Torn from home: Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January

Torn from home is the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2019.

Kindertransport girls passing through customs

There are activities across the capital to mark this important day. Some of the borough events are listed below. Find an activity near you on the HMD site.

Holocaust Memorial Day is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.

Torn from home encourages us to reflect on how the enforced loss of a safe place to call ‘home’ is part of the trauma faced by anyone experiencing persecution and genocide. ‘Home’ usually means a place of safety, comfort and security. On HMD 2019 people across the UK will reflect on what happens when individuals, families and communities are driven out of, or wrenched from their homes, because of persecution or the threat of genocide, alongside the continuing difficulties survivors face as they try to find and build new homes when the genocide is over.

HMD 2019 will include marking the 25th anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda, which began in April 1994 and the 40th anniversary of the end of the Genocide in Cambodia, which ended in 1979. HMD activity organisers may particularly want to acknowledge this milestone anniversary, and reflect on how this theme impacts on members of the Rwandan and Cambodian communities.

Safet is a survivor of the Bosnian War. This photograph is taken in his living room.

Safet was 16 when Muslim men and boys began being taken away to concentration camps. He remembers his father and brother being ordered out of the house, and his mother stopped him from going with them. He came to England with his mother, and later his father and brother joined them.

Safet is holding a school photograph, taken in 1982 when he was six years old, before the war started.

‘It was a really mixed group in terms of religion. We were kids and we didn’t think of religion at all. I have chosen this [photograph] because it shows how things were before, and it just reminds me. It would be nice to be able to go back to how it used to be. It can be done, I’m 100% certain. We have no problems between ourselves, it’s the politicians making these problems, and that’s the most frustrating thing.

‘It’s important to keep the memory alive, because some people are just not aware of what was happening in Bosnia, it’s a surprise to me. People were dying in concentration camps, torture took place, in Europe, in the 90s. Everyone thought that once World War II was over that wouldn’t happen again, but it did.

Click on the dates for borough HMD 2019 events. If you know of others, please add a comment to this post with details. A map of activities is on the HMD site.

Inter Faith Week 2017

Inter Faith Week 2017 has started!

Find all the events taking place in your borough on the Inter Faith Week website map.

There are quizes, visits, discussions on hot topics, meals and gatherings across the capital all week, some hosted by borough councils. If you haven’t added your event to the IFW website, there’s still time.

Above: two members of the Christian-Muslim women’s group in Wandsworth.

Proposal for Hippodrome in Golders Green

Faith representatives in Barnet have united in welcoming a proposal to convert the Hippodrome in Golders Green to an Islamic centre.

An open letter from thirty local leaders commented on the planning application by Markaz El Tathgheef El Eslami.

“We are a group of clergy and faith representatives in Barnet that meet in each other’s centres to foster good inter-religious relations and promote community cohesion. Our interfaith forum is convened under the auspices of Interfaith Matters, a local registered charity, and meetings have been held regularly for almost three years.

All members of the interfaith forum look forward to welcoming the clerics of Markaz El Tathgheef El Eslami, the new Islamic Centre at Golders Green Hippodrome, to our interfaith meetings.

At our last meeting, hosted by the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Golders Green, members expressed every confidence that Barnet Council would address and resolve all legitimate concerns relating to additional traffic, less parking and the Centre’s use.

However, as clergy and faith representatives we unanimously deplored and condemned the hostile and, at times, racist response to the new Islamic Centre’s opening. It is our firm conviction that those that attend the Centre are as entitled to suitable and sufficient facilities as are enjoyed by all other faiths in Barnet, including Golders Green.

Indeed, we are sure the new Islamic community will contribute, with us, to the neighbourhood’s character, harmony and safety. We are also grateful to the Centre’s clerics who have already offered to host our next interfaith forum meeting and we look forward to this in the New Year.”

The full list of signatories can be found here.

Barnet Multi Faith Forum has issued a statement supporting the local leaders.

Upcoming events

Today: follow #HOBV9 to keep in touch with Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network‘s annual Black Mental Health event, Healing Our Broken Village, at New Testament Assembly Church in Tooting, SW17.

If you’re able to join the conference, which includes the CEO of South West London & St George’s Mental Health Trust and Royal Holloway’s Dr Frank Keating, all the details are here.

Saturday 28 October: Kingston Study DayUnderstanding Islam with Dr Chris Hewer, an exploration from predominantly Christian and Muslim perspectives, at the Milaap Centre, Acre Rd, Kingston, KT2 6EE. For beginners and the knowledgeable alike – all welcome.

Download details here and contact Diana if you would like to participate.

