National Faith Week

England’s first ever National Inter Faith Week takes place between November 15th and 21st, and organisations across Leicester and Leicestershire will be hosting a range of interesting and unique activities to celebrate the week on a local level.

The aims of the week are to strengthen positive inter faith relations amongst communities in the UK, in particular celebrating and building on the contribution which our diverse communities make to neighbourhoods and to wider society.

Inter Faith Week will provide a unique opportunity for people of different faiths and beliefs to come together, explore what they have in common and build stronger bonds of understanding and co-operation between communities. In addition, Inter Faith Week further overlaps with the longstanding and widely marked Islam Awareness Week

For a detailed list of the local activities and events taking place during Inter Faith Week, please go to www.leics.gov.uk/faith
Inter Faith Week in Leicester and Leicestershire will be introduced locally with a Launch Event which is taking place on:

Monday 16th November 2009 at County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, 6.00pm – 8.15pm

As Chairs of the Inter Faith Forum for Leicestershire, we would like to invite you to attend this wonderful event, to help us join together to launch the week of activities in Leicester and Leicestershire, as well as celebrating the positive relationships we have built between our diverse communities.

Keynote speakers for the Launch Event include:

• Dr Maureen Sier (Interfaith Development Officer for the Scottish Interfaith Council)
• Sughra Ahmed (Executive Committee Member of the UK Inter Faith Network and Senior Researcher at the Islamic Foundation, Leicester)
• Atheah Ghani (Development Officer, Faith Forum for the East Midlands)

There will also be presentations from a range of local Inter-Faith initiatives, including the Launch of an Inter-Faith Recipe Book, as well as a special musical performance by the talented Leicester musician Na’im Cortazzi (Rowshan, Happy Mondays, Uncle Frank).

Also in attendance at the Launch Event will be Mr Roger Wilson (Chairman of Leicestershire County Council), Councillor Roger Blackmore (the Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Leicester), and the Right Reverend Tim Stevens (Bishop of Leicester), along with a host of representatives from Leicester and Leicestershire’s faith communities.

The Launch Event will begin at 6.00pm with a light buffet, and the opportunity to visit a display area to see examples of some of the positive inter-faith, multicultural and community cohesion initiatives taking place across Leicester and Leicestershire. This will be followed by speeches and presentations from representatives of national, regional and local Inter-Faith organisations.

Inter Faith Week promises to be an exciting and unique initiative – the first of its kind in Leicester and Leicestershire. So we really do hope you are able to get involved in the wide variety of activities and events taking place during this special week.

If you are interested in attending the Inter Faith Week Launch Event on Monday 16th November, or if you have any further queries regarding Inter Faith Week.

please contact: Noel Singh – Policy Officer, Leicestershire County Council Tel: (0116) 3057020Email: noel.singh@leics.gov.uk

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