KEEP POPPIES ON THE CROSS

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Keep poppies on the cross

Replacing the cross that the Royal British Legion poppies are attached to with other religious symbols, in order not to exclude or offend those who belong to another religion (or none), does not make any sense to me.

The poppy is not attached to the cross because the soldiers who died belonged to some sort of Christian cult or club which excludes everyone else.

The soldiers died giving their lives, and their sacrifice is united with the greatest sacrifice in the history of the world, of He who died on the cross.

The poppy united with the cross also shows the great hope that they who gave their lives will one day rise again in glory with He who died and rose again.

Our forebears knew that there is no shape in the universe that can begin to mean the same as the cross, that of ultimate sacrifice and eternal hope.

That is why the red poppy of Flanders has always been united to the cross in memorials of those who have died in battle and I believe it should remain so.

Francisca Martinez, Leicester

BRILLIANT DIWALI!

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Brilliant Diwali!

Thirty thousand people packed the Golden Mile for the Diwali Day celebrations on Tuesday night.

Visitors from all over the world joined families from closer to home in a celebration of the festival of lights, marking, for Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, the triumph of good over evil and the start of a new year.

Belgrave Road was closed to traffic for more than three hours while the street party went ahead.

In Cossington recreation ground, a lively show, featured classical Indian, Bollywood and bhangra dancers.

Sanjay Hadapi, 39, from Mumbai, who is in the UK for a cricket coaching course, said: "It's the first time I have experienced Diwali celebrations in the UK.

"I am amazed by the number of people.

"It is also very big in India where it is a national holiday, but I didn't know something of this size happened outside India."

Friend Bhavin Patel, 34, of Loughborough, said: "It is the most important day of the year.

"It's a time when everyone gets together, has a good time and eats too much food."

Wassila Maafi, of Aylestone, Leicester, said: "I think it's lovely entertainment. I wish they had more of this type of event in Leicester.

"It's a good, entertaining event for the family and it's good to see different cultures being celebrated."

Mahendra Mistry, 52, of Scraptoft Lane, Leicester, said; "It's a new year, new beginnings. It's a brilliant event, you can't move. It's nice to see so many young people here."

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "Leicester has been famous for its Diwali celebrations, which are the largest outside India and which the city council is happy to support."

Police said the night passed without major problems.

Speaking on the day, Chief Inspector Martyn Ball said: "Our estimate is that there are 30,000 people here, but we haven't had to deal with a single incident – it's a fun, family-oriented event and everybody is happy."

The celebrations, which are run by Leicester City Council and Leicester Hindu Festival Council, finished with a spectacular firework display which drew gasps of admiration from the crowds.

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU DISCUSSES FAITH AND RICHARD III DURING LEICESTER UNI VISIT

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu discusses faith and Richard III during Leicester Uni Visit 

Hundreds of people packed into a lecture hall to hear a talk by Desmond Tutu.

Archbishop Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, gave a lecture titled Public Faith in a Secular Age.

Before yesterday's talk, Archbishop Tutu met University of Leicester staff to hear about the search for the remains of Richard III.

The university helped the Richard III Society exhume a skeleton believed to be that of the last Plantagenet king, from Greyfriars car park in New Street, in the city centre, this summer.

Professor Lin Foxhall, head of the university's school of archaeology and ancient history, spoke to Archbishop Tutu about the project.

Professor Foxhall said: "It was an honour to be able to present our work on the project to someone of the stature of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"It was extraordinary to have this opportunity.

"We wanted him to see the work we are doing, not only in researching the past but also with people in the present."

Archbishop Tutu gave his lecture in the Fielding Johnson Building, while a live feed was shown in another lecture hall.

SPIRIT OF DIWALI BURNS BRIGHTLY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Spirit of Diwali burns brightly

From youngsters making decorations to shoppers taking part in a vibrant interactive art installation, thousands of people across Leicestershire celebrated Diwali Day yesterday.

Restaurants in Melton Road were overflowing with revellers, while more than 10,000 people gathered in Cossington Street Recreation Ground for the traditional fireworks display and celebrations last night.

With decorations up in houses across the city and county, thousands of people celebrated the end of the Hindu year by giving gifst at home.

Youngsters at the Kiddycare nursery, in Melton Road, painted rangoli designs – a traditional decorative design used during Hindu festivals – and took part in games.

The children, aged between six weeks and five years, were joined by their mums and dads yesterday morning.