Thursday 2 November: opening of a new venue for Greenwich Peninsula’s Multi Faith Prayer Space at the Aperture Building on Greenwich Peninsula, 42 Chandlers Avenue, SE10 0GE. The Prayer Space provides a venue for faith groups to meet for prayer and worship and is available for booking by faith groups for their own prayer or worship activities. The Prayer Space is also open every day for people to drop in for prayer and reflection.

The Community Room provides a facility for activities or events which build up the local community and is available for booking by individuals or groups for such activities or events.  Find the details here.

Saturday 4 November – Sunday 5 November: With God on Our Side… Religion and War, with talks, panels and debates including Holy Wars, Is Religion Inherently Violent (with Karen Armstrong) and War and Peace in the Middle East, at the Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX.

Monday 6 November: St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square – Reforming Attitudes to Islam, with Prof Mona Siddiqui and Joshua Ralston of Edinburgh University.

Monday 6 November: second in LBFN’s safety, security and resilience four-part course for places of worship, hosted by New Scotland Yard and supported by the Corporation of London.  Contact LBFN for further details.

Sunday 12 November: Harrow Interfaith‘s Remembrance Service at Harrow Civic Centre War Memorial at 10.30am.

Monday 13 November: Barnet Multi Faith Forum launch an exhibition “Love Your Neighbour – Muslims who rescued Jews during the Holocaust” at Middlesex University Quadrangle, the Borroughs, Hendon NW4 4BT.  Details here
Monday 13 NovemberQuiz night – A Question of Unity with Faiths Together in Lambeth at the Karibu Education Centre, 7 Gresham Road, SW9 7PH.  Details here
Tuesday 14 NovemberTower Hamlets Inter Faith Forum, “Faith & Communities” at The Royal Foundation of St Katharine, 2 Butcher Row, E14 8DS.  Details and booking here.
Tuesday 14 November: Redbridge Faith Forum ‘s Come to Dinner with RFF!  Interfaith Buffet at Ilford Islamic Centre. Details and booking details are here.

Tuesday 14 November: Youth debate with Islington Faiths Forum, “How can we have harmony in a multifaith community environment?” at Platform, Hornsey Road Baths, 2 Tiltman Place, N7 7EE.

Saturday 18 November: Hounslow Friends of Faith presents, “The Bundle – an asylum seeker’s story” at Brentford and Isleworth Quaker Meeting House, Quakers Lane, London Road, Isleworth, TW7 5AZ.  Details and booking (performance is free but must be booked in advance) here.

12 – 19 November is Inter Faith Week 2017: plenty of events taking place in London this year – find them on the map and add your own.
Monday 20 November: third in LBFN’s safety, security and resilience four-part course for places of worship, hosted by New Scotland Yard and supported by the Corporation of London.  Contact LBFN for further details.
Looking ahead, #VisitMyMosque Day is on Sunday 18 February 2018 – more details on how to plan for the day can be found here.

LBFN 18 May | Borough Timelines

From Neighbourhood Renewal to Big Society, from mental illness to hate crime, from 9/11 to integration, PCTs to CCGs, Stop & Search to SNPs, interfaith walks & WhatsApp groups – such a lot has changed!

Join us tomorrow evening 5.30pm-7.30pm as we chart the massive contribution that local gurdwaras, synagogues, mosques, temples and churches have made to the wider community and the key contribution of local multifaith networks and forums working in partnership with councils, the NHS, local police & fire services.

Add your significant dates to our timeline (it will be posted online soon), hear from faith forums & public sector officers across the capital and be part of an engaging debate on the current context.

With us will be practitioners from Kensington & Chelsea, Harrow, Wandsworth, Hounslow, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Richmond, Lambeth, Havering, Westminster, Southwark, Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge, Enfield, Croydon, Barnet & the City, with borough London Resilience managers and local police officers.

If you plan to join us & haven’t yet confirmed your place, email asap.  We are meeting at Voluntary Action Islington, 200a Pentonville Road (near the junction with Killick St, next to Cycle Surgery), N1 9JP (King’s Cross tube).

As well as news from key faith forums across the capital, we’ll hear from:

  • Malik Gul, WCEN
  • Yvette Ellis, VAI
  • Steve Miller, FbRN
  • Matt Scott, London Voluntary Service Council

and hear an update on LBFN’s social labs:

  • safety & security (with London Resilience & Ecclesiastical Insurance)
  • peace-building
  • health & wellbeing
  • European links
  • intersectionality

There will be plenty of time to share news and ideas and a simple vegetarian meal will be served.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Spring: upcoming events in London

Spring has sprung!  And so have the opportunities for local public sector organisations and Londoners of all faiths and none to get together and make a positive impact on our local communities.

