TWENTY YEARS OF FAITH COMMUNITIES WORKING TOGETHER

Souvenir Brochure 1986-2006

Anniversary Brochure20th

for Leicester Council of Faiths

LEICESTER COUNCIL OF FAITHSworking for trust and understanding between the faith communities

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Message from Resham Singh Sandhu MBE,

FRSA, BA (Chair)

This 20th Anniversary ofthe Leicester Council ofFaiths allows us all toappreciate what isessentially a fairly recentinvention: practical co-operation and dialoguebetween faith-communities. In thefollowing pages you willbe able to witness thesea-change which hascome over our City ofLeicester. We havemoved away from oldhostilities,

competitiveness and suspicions which have spoiled relationsbetween the faith communities in the past. As communities ofspiritual understanding we are learning to embrace mutualrespect of one another and co-operation in service towards ourcity and its institutions. It is a change which has not only madeLeicester a primary model for other British cities, but has alsoattracted interest in Europe and beyond. Members of theCouncil of Faiths have been invited to Germany, France,Belgium, and Denmark and the good name of Leicester is alsoknown as far afield as Indonesia, India, Africa and the U.S.A, asa result of the enterprise of our members. There is much ofwhich we can be justly pleased as we carry the message ofgood interfaith relations, as these have developed in Leicester,around the world.

It makes me both humble and proud to have had the honour ofchairing such a body since 2000. I thank both my predecessorsand those who have shared with me in recent years the task ofhelping to bring to maturity the achievements recorded in thisbrochure. There are many fine people who have shared theirwisdom and skills in a common purpose. But in truth we are onlyjust beginning. The tragic events of Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo,Gujarat, Iraq, of the 9/11 attacks on America and the LondonUnderground bombing of 7/7 have made their impact even here,and we have had to address local repercussions. Most of thetime, because we have the infrastructure to respond to nationaland international events, and in collaboration with the Bishop ofLeicester’s Religious Leaders’ Group and the Police, any potentialtensions that might have arisen have been dissipated.

I am very grateful for the interest and support shown by somany individuals and institutions in city and county. In today’sworld, the work of learning to understand one another’s faithsmust never cease. Let us hope that the work of the LeicesterCouncil of Faiths over these last twenty years bears more andmore fruit in the future, and that we all – people of faith andpeople of goodwill – can grow together in mutual respect andunderstanding for the benefit of the whole of our society.

I greet you in the Sikh traditional way – Sat Sri Akal (Whoeversays it is blessed: God is Truth.)

Current Members of the Council

Patron: The Bishop of Leicester, Christian

Honorary Life Members:

S Faiyazuddin Ahmad, Muslim

Nathubhai Jagjivan, Hindu

Dr.Ataullah Siddiqui, Muslim

Thakersibhai Morjaria, Hindu

Chair: Resham Singh Sandhu, Sikh

Vice Chair: Minou Cortazzi, Baha’i

Secretary: Dr Angela Jagger, Christian

(also a nominated member)

Assistant Secretary:

Revd Canon Dr Andrew Wingate, Christian

Treasurers: Revd Dr Alan Race,

(also a nominated member) Christian

Malcolm Veall (Welcome Centre), Christian

Representative MembersJanette MacDonald, Baha’i

Dr. Stephen Vickers, Baha’i:

Vacancy, Buddhist

Sr. Sustama Kim, Buddhist

David Mitchell, Christian

Fr. John Lally, Christian

Rory Samuel, (Black-led Churches) Christian

Revd Stuart Jennings, Christian

Ramanbhai Barber, Hindu

Rashmikant Joshi, Hindu

Ramesh Majithia, Hindu

Ramesh Mehta, Jain

Smita Shah, Jain

Rabbi Shmuel Pink, Jewish

Tony Nelson, Jewish

Dr Alex Keller, Jewish

Dilwar Hussain, Muslim

Manzoor Moghal, Muslim

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Muslim

Suleman Nagdi, Muslim

Abdulkarim Gheewala, Muslim

Sewa Singh, Sikh

Lukhvir Kaur, Sikh

Bhupinder Kaur, Sikh

Ramesh Mashru, Swaminarayan

Narendra Waghela, Swaminarayan

Nominated MembersRevd Dr. Prof. Richard BonneyMrs Cynthia BuntenCouncillor Manjula SoodElizabeth WayneSteve WhiteMarcus SolankiM. Yaqub Khan

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Captions from front cover, clockwise. 1) Members and friends in the Lord Mayor’sParlour front: Mary Draycott (Lord Mayor), Resham Singh Sandhu (Chair), MinouContazzi (Vice Chair); behind, left to right: T V Morjaria, David Jennings, Alan Race,Alex Keller, Rashmikant Joshi, Manzoor Moghal, Duncan Cambell, Marcus Solanki,Andrew Wingate, Abdulkarim Gheewala, Mr Chohan, Mahesh Prasher, Roger Blackmore(Leader of the City Council). 2) Interfaith Banner from the Welcome Centre.3) Volunter on Interfaith Gardening Work Camp. 4) Global Ethic Exhibition in the Shires.

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Chair’s Message ..............................................................................2

Messages of Support ......................................................................4

The Changing Face of Faith - Paul Winstone ....................................8

A Short History - Various contributors ..............................................10

Dialogue Work - Andrew Wingate ....................................................15

Other Projects - Various contributors ..............................................17

The Faiths and Regeneration:Tony Nelson, Mel Parkin, Riaz Ravat ..................................................19

Why Religions must reach across divisions - Alan Race ................21

Two Reflections - Michael Ipgrave & David Silk ..............................22

Special Greetings from Chairs and Honorary Life Members ............23

Contents

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Messages of Support

Archbishop of Canterbury

I send my warm congratulations to the LeicesterCouncil of Faiths for 20 years of public service to thepeople of Leicester and Leicestershire.

The work of building good relations between faith communities is vital if weare to promote a stable and cohesive society for all our citizens. With 20 yearsof experience, Leicester’s example shows what can be achieved by people offaith and goodwill in the promotion of mutual understanding and respect

As the world grows closer together daily, the need to nurture common bondsand values, and better understanding, between cultures, ethnicities andreligions cannot be underestimated. May the Leicester Council of Faithscontinue to play its part in helping to shape a world where the values of trust,hope and reconciliation are central to this country’s vision for the future.

Yours sincerely

It is with great delight that I send my greetings to the Leicester Council of Faithson the occasion of their 20th anniversary celebrations. In a world that seems tostruggle to create spaces where people of commitment can learn to respect theirdifferences and work together on common problems without suspicion or fear ofone another, it is commendable that so much has already being achieved.

Over twenty years the Leicester Council of Faiths has been building trust andpartnership between faith communities for the benefit not only of your ownmutual learning but also in service of the wider community. I pray that yourinvaluable work may continue to grow and that the circle of influence yourepresent may widen so that we may build together a community of communitieswhere real hope shapes the concrete possibilities for our shared future.

The Most Reverend Dr. Rowan Williams

The Prime Minister

It seems so long ago, and yet paradoxically but yesterday, that the Councilof Faiths was founded. I find myself profoundly thankful to God for theopportunity to be in at the beginning to catch a vision for the possibilitiesof co-operation between faiths, and one which I was able to realise againas Bishop in Victoria in Australia. In this coming century the one great issuewhich people of all and every religious tradition and community must tackleis the relationship between the world faiths. So my hope and prayer for theLeicester Council of Faiths is that God will continue his blessings on you andyour member communities, and that you will continue to serve the cause ofthat justice and peace which is the only true and lasting foundation ofpeoples and nations.

