Leicester man in ‘Faiths Act Fellows’

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation has today announced 10 exceptional young people selected in the UK to take part in the young leadership programme the Foundation has established to bring people of different faiths together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and in particular, the scourge of malaria. The Foundation has received hundreds of applications from around the world and has chosen just 30 extraordinary young people of faith to be ambassadors for its Faiths Act programme.

Bilal Hassan from Leicester has been chosen as a remarkable and noteworthy young leader who will now dedicate 10 months of his life towards mobilising faith communities to combat deaths from malaria.

Bilal said, “From a local to an international level people of faith have an incredible amount to contribute to the challenges that our societies face. As a Muslim, I am looking forward to the opportunity to celebrate the mutual faith I share with communities across the UK and direct that zeal and passion to help eliminate deaths caused by Malaria, Africa’s biggest killer. It is through engagement and initiatives like the Faiths Act Fellowship that people of different faith communities can come together and work towards the spiritual, moral and intellectual development of a united British and global community.”

The Faiths Act Fellowship, launched in partnership with the Interfaith Youth Core, comprises of 30 outstanding young people of diverse faiths aged between 18-25 from the UK, US and Canada. From August 2009, they will embark on a ten month journey of interfaith service. Working in interfaith pairs, they will reach up to tens of thousands of people of faith through outreach activity, informing them in person and online about the devastating impact of malaria and the opportunities open to faith communities to work together to save millions of lives.

St Philip’s Centre in Leicester will be a host organization for the Fellows, and will help them make contact and work with local faith communities.

Riaz Ravat, Faith Training Development Manager said, “St Philip’s Centre is delighted to be working with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Faiths Act Fellowship by hosting a pair of Fellows, and it is particularly timely with World Malaria Day on April 25th coming up. Interfaith activity is ever more important in an increasingly uncertain and globalised world. The purpose of our Centre is study and engagement in a multi faith society. Therefore, Leicester will be an ideal base for the fellows as they interact with the diverse faith communities in our city and county which the Centre works with on a host of programmes.”

Malaria kills a child in Africa every thirty seconds. Pregnant women and children under 5 are the most vulnerable. Yet it is entirely preventable. Places of worship are present in every village in every part of Africa, forming effective networks in practical ways to reach people in need everywhere. The Faiths Act Fellows will galvanise faith communities in the developed world to support those in Africa, and demonstrate that if faiths work together, they can do even more than what has been achieved apart.

Tony Blair added, “I am delighted we have been able to select such an outstanding and admirable group of young people from the hundreds who applied for a position in the Fellowship. I am certain they will accomplish a tremendous amount. Faith communities around the world have historically achieved great things to combat global problems. I believe that by faiths coming together to tackle the problem of malaria deaths, as part of a global coalition, we can really prevent this disease.”

For further information please contact Matthew Doyle on 07976 424 176 or Parna Taylor on 07887 732 288.

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