Nadine Farrington, operations manager for the city's four Kiddycare nurseries, said: "It was a lovely day and involved lots of families who took part in games and competitions. We want to wish everyone a happy Diwali."

The festival of lights was also given a modern twist with an interactive art installation using Humberstone Gate's big screen.

Images of people walking past were transformed into dancing balls of light, which were then displayed on the huge television.

Kalpana Bodalia, 46, of Thurmaston, was transfixed by the display.She said: "I really like it because Diwali is all about the festival of light.

"It doesn't matter what culture or religion you are, light is for everyone.

"Everybody is invited and welcomed to get involved with the celebrations."

Mum Teresa Lewis, 42, was also at the screen with her three children.

She said: "It looks really cool and it fits in with Diwali because of the light element."

Restaurants along the Golden Mile were packed throughout the day.

Floyd Rosario, senior supervisor at Feast India, said: "Feast India is generally quite busy anyway, every day is like Christmas. But with Diwali it is even busier."

Ashok Raval, chef and manager at the Khyber Tandoori Restaurant, said: "We get people coming from all over, from places such as Nottingham and Birmingham, who come to Leicester to spend Diwali with their families."

Yesterday evening, more than 10,000 people cheered as fireworks exploded and echoed around Cossington Street Recreation Ground.

The event was organised by the Hindu Festival Council, which has been hosting Diwali celebrations since 1991.

Chairman Maganbhai Patel said: "In the beginning, it wasn't very big, but we have tried to include more people and entertainment and it's grown and grown.

"It's the last day of the Hindu year and is celebrated by millions all over the world.

"Everywhere you go, people will get together and wish each other a happy Diwali – it's just like Christmas."

Leicester's Diwali celebrations, which mark the triumph of good over evil, are among the biggest in the world.

The festival began on November 4, when 35,000 visitors watched a lights switch-on spanning 1km along Melton Road.

As well as the official entertainment at the park last night, scores of other events took place across the city yesterday.

LEICESTER STUDENT'S T-SHIRTS CHALLENGING VIEWS ABOUT MUSLIMS ARE A GLOBAL HIT

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicester student's t-shirts challenging views about Muslims are a global hit

When medical student Umair Khan started making slogan T-shirts to challenge negative views about Muslims, he did not expect more than a few orders in the UK.

But his idea proved so popular it is now a global business, with orders coming in from Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, America, Australia, Canada and across Europe.

The T-shirts have slogans which aim to convey positive messages about Islam, such as "Terrorism Hijacked My Religion", "I'm a Tourist, Not a Terrorist", and "Islam – 0% APR", in reference to the interest-free ideology of Islamic banking.

The demand for the T-shirts has been so great Umair's Design Molvi business, which started as a four-person team in the UK, has opened a second office in Pakistan.

Umair, who is in his final year of a medical degree at the University of Leicester, said he was amazed and pleased at how successful the business had become.

The 23-year-old, who lives in Scraptoft, Leicester, said: "It's such a contemporary topic.

"We are trying to challenge those stereotypes."

Umair, who was born in Pakistan and moved to the UK 11 years ago, said: "When we started, we were just thinking we would sell them in the UK.

"But people started to ask if we could ship to this country, then another and suddenly we were getting orders from all over the world.

"It was a pleasant surprise and very encouraging."

Umair's project was helped with a bursary from Enterprise Inc, which gives students or recent graduates looking to start a business in the East Midlands up to £2,500 in funding and business start-up support.

He is keeping the project in the family, with his brother and co-founder, Ammar, setting up operations in Pakistan and their cousin, Ibrahim, marketing the product.

Volunteers have been brought on board to help with social media and design.

Following the success of the T-shirts, the company has launched a line of hats, bibs and other baby clothes.

Umair said he wanted to add mobile phone covers and accessories within the next year.

Although Umair plans to pursue a career in medicine once he finishes his degree, he said he was keen to keep going with Design Molvi in his own time.

He said: "I am passionate about both. It's just about time management and delegation."

Irene Zempi, a tutor at the University of Leicester's department of criminology, has published research on hate crime towards veiled Muslim women.

She said the T-shirts were an effective way of challenging people's misconceptions.

"Design Molvi is a very innovative way to tackle Islamophobia," she said.

"It is refreshing and encouraging to see students addressing anti-Muslim prejudice in such an intelligent manner.