Bishop David Silk

Patron and Bishop of Leicester

First Chair, Leicester Council of Faiths

Since 1986 when the Leicester Council of Faiths came into being theinterfaith scene in this country has changed significantly. At local levelthere are now around 200 local inter faith organisations spread out acrossthe UK. But Leicester Council of Faiths remains one of the most prominentand has played an invaluable role in sharing its experience and expertisein recent years with new interfaith initiatives as these develop in otherparts of the country. It has therefore made a contribution of considerablesignificance, not only locally but nationally as well, and I have greatpleasure in sending the congratulations of the Inter Faith Network for theUK on this notable anniversary.

Brian Pearce

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As Patron of the Leicester Council of Faiths, it gives me great pleasure tocommend its work to you. This brochure highlights the very important place offaith in our communities which is once again becoming recognised and valuedat a local, regional and national level. People of faith are at the heart of thecommunities throughout our city and county, and we have found through ourjourneying together that when faith communities work together, then thewhole of civil society is strengthened. I am grateful to all those who haveworked hard over these past twenty years to build up the good relationshipswe now enjoy. I wish the Council and the faith communities it representsincreased success in the future.

Tim Stevens

Director, Inter Faith Network for the UK

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Leicestershire Constabulary has worked hard to build relationships with the different ethnicand faith communities in Leicester. We value their support given through the LeicesterCouncil of Faiths and its allied body, the Bishop’s Religious Leaders’ Group. We assist atvarious public religious events involving street processions, which are invariably peaceful andenjoyable. The faith communities stand for good order and responsible attitudes, and wehope to continue working with them together. On behalf of the Leicestershire Constabulary,we wish you well on this 20th Anniversary.

Matt Baggott, Chief Constable

We are delighted to celebrate with you the 20th Anniversary of the Council of Faiths.You represent the religious diversity of Leicester in a special way, and contributeconsiderably to the good relations between the faiths and different ethnic groups inthe city.

We are pleased with the work in which you have shared to enhance the social cohesion ofthe city and to forward understanding between the different faiths. The overcoming ofreligious and racial tensions would be that much more difficult without the existence ofthe LCoF.

We are especially pleased with the contributions of several of your members andassociates towards the provision of faith-sensitive treatment of patients in the NationalHealth Service, as well as the faith input into Medical Ethics. We are aware of thesocial capital which exists within the faith communities for the good of the city, countyand country.

Our own work in improving community relations and serving the needs of individuals andminority groups in the city is helped by your evidently collaborative stance.

We wish you well in your future work.

Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt, Rt Hon Sir Peter Soulsby and Rt Hon Keith Vaz, MPs for Leicester

The 20th Anniversary celebration of the Leicester Council of Faiths is a suitable marker tohighlight the richness of the many faith communities in our city, which touches the lives ofmore than three-quarters of the population. I am proud of the initiative of my predecessorJanet Setchfield in convening the leaders of the faith communities, which led to theestablishment of The Council of Faiths. It has born much fruit to enable people of faith tomeet each other.

You have begun the process of developing trust and understanding so necessary in ourcontemporary climate, where inter religious conflicts in other parts of the world have the capacityto enflame people’s passions and provoke violent responses. Thanks to the model of interfaithrelationships which we are developing in our City; it is possible to offset potential crises and tobuild new relations in which the faiths are discovering how much they have in common.

I wish the Council every success in its future work.

The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Mary Draycott

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I am delighted to send my best wishes to the Leicester Council of Faiths on this20th Anniversary.

Twenty years is a relatively short time, but the Council of Faiths has shown hownecessary it is for the kaleidoscope of faiths in Leicester to have a point of reference,and an example to remind us all that no-one has a monopoly of faith. As LordLieutenant I have seen how the relationships established between the different faithsof our County and City are admired and envied by many. The desire to understandeach other’s faiths and live together in peace makes Leicestershire a special place.

Best wishes too for your future work.

Lady Gretton, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire

On behalf of the University of Leicester, I congratulate the Council of Faiths oncelebrating its 20th Anniversary. The University, through the Students' Union,makes provision for the various faith communities to meet, and supports theChaplaincy in its service to people of different faiths. We have just established anInstitute of Community Cohesion jointly with Warwick, Coventry and DeMontfort Universities, which partly relies on the good relations between thefaiths modelled by the LCoF and consults with several of your members. May youcontinue to play an important part in shaping the future direction of interfaithrelations in the 21st century.

Professor Bob Burgess, Vice Chancellor of the University of Leicester

On behalf of De Montfort University, I congratulate the Council of Faiths oncelebrating its 20th Anniversary. Our University helps the various faithcommunities to meet on its premises, and supports the Chaplaincy in its servicesto people of different faiths. With the help of Ted Cantle, we have just establishedan Institute of Community Cohesion jointly with the Universities of Warwick andCoventry and Leicester. We have been glad to have the advice of several of yourmembers. I hope you will continue to enable and stimulate the shape of interfaithrelations in the 21st century.

Philip Tasker, Vice Chancellor of De Montfort University

On behalf of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust I am pleased to join you inthe celebration of the founding of the Leicester Council of Faiths 20 years ago.

Every day we have over 2,500 in-patients at our hospitals, all of whom need notonly expert clinical care, but also, together with their families and friends, thesupport and understanding which are given by the Chaplaincy teams. These teamsreflect the religious diversity present in Leicester, as do the prayer rooms andchapels in the hospitals. We are grateful for the help which several of yourmembers and associates have given us in dealing with religious sensitivities in thecare of patients and their relatives, who often go through great stress and anxiety.

We wish you well in your future work.

Philip Hammersley, Chair of University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust

The Changing Face of Faith in

Leicester - since the 1970s Paul Winstone

In the last thirty years we have seenin Leicester the re-emergence of theimportance of the religious voice ofconviction and the rise of "FaithCommunities" as a powerful conceptthat is recognised by both local andnational Government. It is hard forus now to estimate the dominantinfluence of secularism on the mindsof policy makers in the 1970s.

Under the surface however things werechanging. Between 1968 and 1975 theethnic minority community in Leicestergrew from 5% to 25% according tothe Survey of Leicester, carried out intwo volumes by Leicester City Counciland other Authorities in 1982. Leicesterinherited a commercial class from EastAfrica that brought their strong Hindu,Sikh and Muslim beliefs with them. Amassive demand for places of worshipwas created as well as curiosity aboutthe beliefs and festivals of relativelyunknown religions in Britain. Newwords appeared that we are now sofamiliar with - "Eid","Vaisakhi","Diwali".The Race Relations industry at this timewas summarised as "samosas, saris andsteel bands", with no mention of faithat all. Academics spoke of "race" and"class" as the key terms. It was all soblack and white!

The real change for policy makersbegan in the mid 1980s with theemerging view that faithcommunities could benefitregeneration in cities, as well as thegrowth of interest in Islam, clearly areligion and not an ethnic group.Issues such as the "greening" ofplaces of worship, often unsuitableVictorian schools and factories,beautiful on the inside but drab onthe outside, were enthusiasticallyembraced. Peace vigils were jointlyheld for South Africa and theformer Yugoslavia, with bothSerbian and Bosnian supporterslistening to Hindu music on SpinneyHill Park.

In the 1980s, Diwali in particularbecame a huge event, supported bythe City Council and many nonHindus. This classic triumph of Goodover Evil resonated with manyChristian people, with its candleslighting the dark. This led to thesaying: "in Leicester Christmas beginsin October," that is, with Diwali. City

Council support for Chanukah andthe Eastern Christmas seemed tocomplete the acceptance by the cityof a new multi faith year of rituals. Itis no accident that Christian visibilityon the streets at Easter and Christmashas also risen, along with vastprocessions for Hindu Gurus and Sikhevents in the 1990s.

