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The Multi Faith Centre

At the University of Derby

 Press Release

 July 29, 2010

 

 Forum Forges Friendships Between Faiths

 

MPs, makeovers and football matches have all featured in the activities of Derby’s first ever youth inter-faith group.  

 

The Derby Inter-faith Youth Forum was established in September 2009 to bring young people from different backgrounds together to learn about other faiths and cultures through volunteering.

 

Since its foundation, the Forum has attracted over 50 young people from across the city and involved them in a wide range of activities. They ran two football tournaments, held a health and beauty day and took part in social activities, such as bowling trips. The group also received leadership and religious diversity training as part of the project.

 

In March (2010), the Forum visited the Houses of Parliament as part of a London trip aimed at improving young people’s awareness and understanding of politics and governance. The volunteers have also taken on an intergenerational activity within the local community, which will see the group, aged between 16 and 25, carry out activities with older people.  

 

The group showcased their achievements over their first year at the Surtal South Asian Arts Festival on Sunday 25 July, where they hosted a marquee. Given the rich cultural aspect of the festival, and the fact that many of the Forum’s members are of South Asian descent, the event proved the perfect stage for the group’s celebration.

 

The festival provided a great opportunity for the group to share its work, activities and successes with the 5,000 visitors to the event, and to raise awareness about youth volunteering and encourage new volunteers.

 

Members of the Forum also carried out very important research for Surtal and Derby City Council by gathering survey data from visitors to the festival. This information will play a key role in the development of future projects and reflects how the volunteers continue to contribute to culturally significant community work.

 

Dr Phil Henry, Director of the Multi Faith Centre at the University of Derby and facilitator of the Forum, said: “The potential to deliver quality experiences for young people, from which they can develop personal learning and skills through volunteering, is a significant area of interest among faith communities.

 

“There is an untapped capacity of young people from faith backgrounds who should be encouraged to engage in the process, and their contributions should be valued. The Derby Inter-faith Youth Forum is a great way of realising these aims, and the volunteers should be very proud of what they’ve achieved”.

 

The Forum, managed by the Multi Faith Centre, holds monthly core meetings to plan activities and to offer opportunities to discuss and debate faith-related issues. For example, in January 2010 the group held a debate entitled ‘Outing the Ouches’, which tackled the differences between faiths and the potential to offend if difference is not acknowledged or indeed understood.

 

Namiya, one of the volunteers, said of the Forum: “It’s a fantastic idea. I think it’s really great how we can all be together as a group to talk about different things and have fun”.

 

Jasdeep, another Forum member, summed up the ethos of the group when he said: “It’s about bringing people together, and that’s a really good thing”.

 

In addition to the Multi Faith Centre Derby, five other faith-based projects (Shifa Trust, Jewish Volunteering Network, UK Islamic Mission, The Volunteer Centre Network Newham and Passion) are also striving to improve young people's leadership and volunteering skills across the UK. The Multi Faith Centre is the lead on these pilot projects, supported by V, the young people’s volunteer organisation, Capacitybuilders and Volunteering England (VE).

 

Leaders from all the projects are coming together throughout the process in learning workshops and networks, facilitated by Dare to Change. They are also being provided with training and consultancy on Impact Assessment by the Institute for Volunteering Research, which is supporting them to collect and demonstrate evidence of their successes.

 

This work is part of the Modernising Volunteering Workstream, led by Volunteering England and funded by V and Capacitybuilders’ National Support Services programme.

 

For more information please visit www.improvingsupport.org.uk/volunteering and www.multifaithcentre.org

 

 

 

For more information about this Press Release, including requests for photos, please contact Luke Foddy, Project Support Officer, on 01332 591950 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  



Ministers talk Big Society with Faith Leaders PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Adam Kemp   

Ministers talk Big Society with Faith leaders

20 Jul 2010 09:46

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Minister for Decentralisation, Greg Clark, attended a meeting of religious leaders to discuss the ways in which faith communities can get involved in building the Big Society.

Hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the meeting at Lambeth Palace on Friday was an opportunity for the leaders of the main faiths to discuss with government ministers the role of faith groups in helping to strengthen communities.

Mr Pickles said:

"We see the Big Society as a very practical way to put people in control of the decisions that affect them and to encourage everyone to take an active part in civic life.

"For years, faith communities have been quietly making a huge difference day-in and day-out, to every single neighbourhood in the country - something that has not been sufficiently recognised by central Government. Today has been an opportunity to do so and to explore how, in realising our ambitions for a Big Society, we can together build on the huge amount of experience faith groups have in getting out into the community.

"Some see religion as a problem that needs to be solved. The new Government sees it as part of the solution. I want to send an important signal that we value the role of religion and faith in public life. The days of the state trying to suppress Christianity and other faiths are over."

Dr Clark commented:

"Faith communities make a vital contribution to national life: guiding the moral outlook of many, inspiring great numbers of people to public service, providing support to those in need. A 'community of communities', they often have the experience, volunteers and connections that can put them at the heart of their neighbourhood.

"Everyone has a part to play in building the Big Society. The Government's job is to make sure that religious groups and other grass roots organisations have the space in which to get on with their good work, unhindered by the barriers many of them currently negotiate."

Yesterday, the Prime Minister has fleshed out plans for developing the Big Society with the announcement of a Big Society Bank along with four areas - Liverpool, Sutton, Windsor and Maidenhead and the Eden Valley in Cumbria - who will lead the way in building the Big Society.

 
New Staff Member for the MFC PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Adam Kemp   

New Staff Member for the MFC

Luke Foddy joins the MFC team on 1st July as Project Support worker, taking on a part time fixed contract until June 2011. Luke is a Liverpool postgraduate that has skills in project working, and community relations, and the Multi- Faith Centre are delighted to welcome him on board as MFC projects continue to grow.

 
Keeping Faith in the Big Society PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Adam Kemp   

Keeping faith in the Big Society

12 Jul 2010 13:21

Communities Minister Andrew Stunell said that faith groups are making a vital contribution to national life, and are integral to creating the Big Society.

Speaking to a large audience at the annual meeting of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, he told delegates that inter faith activity and faith groups were inspiring people to contribute to public service and providing support to those in need.

Mr Stunell, said:

"Faith communities make a vital contribution to national life, guiding the moral outlook of many, inspiring great numbers of people to public service, providing succour to those in need. They are helping to bind together local communities and improve relations at a time when the siren call of extremism has never been louder.

"Inter faith activity is more important than ever in our work towards the Big Society, so I want to push for more inter faith dialogue and action rather than individual faith groups delivering social projects."

For the greater good

He added:

"People of faith are at the heart of civic society in local communities, and have been for decades.

"Of course there are many different approaches, but there is a shared goal: building understanding between people from different backgrounds - not just sitting round tables but working together for the common good and tackling shared problems - be it picking up litter or challenging the far right.

"It is not about compromising our individual beliefs - indeed we often come to understand and appreciate our own faith more when we are called upon to explain it to one another. But it is about respect for the other, the recognition of shared values and shared needs, and the will to action.

"Interfaith groups are part of what we want to see: people reaching out to each other across boundaries of religion to make life better for all."