Tuesday 25 Apri Making My Wishes Known. With Lambeth Council’s Adult Safeguarding team and Faiths Together in Lambeth, a chance to think about what you would want to happen in a care or treatment crisis. Book your place here.

Thursday 27 April  12.30 – 2pm: South London Interfaith Group Lunch at Streatham Friends Meeting House, Redlands Way, Roupell Park Estate, Brixton Hill, SW2 3LU. Alan Gadd writes, “A vegetarian lunch will be served at 12.30pm and then between 1pm and 2pm we will have an opportunity to share inter faith news and concerns. This month, Ken Woolhouse will facilitate a discussion on ‘Forgiveness’ with contributions from several faith perspectives.”

Wednesday 3 May 5.30pm – 7pm  Warm-up for the Great Get Together,(17-18 June) marking the anniversary of the murder of Jo Cox MP at the Abbey Centre (Parker Morris Hall), 34 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BU. Ask questions & share ideas to help plan your own event or get your community involved, sign up and receive your information pack and make your event faith friendly: involve those who are fasting for Ramadan, observing Shabbat on the Saturday & ideas for faith groups. Book your place here www.greatgettogetherinfosession.eventbrite.com or contact Near Neighbours co-ordinator Becky Brookman.

Sunday 6 May  Belief and Beyond Belief Festival at Southbank Centre, SE1. For Good or For Ill: How Has Religion Shaped Society?  Talks and panels throughout the day, including: How Can Faiths Work Together (with LBFN friend Jasvir Singh), Does God Love Me (Religion & Equality), Religion Behind Bars, Muslim Women Breaking New Ground, Faith and Fashion, How Has Christianity Shaped Society, Terroism and Society, Religion and Education and Women Faith Leaders.

Sunday 7 May 4.00 – 5.30pm  Lambeth Multifaith Action Group at Hyderi Islamic Centre, 26 Estreham Road, Streatham, London, SW16 5PQ. LAMAG is hosting an open discussion on “Faith in the Community” and the importance of how faith communities help to shape the community around them.

Thursday 11 May  7:30pm  A Faithful Friends visit to John Bunyan Baptist Church, Queen Elizabeth Road/Hardman Road, Kingston, KT2 6RJ for a talk by the minister, Rev Ken Walker, on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was hanged in April 1945 for his part in the resistance to the Nazis

Sunday 14 May  12-5pm Barnet Multi Faith Forum’s Barnet Unity Festival of Faith and Culture at Burnt Oak Leisure Centre, Watling Avenue, HA8 0NP.

  • music, dance and drama stage performances
  • sports zones
  • cooking demos
  • arts and crafts
  • children’s entertainments
  • food stalls & refreshments
  • exhibitions

Free entrance but it would help Barnet Multi Faith Forum if you register your place here.

Monday 15 May  Deadline for Westminster Faith Exchange‘s Annual Children’s Art Competition.  The theme for 2017 is ‘Being Alone.’ The competition is open until Monday 15 May, entry is free, and there are lots of prizes to be won. Find details and application forms here.

Wednesday 17 May 4-5pm  Westminster Cathedral Interfaith Group, Hinsley Room, Morpeth Terrace, SW1P 1Q.  Speaker is Rose Hickman, Community Partnerships Coordinator at The Passage.

Saturday 20 May   Westminster Interfaith’s ever popular 32nd Annual Multi-Faith Pilgrimage for Peace, starting from Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church, Arnos Grove at 9.15am and ending at the North London Sikh Gurdwara, New Southgate at about 6.30pm.  This pilgrimage attracts hundreds of people.  Book your place and find the information you need here.

Sunday 21 May 1pm – 4.30pm Lewisham Annual Walk for Peace. Organised by Lewisham Police, this year’s interfaith walk through Lewisham will visit a synagogue, a church, the Islamic Centre, a Hindu temple, and the Civic Suite. Details from John Biddle at Lewisham Police.

Sunday 21 May 10am – 5.30pm Faiths In Tune Festival at the British Museum  A diverse stage music and dance programme as well as an interfaith community fair where visitors can learn about and get in touch with various faith and cultural communities from all over London.  With the ever-popular Pearls of Islam duo and LBFN friends & multifaith group Berakah Arts.

Wednesday 14 June – Thursday 15 June London School of Economics Faith Centre. Conference: Religious Imaginations and Global Transitions – how narratives of faith are shaping today’s world.  Includes Karen Armstrong and Prof Mona Siddiqui.  Book here.

Wednesday 21 June 4-5pm  Westminster Cathedral Interfaith Group, Hinsley Room, Morpeth Terrace, SW1P 1Q.  Speaker is Jeremy Rodell of the British Humanist Association.