In this period the Local Authority hasfinancially supported the LeicesterCouncil of Faiths, working with it ona wide range of issues, includingregeneration; with the Muslim BurialCouncil on funeral service deliveryand with the Hindu community on awhole range of issues includingcremation, water death rituals andpark management. Over this period

Guru Oza with Head Teacher Steve White atRushey Mead School.

Paul Winstone, Policy Officer in the LeicesterCity Council’s Chief Executive’s Office.

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the general public has becomeincreasingly curious about non-Christian faiths. Programmes suchAsaf Hussain’s "Multicultural Mosaic"at Vaughan College have been hugelysuccessful in introducing thousandsto the physical experience of aMosque, Synagogue, Gurdwara andHindu Temple.

Through the Education Department’sStanding Advisory Committee forReligious Education (SACRE), MultiFaith Curricula have taught ageneration or two of our children tobe aware of the basics of eachothers’ religions, a knowledge thatwould have been impossible in myschool childhood in the 1950s. LCoFmember Elizabeth Wayne has beenone of the main shapers of the REcurriculum for the Leicester cityschools through the SACRE. Anothercreative personality in the world ofeducation is Steve White, formerHead of Rushey Mead School, whohas made a significant contributionto the LCoF and other social cohesioninitiatives in the city.

During the last thirty years the CityCouncil has become increasinglyaware of the value of partnershipwith Faith Communities. It adoptedan initial policy on faith matters inthe early 1990s which led to thecreation of the post for a FaithsPolicy Officer, first held by AngelaBerryman and then in part by

myself. Many Departments haveforged their own links with FaithCommunities - exploring diet,language and culture - particularlyin the treatment of older people andchildren. Women-only swimmingwas introduced in our LeisureCentres and attempts made torespect religious holy days, clothingimperatives and issues such asprayer rooms and dealing with anti-religious hate crime.

As a secular authority, Leicester CityCouncil is aware of the views ofsecular humanist opinion and thedebate over faith-based schools. Thiscan lead to some difficulties that arenot yet resolved. Overall however we

have learnt to work well in partnershipwith all faiths supporting a number ofprojects under our CommunityCohesion Fund including a InterCultural Leadership School andsupport for interfaith dialogue. TheAuthority’s relationship with faithcommunities is recognised byGovernment as one of the best inBritain. There is a balance herebetween the Secular Power andSpiritual Powers that has beenfacilitated, in no small way, by theDiocese of Leicester, by Bishops Tomand Tim, and by many individuals inthe churches. Outstanding Councillorswho are people of faith, such asCouncillor Manjula Sood, have alsoplayed a part in this process. The smallbut vibrant Jewish Community hasalso played a disproportionate role inworking for tolerance and making ourcity Holocaust Memorial eventsoutstanding. The work of ProfessorAubrey Newman on Holocaust Studiesis outstanding and unmatched.

Over thirty years the faithcommunities have reached a level ofsophistication in their relationships,such that their partnership withgovernment in Leicester is not indoubt, even if new challenges causetensions from time to time. Only onetrend is clear, our religious and faithcomplexity will continue to deepenand demand study and dialogue. Thefuture looks very exciting indeed. Una Road Buddhist HouseUna Road Buddhist House

TV Morjaria serving foodin the East-West Centre.TV Morjaria serving foodin the East-West Centre.

A Short History of the

Leicester Council of Faiths

Memories from the

beginning David Silk (first Chair)

In 1983 a letter arrived on my deskfrom the Archbishop of Canterbury.He was stumped by a letter from thepuzzled father of a girl who hadbecome involved in a Hindu religiousgroup and was proposing to marryone of the members. Did I have anyadvice? I realised that, to my shame,although I had been Archdeacon ofLeicester for the best part of threeyears, I had never really addressedthe issue of interfaith relations.

Then Mrs Indira Gandhi wasassassinated. There was acommemorative event at the DeMontfort Hall, and all were invited. Iconsulted Father Michael Walls ofSaint Saviour’s Church and the RevdMartin Forward who was serving as aMethodist minister at Wesley Halland was the national advisor oninterfaith matters. Their advice wasthat a senior churchman shouldattend, and that he should take asignificant body with him. A groupof clergy was rounded up, a coupleof nuns and a number of lay folk,

and we turned up in force withoutknowing what would happen.

For me the most moving momentwas when two members of the Sikhcommunity addressed the gathering,shared their distress, and were heardwith gentle courtesy. I made a fewstumbling remarks about how wehad come to share the sorrow of theHindu community, stood alongsidethem in their grief and perplexity andshared their struggle in the searchfor meaning and the desire forforgiveness and reconciliation.

It was clear to me that Leicesterneeded a simple instrument to serveas a forum for the faith-leaders tomeet, to talk together as equals andto become friends. We should be ableto pick up the ‘phone and say, “GoodMorning, David/Nathubhai/Minou, Ihave a problem: can you tell me...?”or “Can I come round?”

I explained this to Bishop Richard Ruttwho pledged his full support. We werenot exactly beginning from scratchbecause, before our time, others,including Canon Dick Wootton, hadlaid foundations of personal contactand trust. So it was with confidencethat in 1986 I approached JanetSetchfield, at that time Lord Mayor and

Jewish by religion, who agreed to hostan opening gathering and reception.At this gathering it was decided toform a steering committee to launch aCouncil of Faiths. By November 1986 aformal constitution was approved andoffice bearers were elected. Leaders ofthe Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim andSikh communities were present and itpassed off well. So Janet and Iconcluded that a further meetingshould be called – this time to be morethan nice – we should begin to talkbusiness.

And so the Council was born. MichaelWalls threw himself into the work andwe formed a committee. It wasagreed that that neither syncretismnor proselytisation would bepermitted. Instead, we began to learnabout one another’s faith traditionsfrom the inside – not with the mindonly but with the heart and soul.Religion for each of us is not just ashopping list of propositions, or evena code of behaviour. Rather, it is apattern of living. I found that I couldattend Friday prayers at AsfordbyStreet Mosque and sit quietly at theback, feel at home and at prayer.Gradually we found ourselvesattending one another’s celebrationsand beginning to feel accepted.

Note: Leicester City’s population (279,921) includes nearly one third ethnic minorities.2001 Census: 36.04% of ethnicity originating outside the UK; 25.7% (72,033) fromIndia; other Asian 2% (5,516); and 1.7% (4,610) of African/Caribbean origin. There is alarge Somali community said to be around 15,000 for which official figures are yet tobe released. These figures do not include communities of Chinese, Poles, Ukrainians,Serbians, Lithuanians, Vietnamese and other minorities as well as well over 5,000overseas students resident in the city for two-thirds of the year. The 2001 census faithstatistics for Leicester City are: Christianity 44.72% (125,187); Islam 11.03% (33,885);Hinduism 14.74 % (41,248); Sikhism 4.2% (11,796); Judaism 0.15% (417); Buddhism0.23% (638); other 0.43% (1,179); no religion 17.42%(48,789); religion not stated7.08%(19,782). All these figures are approximate and remain subject to change.

To respond to the spiritual needs of this city, there are 42 mosques, 6 SikhGurdwaras, 1 Buddhist Vihara (and one in the village of Narborough), 1 Orthodoxand 1 Liberal and Progressive synagogue, 1 Jain temple, around 13 Hindu templesand a very large number of Christian churches of all denominations. There are 243Places of Worship in the City listed in our booklet of that name.