"This idea is inspiring and, hopefully, it will contribute into dispelling myths surrounding Islam and Muslims."

www.designmolvi.com

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (2,117)

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

1. United States 779
2. United Kingdom 602
3. Russia 281
4. Ireland 83
5. France 82
6. India 67
7. Germany 61
8. Ukraine 59
9. Spain 53
10. Netherlands 52

This week's total: 1,659 (last week: 1,871). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's analytics doesn't show the numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country and they don’t show the cumulative total including those additional countries, which is undoubtedly larger than the number shown above.

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" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.

LEICESTER COUNCIL OF FAITHS AGM 2012

Leicester Council of Faiths holds its Annual General Meeting this evening at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane. These aren't the minutes of the AGM (which I record) but I've reproduced a few things here that are of relevance to me and (I hope) of interest to you, faithful reader.

Before the meeting proper begins, attendees are given a guided tour of the Mandir by Narendra Waghela (which I miss, because I'm laying out the room for the meeting) followed by refreshments (which I don't).

The meeting proper is opened by the Chair, Cllr Manjula Sood, who welcomes attendees, particularly our Patron, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester and his wife Wendy. The Chair asks Bishop Tim to offer an opening prayer.

The Chair singles out former Chairs and honorary life members attending this evening: Fayyaz Ahmad, TV Majoria and Dr Attaullah Siddiqui. She reminds attendees that this is Leicester Council of Faiths' 25^th anniversary year and describes some of the events and activities in Leicester over the past year in which the Council of Faiths has played a part or which have impacted on the organisation and our role in the city. These include changes in the funding landscape; higher profile of far right groups; the visit by HM The Queen to start her Diamond Jubilee in Leicester; the Olympics and Paralympics; public celebration of various faith festivals; active participation in the third national Inter Faith Week.

Bishop Tim gives his keynote speech on the topic, “The Recession and its Effects on Inter-Faith Relations”. His main points are listed below:

• Massive increase in dependence on food banks as practical indicator of effect of recession
• Ever-increasing pressure on those who are dependent on the State
• Poverty is a moral issue, a religious issue, particularly poverty affecting children
• Personal realisation of impact of Welfare Reform Bill in debate in House of Lords
• Media response focuses on why unelected, unrepresentative, privileged bishops should be speaking out on behalf of poor people; questioning the right of the bishops to speak out on this (or any other) issue
• Recession is being used to create conflict and suspicion among and between communities
• Ongoing tension at Thurnby Lodge estate is stoked by connection to national narratives
• “Marketization” of our lives gathering pace (e.g. in services such as education healthcare, and – in more extreme forms – in examples such as paid adoption and fostering, sale of body parts)
• Growing opposition in the public sphere to moral and  spiritual values
• The “floppiness” of our “spiritual muscle” because people of faith have not had to fight for the right, or contend with the prevailing orthodoxy like we have to do today.
• Three points to go on our agenda for attention in the immediate future:

• What are the practical expressions of our shared responsibilities?
• What are our educational responses in terms of creating civic character?
• What is our political (with a small “p”) positioning in relation to local governance? How does Leicester City Council experience Leicester Council of Faiths as a partner, a creative interlocutor in helping our city flourish in these difficult times?

The Chair thanks Bishop Tim for his presentation. He's able to respond to a few questions from the floor before he and Wendy give their apologies and take their leave of the meeting.

David Batchelor, Trustee of Citizen’s Advice Bureaux in Leicester, is given the floor. He has come to the AGM to encourage members of faith communities to assist Citizens’ Advice Bureaux by helping them tap into our networks, so that CABs can more fully reflect the make-up of Leicester today. The Chair thanks David for his presentation. He takes questions from the floor, then gives his apologies and leaves the meeting.

I briefly present my report of activities over the past year, which was included in the AGM papers. I refer members to a fuller version of this report to be found on his blog (where individual entries about most of the activities contained in the report are also posted).

I support the Secretary’s appeal that more members of the Council of Faiths make greater effort to attend meetings, many of which are routine and scheduled well in advance and would benefit from involvement of members from a variety of faith communities. This would free me to do the equality and diversity work, which has not decreased in its demands, despite my post being reduced to part-time from the beginning of October.

