19th November 2011
Sharing our Stories, Sharing our Faith
Stories were shared, and craft skills exchanged as people of all ages and faiths came together to enjoy a day of story telling, crafts and performance to mark Inter Faith Week. Stalls from Chiswick Churches and Hounslow Council explained Fair Trade and highlighted what can be done for a more sustainable world. A display of the scriptures of the major world faiths provided interest and questions were answered.
Food reflecting some of the different cultures who live in Hounslow added to the sense of well-being, as did sessions of laughter yoga provided by the Euro Datta Centre based in Brentford.
Children from Muslim, Hindu, and Polish schools performed stories from their traditions while Alexandra Junior School explained about Buddhism. The Heston Goldy Goldy Women’s Group told the Sikh tradition of hospitality and the Dominion Parish of all Nations Church Youth Group gave a contemporary expression of worship through dance. A demonstration of Sikh martial arts provided a dramatic finish.
The event, attended by over 450 people, took place at Hounslow Civic Centre. Councillor Sachin Gupta, spoke of the strength of local communities which had helped Hounslow avoid the damage of the riots earlier this summer. He praised HFOF’s work for understanding between the faiths and pledged that the Council and HFOF would to continue to work together.
The Mayor of Hounslow, Councillor Amrit Mann and Deputy Leader of the Council Ruth Cadbury also attended. A minute’s silence was observed in memory of Feltham MP Alan Keen who was to have addressed the event.
HFOF is most grateful to Hounslow Council Communities Department for their support and to everyone who contributed to the success of the day. Thank you to Los Sandford who took the photos on this page.
A mention on Radio 4!
The BBC Radio 4 Sunday programme on Sunday 20 November had an item on interfaith relations. Focussing on the 70th anniversary of the Council of Christians and Jews it included a short report on our event as a current example of interfaith gatherings.
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| A demonstration of gatka, Sikh martial arts |
Laughter yoga to cheer the spirits |
Archbishop NIcholas who visits Polish children at Christmas |
Chiswick Churches' stand
on Fair Trade and sustainability |
Sewa Day
24th – 25th September 2011
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The work in action - |
high |
and low. |
Three happy workers |
Hounslow Youth Centre sports hall got its first new coat of paint in 30 years this weekend thanks to volunteers from different faiths and others. The centre, in Kingsley Road, is well used for such activities as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, youth and dance groups and the Hounslow PHAB club, which caters for able bodied and physically disabled young people.
Donations of insulation material have made the hall warmer and quieter and redecoration was needed to smarten it up. 50 volunteers came from churches, mosques, gurdwaras, temples, and Sai Baba groups, all working together for Sewa Day. Hounslow Friends of Faith used their links with faith communities to get people involved. Young people from the Youth Offending Service and Community Payback also did their bit.
Councillor Sachin Gupta visited and was impressed with the work of the centre, as was Councillor Bradley Fisher who also looked in and lent a hand. ‘It is good to see the community coming together to help a community project’ he said.
‘Sewa’ means service. The day is a Hindu initiative to get people involved in a hands-on voluntary project which in Hounslow was widened to involve all faiths. Other volunteers were working in Osterley Park.
Lorna Stephens, centre manager, was delighted with the weekend’s work. ‘Thank you to everybody’ she said. ‘It’s amazing how it’s all come together. It’s given the centre the boost it needed to cope in all the cuts.’
Walk of Peace and Friendship
3 July 2011
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In Holy
Trinity Church |
Along Hounslow
High Street |
At the Gurdwara |
Outside the Mosque |
Arriving at the
Brahma Kumaris |
Pilgrims were greeted with song on Sunday when they visited the first of four places of worship in Hounslow. Arriving at Holy Trinity Church in the High Street at the end of the morning service, participants heard about the work and worship of the church in the centre of the town and ideas for the future. Vicar Malcolm Herbert has found Hounslow a place where people of all faiths are very open to talk about spirituality and what is important in their lives.
The Walk proceeded along the High Street, handing out leaflets about the event to anyone interested. There was a question and answer session at the Sikh gurdwara in Alice Way before we were generously offered lunch. Moving on to the Hounslow Jamia Mosque and another warm welcome, we heard about the importance of prayer in Islam. For our final stop we were greeted with flowers at the Brahma Kumaris Centre in Bath Road before ending with a short meditation.
Mayor Councillor Amrit Mann attended with the Mayoress Mrs Simrit Mann, walking some of the way with us.
Meeting of Faith Leaders
23 May 2011
Religion, Relevant or Redundant in the Modern World?
Faith leaders and educationalists hear a challenging address by Martin Palmer, Director of the Alliance for Religion and Conservation
Martin Palmer, the Mayor of Hounslow Councillor Colin Ellar
and some of the audience at the meeting.
Outgoing mayor, Clr Colin Ellar joined Hounslow Friends of Faith (HFOF) for a stimulating discussion on sustaining the earth, on his final day in office. After lunch in the Laxmi Narayan Hindu temple, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and others were inspired to team up with the council to make a significant difference.
The challenge came from Martin Palmer. As director of Alliance of Religions and Conservation he is used to addressing princes and patriarchs; on Monday he was invited by HFOF to a gathering of faith leaders and educationalists from across the borough. ARC is a secular body which helps the world’s faiths develop their own environmental programmes.
We know what we must do to safeguard the future of the planet, he says. “What is missing, is showing the will to change.” The influence of faith groups is vital, he says, because people of faith number at least two-thirds of the world’s population, run half the world’s schools, own eight percent of the world’s land and have huge economic power. “We must ensure our practice reflects our preaching,” he says. Modern society particularly in the developed west tends to see the world in terms only of resources to be exploited. People of faith have different values. They can challenge this and can do it together.
He suggested two goals for HFOF to think about: in partnership with the council, an energy reduction programme for the borough’s places of worship; and a food purchasing centre to live, purchase and eat in an environmentally friendly way.
To listen to Martin Palmer's speech, click the play button below.
Supporting RE in Schools
A training course for volunteers
February – March 2011
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During the spring HFOF ran an innovative training course for representatives from different faiths to prepare them both for going into primary schools to support classroom teachers teaching RE and to welcome visits from school pupils to their places of worship. 13 people completed the course, representing the six main world faiths, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jewry and Sikhism. Apart from the imam of a local mosque, the students were all lay, but active in their own faith communities.
The course covered a brief history of RE in schools in England, the aims of RE, and protocols and good practice for visiting schools as a visitor and welcoming school parties to places of worship. A visit to an unfamiliar place of worship and an observation of an RE lesson in a junior school were considered very valuable.
‘It was very useful experiencing a new place of worship as a visitor, it was brilliant’ said one course member. ‘Clarified the role that we are a resource to the teachers’ reported another. Stress was put that the volunteers were in no way replacing classroom teachers, but acting as ambassadors for their faiths to help bring RE lessons alive.
A booklet has been prepared and printed, giving the contact details for the participants and listing the main places of worship for different faiths in the borough. It is being sent to the RE Coordinators for all primary schools in the London Borough of Hounslow.
The project was funded through the Faiths in Action programme administered by the Community Development Foundation for the department for Communities and Local Government. HFOF plans to keep in touch with the volunteers to monitor the success of the project.
Contact us if you would like more information.