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A few moments stand out in mymind from those days. We had littlecontact with the Hebrewcongregation, although there hadbeen a civic service each year at thesynagogue. And then Tony Nelsonand I met at the Anne FrankExhibition. His membership of theHebrew congregation brought thatcommunity into the Council of Faiths.

As the years went on we moved fromfriendship and shared ethical concernsto explore the implications of a sharedwitness. It is so good that the formatof the commemoration which weworked for on Remembrance Sundayat the War Memorial has continued tobe observed.

The City of Leicester rejoiced at theopening of the Jain Centre. My familywas fortunate in being able toentertain the great Bishop TrevorHuddleston who attended as therepresentative of the Archbishop ofCanterbury. The then Archbishop ofYork visited to speak at a dinner aspart of that celebration.

And then I recall how we managedto draw people together as the citytried to handle the fallout from thepublication of Salman Rushdie’snovel The Satanic Verses. Fr MichaelIpgrave did a superb job at the timewhen we feared the consequences ofthe Hindu-Muslim tension over thedestruction of the mosque atAyodhya. He was on the streets in atrice and we were the only major city

in the UK to be incident-free at thattime. This was a precedent well set:that conflict elsewhere in the worldshould not be allowed to disturbfriendly relations in Leicester.

Leicester and the Council of Faithseach owe a great debt to thosefounders who had a vision andworked hard to realise it: AtaullahSiddiqui, now Director of the MarkfieldInstitute of Higher Education (part ofthe Islamic Foundation, formerly onLondon Road), Nathubhai Jagjivan ofthe Sri Sanatan Mandir, NathubhaiShah of the Jain community, T VMorjaria of the Sri Jalaram PrarthnaMandal, Tony Nelson of the Jewishcommunity, Faiyazuddin Ahmad of theIslamic Foundation, Minou Cortazzi ofthe Baha’is and many others, as wellas the Revd Martin Forward, Fr.Michael Walls, and Fr. Michael Ipgrave.

The very early daysCynthia Bunten

For many yearsbefore 1986 therewas interfaithactivity in the city.Perhaps we shouldstart with theopening of the Leicester OverseasCentre in Blackfriars Hall in WellingtonSt. This came about because the SikhCommunity had bought the HolyCross School buildings in New Walkfor use as a Gurdwara and it seemedsensible to offer the nearby ChurchHall as a meeting place for all thosecommunities that had no premises oftheir own. Opening every Saturday, itoffered a place for discussion ofdifficulties and problems eitherreligious or secular and providedfacilities for table-tennis or five-a-sidefootball for the younger members. Wewould keep a count of the numberfrom other countries which reached apeak of 16 nationalities.

As time went on the discussion areabecame more and more necessary. Iparticularly remember an attempt to“make peace” between the Police

and Communities. We had invitedour guests including some from theBlack People’s Liberation Party andthe Police. All was proceeding welluntil the selected police speakerbegan with “In every community youwill find its black sheep” and all hellbroke loose. I think it was roughly2.00 a.m before we closed the doors.The Chair at that time was YusefChoudary, a young Muslim who did aremarkable job. He eventually wenton to become a city councillor.

In 1973 the Know Your NeighbourCourse began and it was animmediate success. It was led by me,[Cynthia Bunten was then a youthworker in Highfields. She is a RomanCatholic Christian attending HolyCross. I was one of the first membersof the LCoF. The course was availableto all community workers it wasobvious that many of us were indesperate need for information andunderstanding. It was also thebeginning of seeing the possibility fora much more detailed sharing ofreligious belief between the variousfaiths. This was not only coming fromcommunity workers but also from thepolice. It became quite scary towelcome such a mixed group to amosque, temple or gurdwara. Whowould cause upset and chaos bysitting with outstretched legs,unfortunately pointing to Mecca, or apoliceman with a sense of humoursporting a Union Jack as a headcovering, or a group with their backsto the altar or shrine?

I believe that Leicester would neverhave become such a peaceful citywithout the work and determinationof Canon Dick Wootton who wasalways there for everyone and theRevd Derek Sawyer now in the WestIndies who produced yearly concerts,often in the De Montfort Hall, with allcommunities giving their best withdance, music, or singing. The RevdEric Lott, the Minister from WesleyHall, was famous for providing thenecessities of life, and the Revd DavidMorris for housing the homeless.They were indeed the pioneers of thepast who blazed the trail.

Interior of Orthodox SynagogueInterior of Orthodox Synagogue

A Selection of Events The LCoF has heard a great manyspeakers at its meetings. A few standout from the early days. Anne Owers,then associated with the Joint Councilfor the Welfare of Immigrants andnow Inspector of Prisons, spoke on‘Faith and Immigration’.

A particularly significant occasionorganised by the Council was a Dayof Grief and Prayer for Bosnia held onOctober 10 1993 in Spinney Hill Park.This was attended by many peoplefrom across the faiths and wasaddressed by Bishop Tom Butler ofLeicester and Maulana M. ShahidRaza, Imam at the Central Mosque,who were representing the two faithsmost intimately connected with theconflict in Bosnia. Silence was keptand flowers laid on a map of Bosnia.

A collection was made which wenttowards the City Council's LeicesterAid for Bosnia. 2,200 people signed astatement of concern addressed tothe Foreign Secretary.

Each year since it began the LCoFhas taken a lead in the organisationof Holocaust Memorial Day on ornear 27th January. The first such daywas marked with a splendidexhibition of pictures by local artistHarry Walton in the City Rooms,visited by over 500 people. Sincethen the observance has beenmarked by a variety of presentations.

Children from Sparkenhoe Junior School present a drama related to the Holocaust.Children from Sparkenhoe Junior School present a drama related to the Holocaust.

Lisa Vincent, Holocaust Survivor, speakingin Council ChamberLisa Vincent, Holocaust Survivor, speakingin Council Chamber.Lisa Vincent, Holocaust Survivor, speakingin Council Chamber.

Bishop Tom Butler.Bishop Tom Butler.

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Maujula Sood with her ‘Woman of the Year’award.

Elizabeth Wayne Head of R.E. Soar ValleySchool.

Angela Jagger teaches Religious Studies withthe Open University.

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Of importance were initiatives arisingout of an East Midlands RegionalConference held on May 11th 1994at the Grand Hotel in Leicesterchaired by the Bishop of Leicesterand organised by the Inner CitiesReligious Council, a body set up bythe Department of the Environment.Before the conference severalmembers of the LCoF visitedLiverpool to see projects set up in theinner city area by the different faiths.The conference was addressed byTony Baldry, Minister of State at theDepartment of the Environment; andthe new Single Regeneration Budgetfor inner city areas was explained.Following that meeting, dialoguewith the City Council has led to anumber of key developmentsincluding the eventual appointmentby the City Council of a Policy Officerfor Faiths, Angela Berryman.

Public lectures have included, mostsignificantly, one in 1996 by the lateRabbi Hugo Gryn formerly of the WestLondon Synagogue and one in 1998 byFrancis Cardinal Arinze, of the PontificalCouncil for Inter-Religious Dialogue,based in Rome, who was also the chiefRoman Catholic internationalspokesman on interfaith relations.

The LCoF has an ongoing concern foreducation and in 1996 an essaycompetition was held for schoolchildren on the theme of 'Howreligions can work together to make abetter life for us all.' In May 1997 aseminar on the theme of collectiveworship in schools was held at

Leicester University and the opinionsexpressed were fed back into anational consultation which produceda report that was passed on togovernment. The Council supportedthe bringing of the Anne FrankExhibition to the New Walk Museumin Leicester in September that year.