This leads to discussion of how to encourage the spirit of participation and sense of collective responsibility among members, to carry on existing work and extend it into new areas. There's a recognised tension of representation versus participation, “faith leaders” versus community workers, the role of paid staff in relation to volunteer members. As increasing opportunities have arisen for members of faith communities to take part in public activities (e.g. the exhibition in Highcross during Inter Faith Week, occasional schools visits, events held by our partners and funders) our members have more often than not been unavailable and representatives of faith communities have had to be recruited from outside our membership. Organisations and agencies with whom we work are often unclear about whether our members are representing the interests of their own faith communities or representing Leicester Council of Faiths itself. It's acknowledged that many of our members themselves may be unclear about this dichotomy. This has implications for our ability to justify continued funding from City Council and applications for future funding from other sources. It was agreed that the Board should make particular efforts to rectify this situation in the year ahead.

Funding has been reduced so that the only source of income is our support from Leicester City Council. This has impacted on the Council of Faiths' ability to retain staff, with both members of staff currently working on reduced hours (and reduced hourly rates). We have been assured that funding from Leicester City Council will continue until the end of 2012. This gives the opportunity to seek alternate and new sources of funding . In the meantime, there are two areas in which fundraising can be consolidated: payment of individual member subscriptions and asking members to approach their own communities (and the organisations within some of them) to ask for donations of at least £100 for the year.

Under Any Other Business, the meeting is reminded of the upcoming Faith in Family seminar (Tuesday 20 November 2012 at Leicester Police HQ, Enderby). This is our latest Open Meeting as well as part of our activity for Inter Faith Week.

Alex Keller informed the meeting of his retirement as representative of Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation. Chair thanked him for his long-standing involvement and valued contributions to the Council of Faiths.

In closing the AGM, the Chair thanks those who have given particular service to the Council of Faiths in the past year, including Officers (Fayyaz Suleman, Vice Chair; Inderjit Gugnani, Secretary; Kehar Singh, Assistant Secretary; Tony Nelson, Treasurer) and staff (Ajay Aggarwal, Co-ordinator;  Your's Truly). She proposes a special vote of thanks to our friends at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir for their hospitality this evening. The meeting thanked the Chair for her services over the past year.

REPORT TO ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2011-12

This report of my activities as Equality and Diversity Officer for Leicester Council of Faiths covers the period 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012. Many of these were done in fulfilment of our obligations to Leicester City Council. Activities for which I was responsible and/or events in which I was principally involved are listed alphabetically below. I have, of course, also supported activities and events such as Holocaust Memorial Day, our two Open Meetings and the Peace Visit. I have included only those activities and events which led to definite discernible outcomes for Leicester Council of Faiths during the period under consideration. Several others, which came to nought or have yet to attain any clear result, have been omitted, for sake of space.

ALL OUR STORIES

Wrote and submitted bid to Heritage Lottery Fund "All Our Stories” funding stream for support to create “Faith in Leicester”, a mixed set of resources (book, exhibition and website) to record and celebrate first 25 years of Leicester Council of Faiths (30 Jul).

CHRISTIANS AWARE: FAITH AWARENESS

The Psalms 12-week course at Christchurch, Clarendon Park – involved in planning as well as delivery (Sep-Dec)

Mindfulness and Wisdom 8-week course at Christchurch, Clarendon Park – involved in planning as well as delivery, in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Zen Meditation Group (Jan-Apr)

EDUCATION

Schools

Ongoing attendance at and involvement with SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education)

Participated in Challenging RE: SACRE’s Religious Education conference for gifted and more able RE students, years 8-11 from 11 city schools, at Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road.

Continuing membership of and support for Global Education LeicesterShire (GELS)

Bushloe High School, Wigston. Ran session on “diversity” for student Community Club (23 May).

St Paul’s Catholic School, Evington. “Philosophy Panel” with Year 9 students. This was the second time I’d been asked to obtain speakers for this event. This year’s panel consisted of a Bahá'í, a Buddhist, a Jew, a Secular Humanist and a Sikh – and me, speaking from a multi-faith perspective (7 Oct).

South Leicestershire Learning Forum, “Time to Shine” Pupil community cohesion conference. Exhibited full display of pop-up banners, ran three workshops on diversity (Oadby Racecourse, 25 May)

Weaver’s Close C of E Primary, Earl Shilton. Participated in Planet Leicester week-long project organised by Leicester Education Business Company (28 Jun).

Colleges

Supported opening of Faith and Reflection Room at Royal National Institute for the Blind College, Loughborough (16 Dec). Also helped write their visitors’ booklet for the room.

Invited to participate in Faith and Belief in Further Education (FBFE) East Midlands Regional Forum (South Leicestershire College, Wigston, 22 May).

Universities

De Montfort University

Invited to participate in DMU Community Fair Street Market (DMU Student Union, 27 Sep).

