Hounslow Friends of Faith members joined students and other guests at the Green School for Girls to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 29^th January.  In the presence of the Mayor of Hounslow, Councillor Sue Sampson and other civic officials, Michael Brown shared the story of his life in Germany before the Second World War, his escape to the UK on the second last Kindertransport in August 1939 and his time with foster parents in Liverpool.

The theme for 2018 was the Power of Words and Michael described how words can be used to denigrate and discriminate against groups of people with horrific consequences.

Rev Richard Frank, Anglican Area Dean, suggested that by being at this event, those present were able to show through their living and their speaking their determination that such an event as the Holocaust could never happen again.

Leader of Hounslow Council, Steve Curran, referred to the diversity of the borough. He asked students whose families were newer residents to find out what their relatives had felt like when they first arrived.  Anti-semitism and hate crime are only just below the surface and there have been more recent genocides such as Muslims at Srebrenica in Bosnia. Always challenge any inappropriate remark, he stated.

Councillor Curran mentioned that Hounslow Council have taken some unaccompanied refugee children from Calais and families from Syria.  These latter are being supported by members of the community. (Note: this is through Refugees Welcome Hounslow, a group sponsored by Hounslow Friends of Faith.  Get in touch if you would like to know more.)

There was moving display of art work by sixth form students on the topic in the school hall. Photos of some of these and of the event are in our Gallery. Photo credits Bessie White and LB Hounslow.

 Inter Faith Week is marked across the UK in mid November each year with a wide range of activities, all designed to bring people of different faiths together and show the positive contribution faiths can make to society. Two great events took place locally.

The HFOF Women’s Group had fun at the Bring and Share, East meets West food evening. Samosa chaat with tamarind sauce, mince pies, patra – chickpeas and colocasia (eddoes), Polish salad, coconut macaroons and the vicar of Feltham’s upside down pineapple cake. Thanks to Satish Dutt for some laughter yoga to get us in the mood and to Divya for a quiz afterwards. And thank you to all the cooks.  A great evening.

Later in the week there were two stimulating performances of The Bundle, a play by Journeymen Theatre about an asylum seeker’s journey.  It highlighted some of the issues involved for those of us who have little experience of what it’s like to feel driven from an intolerable situation to seek a safer life. Journeymen Theatre Company members are active in projects for asylum seekers in the West Midlands, including a scheme to pay transport costs, and MacKenzie Friends, who offer non-professional support and advice to asylum seekers as they present their cases to tribunals.

Donations at the performances were shared between the projects above and Refugees Welcome Hounslow.  This group, which was launched following an initiative of Hounslow Friends of Faith is just celebrating the arrival of the second household from Syria under the Government’s Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, with a third following very soon.  Hounslow Council are accepting up to 10 families, just as soon as private properties can be found.  Do get in touch if you can help.

For more information about other events which took place round the country during Inter Faith Week see https://www.interfaithweek.org

Over 25 adults and children enjoyed the sunshine at our Interfaith Women’s Group picnic in Osterley Park on 19^th August 2017 when the chat and food flowed. ‘Does this happen every year?’ was the question, to which the answer must be yes!  Some people had enjoyed the Walk earlier in the summer, some were regulars at the Knitting Group while others again are active with Refugees Welcome Hounslow for which HFOF is a founder member and sponsor.

Afterwards a group went for a walk in the park and others made the most of the buggy transport along the drive.

Meanwhile the next sessions for the group will be in Feltham on 16th September at 4pm and 2nd October at 7.15pm. Hold the dates, details to follow in our events section.

What can we learn from the leaders of the great religions, even if we are not of that faith?  Rev Dr John Parry, a United Reformed Minister who has studied Sikhism for over 30 years, shared his insights with a well attended multi-faith audience at the Gurdwara Sri Singh Sabha in Hounslow on 13^th July.