In October 1997 member bodies ofthe LCoF contributed to an exhibitionFaith in Leicester, which was held inconjunction with the NationalReligious Education Festival and the70th Anniversary of the consecrationof Leicester Cathedral. The exhibitionwas opened by the Archbishop ofCanterbury, George Carey, who alsovisited different places of worship.

Another area of particular concernfor the LCoF has been that of health,and it has been instrumental insetting up a Faith and HealthForum, whose first formal meetingwas in 1997, with Dr Rashmi Shuklaof Leicestershire Health and MrFaiyazuddin Ahmad as co-chairs.

The LCoF, as one of the longerestablished Councils of Faith in thecountry, has been a resource to

other interfaith groups and hosteddialogue sessions for representativesof Birmingham Council of Faiths, anInterfaith Forum from Luton and onefrom Middlesborough.Representatives went to Brussels in2002 for a conference Building PluralCommunities, when we also put ourviews before our European MPs MelRead and the late Philip Whitehead.Other work of this nature is detailedin VISITS below (page 17).

In 1997, as a result of a three waypartnership between the Council ofFaiths, Leicester City Council and theBishop St Methodist Church, anAdministrator was appointed with anoffice in Pilgrim House, 10 BishopStreet. Part of his brief has been theplanning and day to day managementof the Welcome Centre in the samepremises which was opened by SirPeter Soulsby on April 12 1999.

The first Administrator was AndrewGoodliffe (1997-2000). He establishedthe Centre under difficultcircumstances with unfinished buildingwork. The present Co-ordinator, TonyStokes has strengthened theadministrative side enormously.

By 1999, the Council had developedin such a way that a qualifiedaccountant was needed to guide usthrough the complications of proper

Tony Stokes, Co-ordinator, holding up thebanner of the faiths, photo Kiyotaka Sato.Tony Stokes, Co-ordinator, holding up thebanner of the faiths, photo Kiyotaka Sato.

Cardinal Arinze.Cardinal Arinze.

ArchbishopCarey at theCathedralExhibition.

Alex Keller at the Exhibition.Alex Keller at the Exhibition.

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reporting. The Revd David Clark, whojoined the Council in 1998, foundMalcolm Veall, who since then hasassisted the Honorary Treasurer, andmanaged the payroll. David had avocation to pray in the city and workfor interfaith relations, while servingas a part time Curate at St James theGreater. He was appointed AssistantSecretary and helped to manage theoffice and the Welcome Centre withthe administrator Andrew Goodliffe,who was followed by Tony Stokes.

Suleman Nagdi formerly Secretaryof the Federation of MuslimOrganisations and now PublicRelations Officer, was one of theenthusiastic supporters ofChristian/Muslim football. Hewrites: ‘Following the footballmatch played between the Clergyand the Imams on the 21st Jan.2006 and its recognition by theHouse of Commons that led to anEarly Day Motion being signed by anumber of MPs, the setting up of asecond football match, with thePolice and the Imams of Leicesterhas been arranged. It is hoped thatthrough events of this natureLeicester will bring about greaterunity and respect for each other.

The complete text of the banner is a version of Hans Küng’s famous dictum. It states -

NO SURVIVAL WITHOUT WORLD PEACE

NO PEACE WITHOUT PEACE BETWEEN AND WITHIN THE RELIGIONS

NO PEACE BETWEEN THE RELIGIONS WITHOUT DIALOGUE

Post 9/11 memorial event at Moat Community College with Minou Cortazzi leading prayer.

In interfaith circles the events of9/11 and 7/7 created a need toshow common solidarity across thefaiths in shock and sadness thatsuch violence could be perpetratedin the name of religion. Thus,religious leaders swiftly agreed tomeet for common prayer outsidethe Town Hall, in commemoration ofthose who died.

Royal Visits have occurred. In 2002,as part of her Golden Jubileecelebrations, the Queen paid a visitto Leicester. Among other places,she visited the Guru NanakGurdwara in Holy Bones, an historicoccasion as it was her first visit to aSikh Gurdwara in Britain. (picturehard copy) This took place at thesame time as the Duke of Edinburghopened the Leicester Cathedral newVisitor Centre. Prince Edward andSophie visited the Jain Centre.

Revd David Clark.Revd David Clark.

Suleman Nagdi with Faiyazuddin Ahmad. The President of the Guru Nanak Gurdwarapresents the Queen with a golden sword.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex at the JainTemple.

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Dialogue, encounter or friendship between people offaith, happens in all kinds of informal ways, as they goabout their daily life and work. However, there is also aplace for groups established with the explicit intentionof furthering mutual understanding. This has happenedwidely in Leicester in recent years, where there havebeen sustained groups across various faiths. Earlier,Ataullah Siddiqui and Revd Gordon Sealy successfullyconvened Muslim/Christian encounters for seven years(1985-1992) with between 10 & 50 participants. Manyof these were sixth formers and students. Thenewergroups are complementary to the much olderCouncil of Faiths, and owe much to the goodrelationships established over the last twenty years. Thefollowing groups are now already established:

• The Muslim-Christian Dialogue Group is based at StPhilip’s Centre. Besides theology and scripture, a rangeof subjects have been tackled such as racism, education,international issues and their effect upon Leicester,asylum questions, mission and conversion, law andorder questions, the Danish cartoons issue. Particularactions have been taken up, including the sharing offasting each year on one of the days of Ramadan. Therehave been several common dinners, when there hasbeen considerable fund raising for common causes,such as the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, and Muslim andChristian projects in Malawi, Bosnia, Palestine, Gujarat.

• The Muslim-Christian Women’s Group has met atthe St Philip’s Centre about every six weeks since2003. The atmosphere is one of fun and friendship,

and the sense of shared spirituality is very strong, asprayers and readings are included as a routine withinmeetings. Personal stories and family events areshared, and barriers broken down, as well as seriousengagement taking place around contentious issues.Support is given to an Asylum Seeker work, as well asthe common work with the other Muslim-ChristianGroup. Members of the group made a presentation atthe World Parliament of the World’s Religions, inBarcelona, in 2004, and have been represented withthe other group, in Brussels and Paris, at Soul ofEurope, and Muslim-Christian Awareness Weekgatherings, where Leicester has been almost the onlyUK participant selected to share our work.

• The Hindu-Christian Forum was established in2002, with the help of the Teape Foundation inCambridge, and meets at various temples andchurches in Leicester, five times a year. It is the onlysuch regular group in the country, and has linksthrough its membership with the National Hindu-Christian Forum. Dialogue around serious topicstakes place, including the meaning behind festivals,the nature of God, the place of icons and images,the use of scriptures, attitudes to the environment,and non-violence. Scriptures are considered,particularly the Gospels and the Gita. Morecontentious issues are also addressed, such asmission and conversion, caste and class,reincarnation and resurrection, where commonagreement is not easily achieved! A highlight wasthe visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2004,when he chose Leicester as the place where hewould engage with the Hindu community.

Richard Atkinson, Chair of St Philip's Centre and Archdeacon ofLeicester with Dr Manazir Ahsan, Director General of the IslamicFoundation, concludes agreement.

Dialogue WorkAndrew Wingate

The Revd Diane Johnson with MrsRabiha Hannan and her children.The Revd Diane Johnson with MrsRabiha Hannan and her children.