Derby University

Invited to participate in Practitioner Knowledge Exchange Workshop for Religion and Belief, Discrimination and Equality: A Decade of Change? project (19 Sep).

Leicester University

Invited to participate in Hope and Resilience for Refugees and Asylum Seekers conference (Fielding Johnson Building, 19 Jun).

invited to participate in strategy meeting Leicestershire Observatory / Information Portal (24 Jul).

Supported 20th anniversary of International Chaplaincy by providing exhibition material (Oct 2011).

Mapping Faith and Place Project. Attended launch (New Walk Museum 7 0ct); participated in second seminar (St Phillip’s Church, 16 Jan), third seminar (Leicester Uni, 25 Apr), closing conference (St Martins House, 26 Jul).

Participated in meetings of World Faiths Advisory Group (Gatehouse, Leicester Uni International Chaplaincy Centre, 14 Mar; 15 May)

Invited to participate in conference: Building Shared Heritages: cultural Diversity in Leicester (Fielding Johnson Building, 16 Jun).

Displayed full exhibition at International Students Services Fair (O2 Academy, 25 Sep)

ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE

I was invited to participate in meetings with City Mayor, Leicestershire Police and representatives of other Voluntary and Community Sector organisations in advance of second visit to Leicester by English Defence League in February 2012 (19 Jan). Participated in similar meeting hosted by Federation of Muslim Organisations in Highfields Centre (24 Jan).

FMO RADIO RAMADAN

Presented hour-long programme on how the other member communities on Leicester Council of Faiths approach fasting (13 Aug).

IDAHO DAY

Exhibited for World Day Against Homophobia at marketplace event ( Phoenix Square, 17 May).

INTER FAITH WEEK 2011

The third annual celebration of Inter Faith Week in England, Wales and (for the first time) Northern Ireland was held from Sunday 19 to Saturday 26 November 2011. As this week coincided with the very date, 25 years ago, on which the first meeting of a Council of Faiths in Leicester was held, special efforts were made to link Inter Faith Week with our silver anniversary. We had 10,000 copies of leaflet printed and distributed around the city, especially to places of worship and faith-based community centres. The flier contained a QR Code, which, when scanned using a smartphone, led the viewer directly to a webpage which was frequently updated with activities and events in and around Leicester for Inter Faith Week. Given the auspicious and significant nature of this week in 2011, I’ve devoted considerable attention to it below.

BBC Radio Leicester

John Florance interviewed me about Inter Faith Week and the Council of Faiths’ 25th anniversary on his Sunday morning show (Sun 19 Nov).

I was asked to contribute a 90-second “Thought for the Day” (about Inter Faith Week and the Council of Faiths’ 25th anniversary) on Ben Jackson’s breakfast show (Mon 20 Nov).

Ben Jackson covered Inter Faith Week once more, with interviews recorded at our exhibition (Tue 22 Nov).

Becca Bryers, BBC Radio Leicester producer, recorded an interview with Jo Tallack (Highcross General Manager) and me about the Faith Room (Fri 25 Nov).

Communities of Faith or Belief in Leicester

A series of ten one-hour introductory talks on our eight member communities (plus one on Paganism and one on Secular Humanism) were presented at Leicester Adult Education College. These were held daily (in alphabetical order) at 12 noon and 4 o’clock, two a day, Monday to Friday. This helped consolidate positive working relations with Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service (LASALS) and were held in the Adult Education college at their request.

Faith Film Festival

A series of feature films was shown at Phoenix Square during Inter Faith Week. The programme was the result of extensive consultation, with individuals from our member communities and staff at Phoenix Square. The films shown were as follows: Little Buddha (Sun 20 Nov); A Serious Man (Mon 21 Nov); Life in a Day (Thu 24 Nov); My Name is Khan (Fri 25 Nov); Lourdes (Sat 26 Nov).

Each of these showings was preceded by a specially-made “slate” on screen with the logo of Leicester Council of Faiths, linking that particular film to Inter Faith Week and the Council of Faiths’ 25th anniversary.

The Faith Film Festival was promoted via Phoenix Square’s website (a still from each of the films had the Council of Faiths logo in the bottom right corner) and in their printed monthly programme for November, 30,000 copies of which were published and widely distributed throughout the city, county and beyond.