Genocide never just happens | HMD 2017

hmd-2017There is always a set of circumstances which occur, or which are created, to build the climate in which genocide can take place.
Holocaust Memorial Day this year asks the question “How can life go on?
Boroughs across the capital are marking the day. Check the details here:

Hammersmith & Fulham

Merton

Brent

Barnet

Southwark

Tower Hamlets

Enfield

Camden

Wandsworth

Harrow

Newham

Hackney

Ealing

Greenwich

Haringey

Hounslow

Find more events on the HMD website.
Denial, a film about the legal case surrounding Holocaust denier David Irving, opens in London next week.

#LondonIsOpen film for Inter Faith Week

London’s faith communities are open and welcoming!

In step with the Mayor’s #LondonIsOpen message, a short film has been shot on location across the capital and includes Sikh, Quaker, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist & Baha’i places opening their doors.

Against a backdrop of international tensions and increased hate crime, London’s faith groups, from humble to grand, are not closed and fearful – we remain open and welcoming!

Inter Faith Week events across London are screening the new film as part of their activities – you are welcome to do the same by using this link.  Can you identify the different places?

london-is-open-logo

Thanks to everyone who responded to our email during the summer and welcomed in the cameras – we were overwhelmed with offers.  A big thank you to Rosalind Parker and Jack Jeffreys for the filming.  For any who would like to get involved in the next stage, our #LondonIsOpen initiative continues – join us at 3pm on Tuesday 6 December at Collaboration House, 77 Charlotte Street, W1T 4PW, to plan for 2017.  Let us know if you’d like to join us.

BBC calendar, new London maps & infographics

holi

The Hindu festival of Holi – 6 March

The BBC’s handy religious calendar is back!  Find it here as part of the new Religion & Ethics section.

I’ll bring a copy of James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti’s new book London: the information capital to our next LBFN meeting on 20 January.

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How are we doing?  Life satisfaction, purpose, happiness & anxiety in each borough in London: the information capital by James Cheshire & Oliver Uberti.  Click to enlarge.

london mapsIt’s packed with maps & infographics.  Football tribes, river traffic, languages, police helicopters, relationship status, housing costs – and (see above) how fulfilled people are in the different boroughs (Waltham Forest, Kensington & Chelsea, Bromley and Barnet score well …)

Hindu

Hinduism in London (Census 2011)

Check out the new additions to our maps page, too:

  • Religion & belief in London (from Census 2011)
  • A new Google map with contacts for faith forums in each borough

 

Inter Faith Week 2014 in London

Inter Faith Week starts soon!  Find out what’s going on in your borough by zooming into the capital on the IFW map.  Check the list below to download flyers and invitations.

London is very busy with a huge range of exciting activities planned, including:

6 November    Youghusband Lecture, Westminster

8 November    Peace in Tulse Hill, Lambeth

11 November   Talk on Shabbat Croydon Faith Education Resources

12 November   Humanism in Europe: working together across religion & belief traditions, Westminster (book your place)

15 November   Concert in aid of Kingston Foodbank  Kingston Inter-Faith Forum

16 November  The Contributions of Faith Communities to the First World War Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe

16 November   30th Anniversary Celebration Harrow Inter Faith Council

17 November (closing date)  Westminster Faith Exchange Art Competition

17 November   Inter Faith Week Launch in Sutton  Sutton Faith & Belief

17 November   Encompass – work in action, with Barry Mizen MBE, Encompass – The Daniel Braden Reconciliation Trust

18 November   Faith and Wellbeing Faiths Together in Lambeth

18 November   Religious Tensions in the Holy Land and their wider impact  Islington Faiths Forum

18 November   Sacred Treasures Camden Council and the British Museum

18 November   Faith involvement in peace making today  Hounslow Friends of Faith

19 November   Faith: Too Significant to Ignore FaithAction National Conference, Westminster,  £70

19 November   Praying for Peace Balham & Tooting Community Association

20 November   Is Interfaith Dialogue Worthwhile?  Barnet Multi Faith Forum with Alyth Gardens Synagogue

22 November  Southwark iWitness – Trail & Mayor’s Reception Southwark Council

22 November   Celebrating culture through dress and food – women’s event  Hounslow Friends of Faith

22 November  Town Centre Event  Barking & Dagenham Faith Forum

22 November   Inter Faith Quiz  Enfield Faith Forum

25 November   How can Humanists and Muslims live and work together in 21st Century London? London Humanists, Conway Hall, Camden

If you are planning activities and would like them listed here, please leave a comment and/or let LBFN know!