• The Family of Abraham Group is a small but importantgroup for the fact that it holds together three faiths -Jewish, Christian and Muslim - who each holdAbraham/Ibrahim important in different ways, who havemuch in common in their history and world views, butwho have so often found themselves at odds. This isfocussed at the present time on what all three faiths seeas the Holy Land. But concentration has been on buildingup a growing understanding of the commonalities anddifferences between our faiths, in their theologies andpractices. We meet alternatively in a synagogue, churchor mosque, which in itself is a learning experience.

• The Hindu-Muslim Group has met when there have beentensions between these two large communities, forexample, at the time of the clashes in Gujarat in 2003.Though it does not meet regularly, it can be called at anytime, because of the trust that difference can be faced andconstructive leadership provided when there are problems.

• Sikh involvement in dialogue. The inclusiveness ofSikhism makes it a natural dialogue partner. There havelong been annual occasions, when other faiths havebeen invited into dialogue with Sikhs, and the presentChair of the Council of Faiths, Resham Sandhu, hasgreatly encouraged this. He has also been encouragingthe establishment of bilateral dialogues, and a start hasbeen made with Jews and with Muslims. Plans arebeing laid for a Sikh-Christian dialogue group.

All these groups could not exist without the hard workand sustained commitment of groups of individualsdeeply committed to the dialogical process throughdifficulties as well as joys. We rely also on KathyMorrison for her administrative help with all of thesegroups. The umbrella support of the Council of Faithsis vital to us all. There is much talk of interfaithdialogue, particularly since 7/7. We can say that inLeicester we actually do it, and that it is, as RowanWilliams puts it, a surprise and a joy, as we discusswhat matters most to us holiness, being at peace, andwhat truly is.

Canon Andrew Wingate’s work in dialogue hasalso given rise to an ambitious project: The StPhilip’s Centre, of which he is the Director. ThisCentre builds on a long history of good interfaithrelations in Leicester. It is a training resourceaffirmed by the Presence and Engagement processof the Church of England (along with a sisterCentre in Bradford), and its trustees now includethe Diocese of Leicester, the Roman Catholic,Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches.It has a partnership agreement with the IslamicFoundation in Markfield and is in discussion withthe Hindu Study Centre in Oxford and the HenryMartyn Institute in Hyderabad, South India. TheCentre was officially opened by the Archbishop ofCanterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, on June 2nd 2006.

Student with Janita Shah (Jain member of LCoF.The Sikh “Five Beloveds” leading the Vaisakhi procession.

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Andrew Wingate and Ibrahim Mogra.

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Other ProjectsOver the years there have been many projects. We give afew examples.

The Photographic ProjectThis provided a CD of Places of Worship in the City for theResource centre of the Education Department. With thedevelopments of the past few years this project needsupdating. A selection of shots from the CD forms a collageon the back of this brochure.

Two Key ConferencesIn August 2001 and July 2003 respectively the Council ofFaiths organised two conferences. The first was on the themeThe Future of Multi-ethnic Britain and explored the ParekhReport of that name, and the second focussed on The Futureof Multi-faith Britain. As one of the foremost diverse cities inthe UK we wanted to promote the advantage of groundingdiscussions of the big picture themes in local realities.

In 2001 we heard about city riots in some northern cities andhow race and faith are not easily distinguished in the popularmind. In 2003 we discussed the end of interfaith innocencein the shadow of 9/11. But mostly our conferences provedthat there is no escaping the task of listening deeply to oneanother. One speaker cited from a lecture given at theEdinburgh Festival of 1999: ‘I may not agree with you, butthe free expression of your ideas allows me to see how thingsmay not be as clear-cut as I had previously thought, I had notthought about it like that before.’ This could so easily be amotto for all dialogue between religions and cultures.

At our conferences we realised that if the faith communitiescannot learn how to approach the problem of living togetherin mutual hope then we will remain part of the problem.Surely this is the challenge facing all of us from now on?

PublicationsThe LCoF publishes the following:

1) An Overview of the Major Faiths in the City of Leicester– An Overview. This document is the basis for a fourhour presentation undertaken by Tony Stokes andothers from the LCoF, which has been much valued bydifferent sectors of the community, such as businessesand Social Services.

2) Places of Worship: a list of over240 places of worship.

3) An occasional Newsletter, entitled TRUST.

4) Multi-ethnic Britain: What Future? Thereport of a conference held in Leicester5-7 August 2001.

Some Visits • In November 1998 a group of seven

members of the Council of Faiths,from five different faith communities, visitedLeicester’s twin city of Strasbourg in Alsace, France, withthe intention of developing the relationship between thetwo cities in the context of a faith perspective.

Hindu-Muslim conversation: Natubhbhai Jagivan, Ramanbhai Barber,Manzoor Mogul. Delegation to Strasbourg.

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The group met a wide variety of people with a faithinterest, including Protestant, Catholic and OrthodoxChristians, Muslims, Jews and Baha’is. A visit was made tothe headquarters of the Protestant Church for a discussionon the relations between Protestants and Muslims. Unlikethe rest of France where state education is in purelysecular schools, Alsace and Lorraine offer distinct provisionin Religious Education for Protestant, Catholic and Jewishchildren and many are hoping that this will be extendedfor the benefit of Muslim children. This situation wasexplained by the teacher responsible for Catholic ReligiousEducation in Strasbourg at a visit to a local school, whilstat a later meeting with a member of the ProtestantFaculty at the University of Strasbourg the group learnedof a campaign to found an Islamic Faculty.

Among places of worship the group visited the mainsynagogue, which had been built when the Jews returnedafter the war, and two mosques, Turkish and Maghrebian.An informal evening was held with the Baha’i community.At each place everyone was made extremely welcome anddiscussions took place on the differing role of the faiths inthe two cities.

• Alan Race and David Clark attended the Parliament ofthe World’s Religions gathering of 6,000 people in CapeTown, South Africa in 1999. There they appreciated thecontribution of the faith communities united in thestruggle for the overthrow of apartheid. The issue ofHIV/AIDS was at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

• Mr Singh Sandhu and Revd David Clark were invited toa conference in Hanover, Germany, to share ideas withGerman faith leaders and provide models for theestablishment of a Council of Faiths there.

• A civic party including the Chair as Lord Mayor’sspiritual adviser visited the Punjab, India.

• From July 2004 to Jan 2005 Council of Faiths members,along with Muslims and Christians from Leicester, made2 day visits to Burnley, Bradford and Manchester, whichare all centres with high Muslim populations and whichhad experienced racial and religious conflict. The aimwas both to share and to learn. In Burnley we wereimpressed with the Building Bridges Interfaith projectwhich worked in schools to break down prejudice, andthe unique Catholic/ Methodist church. In Bradford wewalked round Manningham, the scene of the riots, andsaw how communities are working together, and met avery assertive Muslim woman who hoped to be thefirst woman to serve on the Council of Mosques. InManchester we inspired those who were new toChristian-Muslim dialogue. We met the Muslim LordMayor at the splendid Town Hall, discovered how toput on an interfaith festival, and - the highlight formany - shared in a Zicca ceremony (Dhikr –remembrance of God) in a Sufi Mosque.

• In October 2001 Councillor Manjula Sood and the RevdAlan Race attended a conference on behalf of the LCoFin Glasgow on the Global Ethic Declaration, which hadbeen devised by Hans Küng the celebrated Catholictheologian, for the Parliament of the World’s Religions inChicago in 1993. The conference reflected on balancingthe need for shared values in society with the celebrationof diversity among religions and cultures. The Exhibitionof the Global Ethic was displayed in Leicester’s ShiresShopping Centre for our 2001 conference.