Faith Room at Highcross

Following several months of assistance, consultation and cooperation (drawing on professional specialist advice from Council of Faiths member Rosemarie Fitton) Highcross dedicated its “Faith Room” at the end of Inter Faith Week. The Faith Room features, on its door, a large laminated version of Leicester Council of Faiths’ logo. Enhanced signage introduced throughout Highcross in 2012, featuring directions to the Faith Room, has demonstrated long-term commitment to this facility for customers, staff and visitors. The Faith Room has proven very popular with users and has attracted virtually no negative reaction from the public. The success of the Faith Room has led Hammerson (the owner and administrator of Highcross) to make it their policy to include such a facility within the plans of any new-build premises and to begin converting rooms in its existing sites.

Favourite Faiths Photo Exhibition

An exhibition of 16 photographs, two for each of our member faith communities, was put on at the recently opened Leicester People’s Photographic Gallery in Belvoir Street (what was previously the Central Lending Library). Due to a technical error at the digital printers, we ended up with two almost complete sets of these prints; consequently we were able to display a second set of the pictures as part of our exhibition at Highcross. This exhibition stayed on display at Leicester People’s Photographic Gallery for nine months, until August 2012.

Highcross exhibition

For the third year running, Highcross offered us space to display our exhibition during Inter Faith Week. This was in an area of the mall different from the one given to us in 2009 and 2010: a much more prominent and popular one, at the foot of the escalators, near the rest rooms. We were able to put more material on show (including two pop-up banners provided by Leicester University’s Mapping Faith and Place project). Once again, Highcross management assured us that footfall for the exhibition in this busy week during the Christmas shopping period, was over 250,000.

Inter Faith Network for UK

Our activities for Inter Faith Week in Leicester were listed on various platforms hosted and promoted by the Inter Faith Network for the UK, including an online Google Map and the Twitter account dedicated to the week (#IFWeek). This would have brought our activities to the attention of a greatly expanded national audience. Photographs from our Highcross exhibition were included in the Inter Faith Network for the UK’s report on Inter Faith Week, published online as a PDF.

Jon Ashworth MP

Jon’s office informed me that he wanted to visit the exhibition in Highcross and asked me to organise an hour-long meeting with representatives of our member faith communities. This was arranged for the afternoon of Friday 25 November, when Jon was able to meet with Bahá'í, Christian, and Sikh members of the Board of Directors. The week after this meeting, Jon was able to mention Leicester Council of Faiths and Inter Faith Week during a speech in the chamber of the House of Commons.

Kohinoor Radio

I was interviewed by Inderjit Gugnani (Secretary, Leicester Council of Faiths) on Kohinoor Radio about Inter Faith Week and Leicester Council of Faiths’ 25th anniversary. The feature was conducted mostly in Punjabi – with Inderjit translating, of course. (18 Nov).

Leicester City Council

Our activities for Inter Faith Week (and our 25th anniversary) were publicised on the news website of Leicester City Council.

Handwritten invitations (on our “We have faith in Leicester” greetings cards) were given in at Town Hall for the City Mayor and all members of the Cabinet to visit our exhibition in Highcross. Cllr Ted Cassidy took up the invitation (Fri 25 Nov). Cllrs Sundip Meghani and Barbara Potter also visited the exhibition in Highcross (Fri 25 Nov).

Leicester Mercury

The Leicester Mercury reported on Inter Faith Week and the Council of Faiths’ 25th anniversary in a brief article entitled, “Celebrating diversity of religions” in both printed version and on the paper’s website (Tue 21 Nov).

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust

Launch of NHS Multifaith Staff Resource in three lunchtime meetings on consecutive days in the Brandon Unit, Glenfield Hospital. (Tue 22 Nov), Mansion House, Glenfield Hospital (Wed 23 Nov) and at Leicester General (Thu 24 Nov).

Pukkar News

At the start of Inter Faith Week, we were contacted by Pukaar News, who wanted to do a feature about the council of Faiths’ 25th anniversary. I was asked to set up relevant interviews at appropriate venues. Interviews were conducted with Manjula Sood (Chair, Leicester Council of Faiths) at Town Hall, Fayyaz Suleman (Vice-Chair, Leicester Council of Faiths) and me at the Highcross exhibition Thursday 24 November. They also filmed contributions with members of the public and with former member of the Council of Faiths, Manzoor Mogal. The resulting feature was posted online (Sat 26 Nov). It could best be described as a mixed bag. There was some brief discussion about whether there should be an official response to the content and tone of the article, but it was decided to let it lie. After all, in the words of Oscar Wilde,“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

Speedfaithing

This short activity for young journalism students took place at our Highcross exhibition (Thu 24 Nov). This was a follow-up to the event at Phoenix Square for the same group of young people that took place during Leicester Speaks a month or so before.

