REPORT CRITICISES STATE OF PRAYER ROOM

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Report criticises state of prison prayer room 

Leicester Prison needs to upgrade its bathrooms and improve the state of an area where Muslim inmates pray, according to a new report. 

The comments were made in a report by The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HMP Leicester, whose volunteers oversee conditions in prisons across England and Wales. 

The board also praised much about the prison, in Welford Road, including improvements made to its cells and the forming of a dedicated mental health team. 

Board members, who have access to every inmate and every part of the prison, report every year to the Secretary of State on the standard of provision and care for prisoners. 

The latest report covers February 2010 to January 2011. 

The board criticised the "poor state of repair and cleanliness" of the prison's Association Room, which is used for Muslim prayers. 

Suleman Nagdi, chairman of the Federation of Muslim Organisations in Leicestershire, said the group had worked closely with the prison over many years and was "grateful that it caters for the needs of Muslim prisoners". 

He said: "It must be remembered that encouraging them to practise their faith can be an important part of their rehabilitation. 

"I don't want to criticise the prison too much because I realise circumstances are often difficult, but I would encourage the prison to do everything possible to ensure that provision for Muslim prisoners is adequate." 

The report said a bathroom where elderly and infirm inmates bathe or shower was "unfit for purpose". 

Tony Donovan, chief executive of Age UK Leicestershire and Rutland, said that fact was "disappointing", but added: "While things can always be better, we've seen improvements in provisions for older prisoners." 

Achievements highlighted included the introduction of a course aimed at reducing violence, and an increased awareness of special needs. 

The report also praised the fact there had been no self-inflicted deaths during the year.
The prison was built in 1828. It is designated for adult males and is classed as Category B, meaning offenders do not require maximum security. 

It can hold a maximum of 390 inmates but currently houses between 330 and 360. 

Prison Governor Alison Clarke said: "We thank the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Leicester for their report, which has been fully considered by ministers. 

"The prison is working on a number of areas raised in the report." 

To view the report, visit: www.imb.gov.uk

BRITISH LEGION SALUTES SIKH HEROES

From today's Leicester Mercury:

British Legion Salutes Sikh Heroes 

The sacrifices of Sikhs who have stood alongside British troops in conflicts around the world are to be recognised in this year's Poppy Appeal. 

The Royal British Legion in Leicestershire is to introduce a Sikh khanda to its range of wooden remembrance emblems when it launches its appeal later this month. 

The khanda will join the Christian cross, the Jewish Star of David and the Muslim Crescent which have been introduced in recent years. 

The khanda, made up of a solid circle, two interlocked swords and a double-edged sword, will be on sale alongside poppies and the other wooden emblems. 

Jennifer Leach, the Legion's community fund-raiser in Leicestershire and Rutland, said: "We have had representations from the Sikh community nationally and locally and we felt it was time to produce the khanda. 

"We are very happy to be able to mark the sacrifices which have been made by Sikh soldiers who have fought and died in the British Army." 

Resham Singh Sandu, the High Sheriff of Leicestershire and the first Sikh to hold the post, said he was delighted to hear of the new Poppy Appeal emblem. 

Mr Singh Sandu, who is also chairman of the Sikh Cultural and Welfare Society, said: "This is a wonderful way to celebrate the bravery of all the Sikh soldiers who have served the British Army with such distinction. 

"It is no more than their bravery deserves. They have stood shoulder to shoulder with the British for years." 

He said his father, Sohel Singh, served in the British Indian Army and was on the frontline on the Egyptian border during the First World War. 

"He was a real hero and carried an injured colleague on his shoulder for seven miles from the front to the medical area," said Mr Singh Sandhu. 

"A bullet went through his ear and turban, but he survived. He was given the Indian Order of Merit." 

Last year's Poppy Appeal, marking the Legion's 90th birthday year, raised £525,161 in Leicestershire alone.It was the first time the appeal had broken the £500,000 mark. 

The total was 10 per cent up on the previous year's £476,150. 

The total raised in Rutland last year was £38,122 – seven per cent up on the previous year's £35,509. 

Miss Leach said: "We had a brilliant time last year and it would be amazing if we could top that figure. 

"What we need as well as people to be generous and giving are volunteers to help out in Leicester city centre and the Highcross. 

"We raised £25,000 in two weeks there and we think we could double that if we get more volunteers." 

The appeal launches on Saturday, October 29. 

On Saturday, November 5, the Leicester Tigers Poppy Match will take place at Welford Road, followed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Festival of Remembrance at Leicester Cathedral that evening. 

The next day, Sunday, November the 6, the Leicester City FC Poppy Match will take place at the King Power Stadium. 