• Several members of the LCoF attended the Parliament ofthe World’s Religions in Barcelona in July 2004. For theyoung people of faith in Leicester it was also a highlightin their Media work. Under the direction of SandraHerbert, young Christians, Hindus and Muslims learnedthe tools of the media trade, journalism andbroadcasting. Armed with cameras, notebooks, recordingequipment and their own enthusiasm, these youngLeicester ambassadors of faith met, mingled, interviewed,photographed and documented this amazing globalevent, both in the majestic setting of the monastic retreatof Montserrat and the bustling city site in Barcelona.

Preparing for Barcelona 2004.

Sandra Herbert (in white) with members of Barcelona 2004youth team.

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They participated in seminars alongside some of theworld’s top religious leaders; they challenged and arguedand raised their concerns that young people of faith feltmarginalized. They got angry when snubbed by somewho didn’t see them as important, but encouraged byothers who saw their potential for bringing abouttolerance and understanding. Often the encounters wereby chance - Georg meeting the famous theologian HansKüng sheltering in the rain, Sumaya bumping into aBuddhist monk outside the Basilica and discoveringfirsthand what his faith meant for world peace, Deepameeting a Wiccan over breakfast. It was truly a once in alifetime experience. The group still meets and inputs intoBBC Radio Leicester's Faith website and aims to expand itslink with local media through a new studio based in thecentre of Leicester.

The International Voluntary Service

Interfaith Gardening Work CampThis is one of the few pieces of work supported by the LCoFwhich is directly for young people. For the past ten years ithas offered a unique experience for 10 internationalvolunteers to make a contribution to the faiths of Leicesterwhile also receiving from these communities. We haveunique contacts with the faiths to enable our volunteers toappreciate how a mutually accepting society might work.

This work camp is sponsored by the Elchanan ElkesAssociation for Inter Community Understanding inpartnership with LCoF and the Educational CharityChristians Aware. Volunteers do practical work: gardeningin the grounds of buildings of worship of different faiths;a Mosque, a Church, a Synagogue, Buddhist and HinduTemples, some painting and decorating. A visit is alsoinvariably arranged to the Holocaust Memorial Centre atLaxton near Newark, where the volunteers often tend thegardens of remembrance, visit the museum and listen to aHolocaust survivor.

The Work Camp has been organised by David Clark of theLCoF, Kim Gordon (former Community Worker andmember of the African-Caribbean community), and SaraElkes with help from Christians Aware.

Faith Regeneration NetworkWhilst the LCoF embraces 8 major faith traditions, theFaith Regeneration Network is much wider. There arecurrently over 250 groups on the database of the FaithRegeneration Officer, Mel Parkin. Tony Nelson from theLeicester Hebrew congregation as elected 2 years ago torepresent these groups on the Leicester Partnership andrecently became one of the Voluntary & CommunitySector’s representatives on the Executive. This period hasseen the creation of Leicester’s Community Strategy (thelong-term vision of where we want Leicester to be in 20years) and the first Local Area Agreement.

Georg interviews Sikh volunteers.

Volunteers at Beth Shalom Holocaust Memorial Centre.

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So, what is Regeneration and how can Faith Groupscontribute? It’s about using Government funding wisely toimprove the quality of life of all Leicester’s people,particularly those in the most deprived neighbourhoods.We need all neighbourhoods to be clean, green and safe.Young people’s educational opportunities need to beimproved as well as healthcare for all, especially the elderly.Opportunities are to be provided for local people andcommunity groups (including faith groups) to have a voicein deciding how money should be spent on public servicesfor their neighbourhoods. Faith groups can have their sayand use their influence at local Area Committee meetings.

Social Action by the Faith

Communities of Leicester

Embracing The Present, Planning The Future, by RiazRavat, formerly Faiths Regeneration Officer.

As the primary multi-faith city in the UK, does anyoneknow how Leicester’s diverse faiths help the well being oflocal communities? The comprehensive report tells you! Itis available from the Welcome Centre.

For the first time we are able to find out about the scaleof this contribution.

This comprehensive report discovered that:

• 240 faith groups across 14 faiths operate in Leicester

• 443 social projects function including support for peoplewith HIV & Aids, assistance for asylum seekers andrefugees, football coaching and childcare provisions

• Faith groups service all parts of the city, with at leasttwo faith organisations in every city ward

• Over half of all faith groups are engaged in socialaction (52%)

Volunteering within the faith communities is extensive. 83%of projects are aided by volunteers, an in-kind contributionof nearly £5 million per year.

Faith groups operate in some of the most disadvantagedareas of Leicester such as Spinney Hills and New Parkswhere they provide ‘social arenas’ where communityactivities can flourish.

They are trusted organisations rooted in local areas, ableto cater for hard to reach groups by offering faith andculturally sensitive environments for their spiritual andsocial needs.

Faith communities face many challenges. Communitiescould be better supported if barriers such as the poor recordof faith groups accessing external funding and the need formore volunteers were removed. Currently only 22% of faith-led projects receive external funding.

Social partners such as criminal justice agencies andhealth service providers need to increase the levels ofpartnership working with faith communities to betterunderstand each other, share resources and launch jointinitiatives to combat social exclusion.

The Leicester Faiths Regeneration Project which issponsored by the Diocese of Leicester, Leicester Councilof Faiths and Voluntary Action Leicester through theNeighbourhood Renewal Unit. All 240 faith groupswere contacted for this research during the second halfof 2003.

The research was enhanced by a good response rate of67%, response rates of over 50% from the four largestfaith communities in Leicester (Christian, Hindu, Islam &Sikh), and responses received from smaller faiths includingBrahma Kumaris, Quakers and Unitarians.

Recommendations include the need for increasedfunding and assistance for faith-led communityprojects; more local inter-faith networks to build on thework of the Leicester Council of Faiths and otherexisting faith partnerships; and faith groups to adoptstructures and working practices that encouragegreater youth and female involvement particularly atcommittee level.

Central government believes firmly that faithcommunities matter. If Leicester is to ‘embrace thepresent and plan its future’ by maintaining its reputationof being an inclusive city, it must pioneer new ways ininter faith relations to set the standards for other citiesthroughout the UK and beyond.

Riaz Ravat with Rashmikant Joshi.Riaz Ravat with Rashmikant Joshi.

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The Faiths Regeneration ProjectMel Parkin – Faiths Regeneration Officer

This project works at a faithcommunity level, as well aswith faith communityleaders, where we exploreways of encouragingpeople to build cohesivepeaceful communities. Webelieve this is importantparticularly at a time whenthere is so muchmisunderstanding,ignorance and fear leadingto violence and intolerance.

Our work involves:

• Faith Exchange visits – discovering the person behindthe faith label.

• Network Events – creating space for communities toshare information, ideas and challenges and go awaywith new knowledge and skills.

• Creating a Young Person’s Council of Faiths – to beestablished before the end of 2006.

• Intercultural & Communication Leadership School (ICLS)- 18-30s attending a 4-day residential learning:

about other faiths

community leadership skills

conflict resolution skills

how to work with the media

Selected verses from The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5,sum up for me what this work is about:

• Blessed are the poor in spirit for there is the kingdomof heaven – the sense of God and the willingness toseek it can be found in most faiths.

• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst forrighteousness, for they shall be satisfied – striving toensure that what is right and true for all is another wayin which we can come together.

• Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be calledsons of God – includes all who make peace betweenpeople, whether as individuals or as communities, andis what faith is all about.

Relations with other faiths does not diminish our ownfaith but strengthens and enhances it when we are securein what we believe.