Together at Beauchamp College

I was involved in the planning of this event, which took place on the first day of Inter Faith Week (Sun 19 Nov) but due to problems with the volunteer rota at the Highcross exhibition, was able to do little more than deliver our exhibition material to the college then head back to Highcross to cover for some volunteers who had failed to turn up.

International Day Against Hate Crime

Exhibited at marketplace event (Phoenix Square, 28 Oct).

LEICESTER FRIENDS OF OXFORD CENTRE FOR HINDU STUDIES

I joined the Holi Yatra Walk, visiting all 17 Hindu Mandirs in Leicester on foot in one day (I gave up at number 10 though!)

LEICESTER SPEAKS

For the second year running, I was asked to be Co-chair of Leicester Speaks (aka Local Democracy Week) along with John Coster, Editor of Citizens’ eye Community News Agency. . This mainly involved co-compering the Big Launch, a major all-day public event in Humberstone Gate (10 Oct). Leicester Council of Faiths was directly involved in only one activity for Leicester Speaks this year: a “Speedfaithing” event for young citizen journalists at Phoenix Square.

LEICESTERSHIRE PARTNERSHIP NHS TRUST

NHS Staff Multifaith Resource

Following a year and more of consultation among the eight members of Leicester Council of Faiths and a variety of other communities of religion or belief (Humanist, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormon, Pagan, Rastafarian, Spiritualist), Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust published a Staff Multifaith Resource. This pack provides the following information in the same order, for each of the communities of religion or belief included: Introduction and local information; Mode of greeting; Birth; Examination of patient; Particular sensitivities; Washing, ablutions and personal hygiene; Modesty and dress; Special dietary requirements; Fasting; Family planning; Abortion; Care in serious (or final stages of) illness; Blood transfusion / transplants; Organ donation; Spiritual advisor / counsellor; Death; Religious symbols; Post mortem; Burial / cremation; General considerations for community nurses visiting patients at home. Shortly before the end of 2011, a programme of induction began for ward staff in the city, county and Rutland and for Community Teams in the same areas and for the Trust’s Spiritual and Pastoral Care Team. This induction programme was delivered alongside Abida Hussain, the Trust’s Equalities and Human Rights Officer.

Faith Community Health Ambassadors

Around 30 short video interviews have been conducted with individuals from a variety of backgrounds of religion or belief for use in training of staff with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. In these videos, subjects answer questions about how their religion or belief impact on their health and how they access healthcare services.

I was also asked to participate in grading the Trust’s Equality Delivery System (Peepul Centre, 27 Feb) and in coordinating the Council of Faiths’ response to an Impact Briefing regarding the proposed closure of the children’s heart unit at Glenfield Hospital (Lakeside, Grove Park, 28 May).

LEICESTERSHIRE POLICE

I was asked to help organise a meeting at which representatives of faith communities could meet to discuss setting the Force’s Religion or Belief Equality Objectives (Centre Project, Alfred Place, 18 Apr).

OUR LEICESTER DAY

We exhibited at the second Our Leicester Day event (Leicester Market, 9 Sep).

PETERBOROUGH INTERFAITH COUNCIL

Arranged visit for (and accompanied) party on coach trip from Peterborough to three faith sites in Leicester (23 Sep).

REGIONAL EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

Since April 2009, the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) had funded virtually half my post (and for a year before that, about the same level of funding came from its predecessor EDP). I worked for Leicester Council of Faiths among three other Leicester-based Voluntary and community Sector organisations, representing different protected Characteristics (as defined in the Equality Act 2010: Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LLGBT) Centre; Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL); and The Race Equality Centre (TREC). Together, our four organisations constituted the Core Partners of REDP. There was a further Core Reference Group, bringing together up to 25 VCS organisations from across the East Midlands. Funding for REDP ended in June 2012 (despite assurances from funders that it would continue for at least another year) and also despite our efforts to obtain alternative sources of funding. This has had a baleful impact on the sustainability of my post as well as the avenues in which I’ve been able to work for Leicester Council of Faiths when it comes to issues of equality and diversity.

I represented REDP at an HIV support event in Mansfield organised by Disability Nottinghamshire (Mansfield, 13 Oct) and at regional meeting of West Lindsey VCS Forum (Gainsborough, 29 Jun).

