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.
Message from Chief Superintendent David Stringer at the Metropolitan Police:
As you may have seen on the news this morning, police were called at approximately 08:20hrs on Friday, 15 September to Parsons Green Underground Station following reports of a fire on a London tube train.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the senior national coordinator for CT policing, has declared it a terrorist incident. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service and British Transport Police attended the scene, along with colleagues from London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service. At present we are aware of a number of people who have suffered injuries.
It is too early to confirm the cause of the fire, which will be subject to the investigation that is now underway by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
The station remains cordoned off and we are advising people to avoid the area.
We would encourage anyone who has information that would assist detectives is urged to contact the hotline 0800 789 321; if it’s an emergency always call 999.
Anyone with images from the scene is asked to upload them to www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk
We urge the public to remain calm but alert and if you have any concerns, see or hear anything suspicious then contact police.
More updates will be available at 11:30hrs today, Friday, 15 September, when Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley will brief the press at New Scotland Yard.
The Archdeacon of London, chair of the Faith Sector Panel of London Resilience said, “S Dionis Church was open for the public to go in for tea, coffee, spaces & rest, but is now inside the cordon and is closed. The clergy there are seeking to help as they can.”
Cllr Sue Fenimore, Deputy Leader of the Council and a key person in bringing religious communities together in Hammersmith & Fulham, is at Parsons Green and said that it’s wonderful that people come together in such horrendous circumstances.
There is always a set of circumstances which occur, or which are created, to build the climate in which genocide can take place.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?
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.
Hustings and other election events (some of them this week) are listed here.
Monday 20 April 10am-4pm Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network CoProduction Research Conference, Springfield Hospital, Tooting, SW17 7DJ
Monday 20 April 5.30pm – 7.30pm Peace Café at Collaboration House, 77 Charlotte St, W1T 4PW. Topic this month is “the media, peace and social justice“. Bring a little food to share.
Wednesday 20 April – last day to register to vote in the General Election. Download Westminster Faith Exchange’s briefing here.
Wednesday 22 April 9am – 10.30am Security Briefing at New Scotland Yard for places of worship and religious & belief communities.
Immigrant Diaries at Southbank Centre
Wednesday 22 April 6pm Near Neighbours Funding Workshop at the Khalsa Centre, 95 Upper Tooting Road, London SW17 7TW.
Friday 24 April 8.30pm Immigrant Diaries “Statistics don’t tell the story of immigrants; people do.” Guest comedians and entertainers share their stories of immigration at the Southbank Centre, SE1. £10.
Saturday 25 April 10am – 2pm Southwark Multifaith Health & Environment event at Southwark Carers, Walworth Methodist Church, 54 Camberwell Road, London, SE5 0EN, to learn more about plant based living.
Woven Threads and Torn Fabrics
Sunday 26 April 4pm Woven Threads & Torn Fabric: the story of Yosef & Zuleikha. A Jewish-Muslim telling of the Joseph story at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation & Peace, 78 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AG. £10. www.woventhreads.eventbrite.co.uk
Wednesday 29 April 2:30pm Faithful Friends (Richmond upon Thames) ‘What is Humanism and the Changing Religion and Belief Landscape in Britain‘ Talk by Jeremy Rodell in Room 2008, second floor, John Galsworthy Building, Kingston University, Penrhyn Rd Campus.
Near Neighbours funding workshop on Friday 1 May 3pm in Hammersmith & Fulham
Friday 1 May 3pm – 4.30pm Near Neighbours Funding Workshop in Hammersmith & Fulham at St Andrew’s Church, Greyhound Road, London W14 9SA. Download flyer here .
Tuesday 5 May 6.30pm Pre-election Frontline Film Club (18-30s), focusing on hot topics from the election campaign at Collaboration House, 77 Charlotte St, W1T 4PW.
Friday 8 May 10am Beyond Collaboration: co-creating the new at St Ethelburga’s Centre for Peace & Reconciliation. £48.
Sunday 10 May 9.30am – 4.30pm Repairing the Earth: A Jewish Muslim Response. An-Nisa Society in partnership with the Leo Baeck College invites Muslims and Jews to a text-based workshop. £30. Details and registration here.
Diary of a Hounslow Girl 3-6 June Oval House Theatre, Lambeth
Sunday 10 May 8pm Council of Christians and Jews presents Nostra Aetate: More Sentiment Than Substance? at JW3, 341-351 Finchley Road, London, NW3 6ET.
Wednesday 20 May 4pm Westminster Cathedral Interfaith Group at the Hinsley Room, Morpeth Terrace, SW1. Sally Reith of Shared Interest on investing in a fairer world.
Thursday 28 May Camden’s Bridge The Gap, a new designated day to bring people together.
Wednesday 3 – Saturday 6 June New drama by Ambreen Razia Diary of a Hounslow Girl at Oval House Theatre, Kennington, Lambeth.
Saturday 6 June 10am – 4pm Hounslow Friends of Faith Walk of Peace and Friendship.
London Boroughs Faiths Network 