Why Religions Must Reach

Across Divisions Alan Race

Must religious communities be for ever rivals? Leicester hasgained a high reputation in Britain for being a diverse citythat is managing its relations between religions quite well.Central government departments come here to consult withlocal religious leaders and with the Council of Faiths. So haveinternational research groups. They've been asking why ourinterreligious relations seem quite healthy. It is true that sofar we have escaped the violence that other multifaith cities,such as Bradford or Oldham, have experienced…

When people of different faiths listen to one another openly,they soon learn that truthful religious vision is not the solepossession of any one community. Through trustfulencounter we recover a shared traditional truth. This is therecognition that religious vision can never be grasped fully bylimited human beings. Once we realise this, we are freed tocherish our religious differences as part of a bigger picture ofwhat religion really celebrates. The divine reality is a mystery;human beings have their partial perspectives on it.

Religions are often accused of being part of the problem inmodern cities. But if we learn to value our differences, wemight become part of the solution instead.

An extract from a First Person article written for theLeicester Mercury by the Revd Alan Race prior to the 2003conference entitled “The Future of Multifaith Britain”.

John Lally and Alan Race.

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Two Reflections

I was fortunate to be involved in thedeveloping life and work of LeicesterCouncil of Faiths during the 1990s, atime when Leicester was establishing anational profile as one of the mostreligiously diverse, and inter-religiouslyco-operative, cities in the country. Withthe quiet but steady encouragement ofFaiyazuddin Ahmad as our Chair, wewere able to consolidate an effectivepattern of working relationships withLeicester City Council, and with a rangeof other public and voluntary sectororganisations. As the Council of Faithsfound itself increasingly beingapproached for consultation on civicissues, we became more and moreaware of the need to strengthen ourinfrastructure of organisation andcommunication. This in turn led towhat seemed at times a never-endingseries of negotiations over funding andsupport, so that some of us found anincreasing amount of our time andenergy taken up with negotiations overservice contracts, performanceindicators and the like. All this was tobear fruit, though, in the appointmentof one of the first ever municipallyfunded ‘Faiths Officers’ in the country,and subsequently in the establishmentof a centrally located Welcome Centre.

Looking back on those developmentsten years on, three things strike meas remarkable.

Firstly, the level of trust we hadestablished was such that in ourplanning together for the Council’sfuture we scarcely paused to think ofourselves as belonging to differentfaiths: what we were working fortogether was a common voice forthe city’s faith communities.

Secondly, the progress we made inour partnerships with the CityCouncil and others moved us intoterritory which was uncharted at thetime, but which in retrospect can beseen as pioneering for the future –the ‘faiths agenda’ is now firmly onthe mental map of local and nationalgovernment, ‘faiths officers’ aboundat every level, and public funding forfaith communities and interfaithorganisations is widely available.

Thirdly, and most significantly, despitethe ever-present danger of beingswamped by external pressures, wenever lost our focus on the primarypurpose that had brought ustogether: the growth inunderstanding and respect which wefound in exploring the differences aswell as the common grounds of ourreligious faiths and practices. In theend, as a Christian, I believe that thedepth and durability of the friendshipswe experienced through the Councilof Faiths can only find its explanation

in the good purposes of the God whocalled us together at this remarkabletime in this remarkable city.

The Venerable Michael Ipgrave,Archdeacon of Southwark

It has been said that “within each ofus is a space that only God can fill”.Everyone is in some way in search ofGod, often a restless search,sometimes undertaken unknowingly.We seek answers to the riddles of life:what is the meaning of death, of pain,of suffering? We yearn for a worldwhere there is neither darkness norcold, but where the deepest needsand highest aspirations of the humanheart are wholly satisfied. We stand ontiptoe to reach out to One who, attimes, seems almost within our reach,yet is always beyond our grasp.

Sadly, in our modern secular worldmany have been robbed of a sense ofthe presence of God. There is anabsence of the dimension of depth,transcendence, ultimate meaning,call it what you will.

Yet you have only to visit one of greatmulti-racial, multi-cultural, multi-faithneighbourhoods of Leicester to sensethe atmosphere of the holy mingledwith the everyday: as people travel toand from church, synagogue, mosque,temple or gurdwara for prayer, as theygreet one another in the name of God,as they pray in their homes, as theyregulate their life and that of theircommunity by religious festivals. Theirshops, their clothing, often display thesymbols of their faith.

The good news of one faithcommunity and the story to which itwitnesses, will not be the same asthat of another, but as we share ourstories, our visions of that by whichwe find life and meaning, there willundoubtedly be shared resonances,and the emergence of a commonvision for our nation.

Bishop David Silk

The Ven Michael Ipgrave in the centre with a visiting group to Leicester.

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Over the years the Leicester Council of Faiths has generated a genuine engagement between the faithcommunities and recognised each others’ boundaries and gateways. It has been a beacon of light ofworking together in a world where dogma and diatribes persistently push their boundaries and set theiragendas. The Council has been instrumental for the mutual empowerment of faiths towards theirengagement in public life and joint pursuit of social justice in the city. The partnership that it has built,for example, with the City Council, is an excellent example of faiths working together with the civicbodies for the common good of all citizens. It has been a rewarding experience for me to be associatedwith such a venture and I hope that the LCoF will continue to bear fruit for many generations to come.

Ataullah Siddiqui

I am really happy to congratulate the Leicester Council of Faith on 20th Anniversary. As having the honourof being one of the founder members of Interfaith Network I remember the days in 1987 when we metwith then Lord Mayor Setchfield to form a faith council in Leicester. I remember Ven David Silk and MartinForward who worked hard to start it. It worked and today we are 20 years old with many foundermembers still working with us. Today it has been recognised by the Government and semi governmentdepartments with many other organisations. Today we have good achiever Resham Sandhu as chairmanwho is leading it very nicely.

I wish this council still grow up and try bridge the faiths together. May God bless us. Keep it up.

Nathubhai Jagjivan

As a founder member of Leicester Council of Faiths, I am proud and privileged to congratulate the Councilon its 20th Anniversary. The foundation of LCoF is laid on trust, equality, understanding, tolerance andacceptance of all without distinction of caste, creed or colour. Nature itself has provided and createddiversity in its topography, perhaps in order that our life does not become too monotonous. The Councilhas achieved tremendous success in its twenty years’ history. The pinnacle was achieved when theArchbishop of Canterbury organised a conference in Lambeth Palace to share the secret of success withother religious leaders from the country. The Council has found partners in their advancement andachievement in city council officials, an understanding Press and in the Police Authority. I pray to theAlmighty God to bless all council members and the community at large to stay in harmony and set anexample to the world that religion is a bonding factor and not a divisive factor.

Thakersibhai Morjaria

Special Greetingsfrom Past Chairs & Honorary Life Members:

All human endeavours initiated with sincerity, selflessness, clear vision and integrated team workare destined to succeed. This is the story of LCoF, which is now 20 years old and a vibrantorganisation with the continued input of all faith communities who have made Leicester the mosttalked about and admired multi-faith city of Britain.

There were many who in the early years of LCoF took pains to carry its office in their briefcases and holdthe LCoF meetings around the city at its members’ offices or residences. Now, since the LCoF has attaineda status with the City Council, the Universities, the University Hospital Leicester Trust, the Police, the Fire &Rescue Service, as well as all the local and national government and semi-government bodies, it is time toreflect on our achievements as well as our failings. Thus we can recharge our batteries and take the LCoFto new heights and make it more relevant to the grassroots realities of the faith scene in Leicester.

I can see a very bright future for the LCoF in the coming years, and I am honoured to be one of its old guards.

Syed Faiyazuddin Ahmad

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Tel: 0116 254 6868 • Email: info@leicestercounciloffaiths.org.uk • Web: www.leicestercounciloffaiths.org.uk