At 11am on November 11, the country will hold a minute's silence to mark the moment the major hostilities of the First World War ended. 

Remembrance Sunday is on November 13. 

To find out more about volunteering, e-mail: jleach@britishlegion.org.uk

TEMPLE OPENS AFTER DEITIES CONSECRATED

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Temple opens after deities consecrated 

The public can take a look round a new Hindu temple this weekend.
Baps Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, at the corner of Catherine Street and Gypsy Lane, in Belgrave, Leicester, opens its doors from 1pm to 7pm tomorrow. 

The temple will be one of the biggest in the Midlands and cost £1 million to build. 

There was due to be a procession of Hindu deities through the city centre today to celebrate the opening. 

The deities will be consecrated in ceremonies tomorrow, after which the building will become a mandir.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,819)

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

1. United States 859
2. United Kingdom 520
3. Russia 154
4. France 93
5. Ukraine 37
6. Germany 36
7. Netherlands 36
8. Brazil 34
9. Ireland 28
10. Hong Kong 22

This week's total: 1,819 (last week's: 3,080). 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.

While this number is a bit of a drop from last week's all-time record, it's not so bad for a week in which I posted only one entry (and that was an article from the Leicester Mercury). I have a lot of back-filling to do as this was actually a pretty busy and fruitful week!

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.

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!

PHILOSOPHY PANEL AT ST PAUL’S CATHOLIC SCHOOL

To St Paul's Catholic School, Spencefield Lane, Evington, this morning, where I'm facilitating a "Philosophy Panel" for Year 9 pupils. This is the second year that the school has approached Leicester Council of Faiths to put together the panel. It’s very gratifying to be asked back, almost a year to the day.

At 1100, Seamus O'Looskan, the School Chaplain, meets our party of seven (including me) at reception. The people taking part today are:

• Alastair Ballentyne (Leicester Bahá'ís)
• Dr Allan Hayes (Leicester Secular Society)
• Dr Samuel Lebens (Leicester Hebrew Congregation)
• Kartar Singh (Leicester Sikhs)
• Prof. Martin Stern (Leicester Hebrew Congregation)
• Jim Strupish (Zen Serene Reflection Group)

After a cup of tea and a brief description of what’s going on today, we're taken into the assembly hall to meet the pupils. They’re spaced out around the hall, eight or so pupils per group. There's a seat for each of the representatives, facing the group. Each speaker spends ten minutes or so answering the group's questions, then a bell is rung and they move on to the next group (Martin and Samuel go round together). This whole process is done twice, although second time round we don't quite complete the circuit. This activity is being offered to the pupils as something additional to the curriculum, which gives them greater freedom to ask what they want, rather than just stick to topics on which they'll be examined.

This is a completely different group of participants from the one we put up last year (apart from myself).  Last year, I stood on the sidelines, just in case any of the speakers want to bow out at any time, so I could step in and take their place, but that didn't happen. I was able to speak to several teachers then, so the time was well used - but I insisted that were I to come back with the other representatives, I wanted to speak to the pupils. So I try to respond to their questions with an inter faith perspective. Among the questions the pupils ask me are ones such as: "Have you ever experienced a miracle?"; "What do you believe happens after you die?"; "When was the last time you communicated with God?" and "What is a cult?"

Both sessions with the panel conclude with the recitation of the school prayer, is taken from Micah, 6:

This is what the Lord asks of you: to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.

RABBI'S SADNESS AS SYNAGOGUE IS PUT UP FOR SALE

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Rabbi's sadness as synagogue is put up for sale 

A Jewish community has reluctantly put its city centre synagogue up for sale. 

The Highfields Street home of Leicester's orthodox Hebrew community was put on the market after the dwindling numbers of worshippers meant less money for the building's upkeep. 

Rabbi Shmuli Pink, who leads a small congregation in prayer four times a week, said the sale was needed to ensure the future of Leicester's Jewish residents. 

He said: "It's sad to part with the synagogue, but it's the people which make the community, not the building. 

"We've had to re-evaluate and plan for the future. 

"The reason for the sale is the changing demographic and the building is just too big for us at the minute. 

"Young Jewish men and women are gravitating towards places like London and Manchester, and away from Leicester, and there aren't enough new members coming in to fill the deficit." 

There are about 600 orthodox Jews in Leicestershire. At its height, the community numbered in the thousands after many refugees came to the city after the Second World War. However, the community soon went into decline and now just a handful regularly attend the synagogue. 

They are now looking for a place of worship in Oadby. 

Rabbi Pink said: "To be honest a move has been on the cards for about 40 years. 

"But it's only now that it's got to the stage where we're actually looking at selling. 