Guru Gobind Singh was the 10^th and last spiritual leader and the founder of the Khalsa, the Sikh community, in 1699.  He was a man of vision, commitment and organisational skills, but also of humility. Although he inspired sacrifice from Sikhs as they stood up for their faith against the Mughal emperor, he also saw humanity as one. He distinguished between the political form of a religion and faith itself for the individual.

John Parry discussed the value to a faith of scriptures, the understanding of the concept of God and the obligation of service to others. It was Guru Gobind Singh who installed the Sikh scriptures as the final guru, always available and central to the life of the community and the family.

He saw the concept of God as too great for the human mind to comprehend.  This inability to comprehend God fully has a parallel in Christian St Paul’s words ‘through a glass darkly’.  Humans should always be selfless and give service to others.

This talk presented something new and different, a real soul searching for those who are at the chalk face of interfaith activities, having to deal with histories of strife between faiths and yet finding a way forward together as one diverse humankind.

The photo shows John Parry and his wife receiving a thank you gift from Chair of HFOF Charanjit Ajit Singh.  Earlier John had presented a copy of his book ‘The Word of God is not Bound, the encounter of Sikhs and Christians in India and the UK’ to Mr Gurmeet Singh, President of the Gurdwara.

Our annual Walk of Peace and Friendship took place this year on 1st July in Brentford and Chiswick. This enjoyable event was our regular opportunity to visit different places of worship, hear informal talks about faith and share with people from different communities in our richly diverse borough.

We met at 11am at the Hanuman Hindu Temple in Beech Avenue in Brentford.  This centre opened officially this year after extensive building and renovation work. Their particular interest is Hindu spirituality through yoga and music. We heard about the meaning of the beautiful carvings on the main doors and the shrines where the priest gave aarti, a Hindu prayer.

A short bus journey took us to Gunnersbury to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Harvard Road in Chiswick where we had a most delicious lunch. The church is the cathedral for the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), with communities on the territories of the UK and Ireland.  We learnt about the very beautiful icons in the upper and lower parts of the church building and the priest gave a blessing.

From there the Walk continued to Christ Church, Turnham Green in Town Hall Avenue,  a lively Anglican parish church.  We heard about the range of their activities using their building in the heart of community and the value they find in prayer.

The final venue was the London Buddhist Vihara in The Avenue. The Vihara has a resident community of monks from Sri Lanka and is a leading centre for Theravada Buddhism. Founded in 1926 by Anagarika Dharmapala, the Vihara was the first Buddhist monastery to be established outside the continent of Asia. It moved to Chiswick in 1964 and has been in its present building since 1994.  We heard about the value of the Buddhist way and heard uplifting Buddhist chanting.

Thank you to all the places of worship who took time to open their doors to us and to the enthusiastic walkers who took part on the day.

A great afternoon was held on 13^th May and informative too learning about colourful rangoli patterns and trying them ourselves. They are very much a part of Hindu tradition and are used for decoration particularly during Diwali. We used coloured sand, although they can be made with rice grains, flour, sand or chalk. The patterns always balance.  We found they take practice! They are impermanent, as is life.

Rahki bracelets which sisters give brothers each year are much easier to make. Thanks to Bharti Tailor for showing us and to the Hanuman Hindu Temple in Brentford for hosting the event.

Over 30 women of many faiths and backgrounds came together to create a flower in felt during 2016 Inter Faith Week.  Funded by Near Neighbours, the workshops were ably led by Hana Horack, an artist who works in a range of different media.  Women worked with merino wool mixed with silk to make the felt and form it into first a brooch or then a flower on a stem.

Responses were very positive.  It was great to learn something practical and enjoyable together in all our diversity’ said one participant. ‘Really enjoyable to mix and chat with other faiths’ said another. ‘Watching each other’s faces and expression added to the happiness of each one’s contentment in creating something unique, of their own. Such moments are precious in our memories and have no ending’ said a third.

The event took place at the Centre for Spiritual and Cultural Advancement in Feltham who generously provided lunch.  For several women it was the first time they had attended a HFOF event.

There was support for the idea of more events of this type in the future.

See another photo of the event in our Gallery.