I helped organise and run regional conference on personalisation at King Power Stadium, Leicester (6 Dec); on the proposed UK Bill of Rights in Derby (22 Mar); and Choice Unlimited (Leicester Tigers, 5 Apr).

I co-presented seminars on “Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights” at Loughborough (18 Jan); Oakham (31 Jan); Mansfield (1 Feb); Boston (8 Feb); Derby (14 Feb); Hartshorne, South Derbyshire (17 Apr).

I represented REDP at national conferences: “Big Society and Equality” (Women’s Resource Centre, London, 30 Jan); “Big Society: the Good, the Bad and the Unequal” (Just West Yorkshire, Bradford, 29 Feb).

SIKH HEALTH

Invited to participate in first national conference on Sikh Mental Health and Wellbeing (Birmingham, 14 Sep).

SOCIAL MEDIA

An active presence has been maintained across a variety of social media platforms:

Equality and Diversity Officer blog has received 175,000 pageviews, and is currently sitting at no. 36 in ebuzzing’s Top Blogs world ranking for blogs on the topic of religion and belief

Facebook page has 210 “likes”

Twitter account @counciloffaiths currently has 975 followers

WEST MIDLANDS FAITHS FORUM

Participated in “ME: My Environment” regional conference (Birmingham, 18 Jul).

BBC RADIO LEICESTER: DAMIEN ST JOHN SHOW

This afternoon I'm on BBC Radio Leicester as a guest of Damien St John. Damien (photo above) hosts a weekly panel show, broadcast live from 1200-1400, discussing news stories from the past seven days. Rather like "Have I Got News For You", but with three panellists instead of four.

I've been on Damien's Saturday afternoon show once before (see blog entry, 14 July 2012).

The other guests today are Joel Hicks (male model and actor) and Ishy Khan Jackson (comedian, compere and laughter coach). None of us know who'll be in the studio until we turn up ten minutes before the show goes on air. I know Ishy, but haven't met Joel before.

The day before the show we each receive an email from Damien (photo above), briefing us on the topics we're most likely to cover:

Hurricane Sandy As the Eastern seaboard of the United States is devastated by severe weather conditions, what will you remember most about the so-called "superstorm"? What would you do if a storm was due to hit Leicester tomorrow? Novem-brr has been wet and windy so far, please complete this sentence- You know it's nearly winter when...

Marriage The number of unmarried parents is increasing in the UK... What impact does this have on children? Does it matter? What marital circumstances did you grow up under? Are there any benefits to marriage?

In a Pickle British brand Branston Pickle has been sold to a Japanese company... Another nail in British industry or can anything good come of it? Are British products still the best quality? Does it matter which country your items come from?

Wax On Wax Off The world's worst waxwork museum could close... Who do people say you look like? Are museums flawed now we have the internet? What do you do that you couldn't do online?

The Ironing Lady One of Margaret Thatcher's ex-bodyguards claims the former PM often tidied up after people and even cleaned up after "messy dogs"... What was the last good deed you did? Do we ever change our opinions of people?

I've Adder Nough The Foreign Office has spent £10k re-stuffing a 20ft snake in William Hague's office... What's the most useless gift you've ever been given? What do you definitely NOT need or want for Christmas?

Song Challenge Drying your clothes indoors can increase the chances of allergies and health problems... Come up with a well-known clothing-related song to play at the end of the show! I recommend "Hole in My Shoe" by Traffic (there's been an awful lot of rain lately) - and I'm glad to say that my choice gets the nod today!

Joel and I are both men, that much is true. But it's safe to say that we're very different examples of the male form. When we come to the looky-likey question, Joel says he is occasionally mistaken for Tom Hardy - who, of course, plays Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. That would definitely make him popular with my son Harry. Damien suggests that it make good radio if Joel and I were to engage in a bout of arm wrestling live on air. I agree, on condition that a sound crew come with me in the ambulance to Leicester General and cover the operation to reattach my arm live on air. I'd say my impromptu response made good radio: how we laughed!

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,659)

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

1. United States 619
2. United Kingdom 517
3. France 141
4. Spain 81
5. Ukraine 81
6. Russia 78
7. China 41
8. Germany 37
9. India 37
10. Poland 27

This week's total: 1,659 (last week: 1,871). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's analytics doesn't show the numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country and they don’t show the cumulative total including those additional countries, which is undoubtedly larger than the number shown above.

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" (i.e. in the last two hours), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time". They're updated each time I look at them.