"We're looking for another community who can use the building for worship. It's beautifully refurbished and a tremendous opportunity." 

Rabbi Pink, who has been in charge at the synagogue for 10 years, hopes the building's future owners will also buy the nearby community centre, which stands just a few yards away, in Tichbourne Street. 

So far six people, including representatives from the Muslim and Sikh communities, have been to visit the listed building and large community venue. The property's agent, Innes England, describes the building as being "suitable for alternative faiths and uses". 

Rabbi Pink said he welcomed interest from members of all faith communities. 

The two storey synagogue, on the market for £275,000, was built in 1898. The community centre was built in 1950. 

It is the only orthodox Jewish synagogue in Leicestershire. 

A separate congregation of progressive Judaism has a place of worship in Avenue Road, in Stoneygate.

HUNDREDS JOIN IN DASHERA CELEBRATIONS

From today's Leicester Mercury:

 

Hundreds join in Dashera celebrations 

Hundreds of people gathered to watch the effigy of an evil king go up in flames to celebrate the Hindu festival of Dashera. 

The burning of the statue of King Ravana was the highlight of the festivities at Cossington Street Recreation ground, in Belgrave, last night. 

The festival celebrates the story of the battle between good Lord Rama and evil King Ravana, and the victory of good over evil. Celebrations included a firework display, music and stage performances. 

Ravi Mattia, 48, from Leicester's West End, who took his family to the event, said: "I think it's important for my sons to learn about the Hindu culture and to be part of it rather than just reading about it and seeing it on TV. It's all about victory over injustice and it's a very jubilant event. 

"It's great to see Leicester has some of the biggest celebrations of Hindu festivals outside India." 

Amanjit Singh, 35, from St Matthews, who attended with wife Parmjit said: "We come every year and enjoy it as do people from other religions.''

In the photo above: Spinney Hill Primary School pupils Anglie Sudra, 10, Eesha Jawa, 9, Anika Jethwa, 6, and Ara Bogalov, 9, before their performance during last night's festivities.

A CHALLENGE TO THE BISHOP

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

A challenge to the Bishop

Of course there is more to life than science can measure – on that I agree with Bishop Tim (First Person, October 1).

However, one might reply that there is more to life than is allowed for in theology.

I would be interested to hear more about his views on life, particularly following his unfortunate remark last May that the atheist position is a tale told by an idiot.

A week ago I took part in a very useful discussion with Paul Butler, Bishop of Nottingham, organised by Nottingham Secular Society.

Leicester Secular Society has a long history of discussions with people of all views – we would be delighted to arrange a similar discussion with Bishop Tim.

There are, in fact, several occasions already set up when we would welcome his contribution.

At the risk of being accused of self-promotion, I mention my talk at 7.30pm next Thursday about Faith, Humanism and the Secular State; he might also consider the talk to be given at 2pm on Saturday, October 15, by the Rev David Paterson, an avowed atheist who is also a practising Anglican priest.

To come back to the topic: He would indeed be dull of soul who did not respond to the evidence of the human capacity for devotion and the demonstration of the need to come together shown in the Treasures of Heaven exhibition concerning religious relics at the British Museum which the bishop refers to.

I understand the comment of the non-believing curator, that the experience of being close to these objects and seeing their effects on visitors had raised many questions for her, and I am not at all surprised to hear that Muslims and Sikhs have visited the exhibition, though I must say that for me a small village church or even a small Neolithic circle of standing stones can convey more.

This may appear as a challenge to the bishop, to some even a presumptuous challenge, but we have to have a better understanding of one another. Otherwise differences can harden and get in the way of the due recognition and co-operation that we need to develop.

We should all be willing to engage in discussions, both believers and non-believers.

Science and religion are both parts of humanity's search for understanding and meaning, for what it is to be human and how we can live life more abundantly together.

An essential part of being human is to engage in this search with goodwill: I invite the bishop to join in this.

Allan Hayes, Leicester

FAITH TRAIL LINKS PLACES OF WORSHIP

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Faith Trail links places of worship

A walking route linking places of worship will be launched on Friday.

The Faith and Place Trail was compiled by archaeology students from the University of Leicester.

It is accompanied by a map that includes all places of worship in the city.

The trail was devised by second year students, with the help of the city's faith groups.

It takes in a selection of the places of faith which can be visited in the course of a few hours.

They include centres of worship for Bahá'í, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism and Sikhism, plus the Secular Hall and world arts gallery at New Walk Museum.

A university spokesman said: "The trail highlights how much there is to discover about Leicester."

University vice-chancellor, Professor Sir Robert Burgess, will be at the launch of the trail at New Walk Museum on Friday.

For details and the map, see: www.le.ac.uk/faithtrail