theme of the unity of humankind to stand for Bahá'ís, on the theme of non-violence for Jains, since there's a paucity of films directly related to those faiths). Three of the films listed above are in languages other than English.

This week-long event will be a strong complement to the exhibition in Highcross and a distinctive contribution to this national occasion, which will be celebrated for only the third time in 2011.

Recommendations of movies for inclusion in the first Faiths Film Festival will be gratefully received, faithful reader: all reasonable suggestions considered.