Sadaqa Day 22 March

sadaqadaySadaqa Day (a new national day of multifaith social action) was launched this evening and will take place this year on Sunday 22 March.

Groups of Muslims across the country will lead Sadaqa Day projects to benefit their local communities. Projects such as improving community space, planting flowers or trees, or arranging to visit people who are elderly, will be taking place.

“Sadaqa Day is a day of social action. A date in the calendar when individuals, mosques and other places of worship, schools, women’s and community groups, scouts and guides groups – everyone – can get involved.

The word Sadaqa is often spoken about as the charitable giving of money, but Sadaqa is so much more. It is every deed, every act of giving, it is each movement in our service to others. This is what the Prophet Muhammad؃ meant when he taught, “Even a smile is charity”.

Across many faiths, in every school, and in all good homes, we are taught about doing our bit, making our own contribution, playing our part in giving to others and in making the world a slightly better place. Acting in genuine service for others. And that is what Sadaqa Day is all about.”

In Camden, volunteers from Hampstead Synagogue, Regent’s Park Mosque and the Royal Free Hospital are collecting food together from two local supermarkets to donate to the local foodbank.  Find more examples on Sadaqa Day’s Facebook page.

If you’d like to take part in Sadaqa Day or help organise a project in your borough, find further information here or contact founder Julie Siddiqi, who was with us at our last LBFN meeting.

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!

Faith and Sexual Health

LBFN just received this invitation from Vernal Scott to a lunch meeting on Black and Ethnic Communities of Faith: Barriers to Our Sexual Health.

SAFER FORUM EVENT3The lunch and discussion takes place today, 6 November, at noon at St Peter’s Church, Walworth Road, SE17, and it’s unlikely any/many of us will be able to attend, but he is keen to keep in touch and to invite us to the next event.  Vernal writes,

“I would like to extend a warm welcome to you and all in the London Boroughs Faiths Network who is able to attend this important event about improving our sexual health and the related role of faith leaders.

A free lunch is included at noon.  All are welcome. 

May I take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt apologies for the short notice.”

Contact Vernal on 8741 1879 if you hope to attend and let me know if you would like to hear more about the work of the NAZ project.

Near Neighbours – additional boroughs

Near Neighbours areas

Areas of London eligible for funding under the expanded Near Neighbours programme.  Contact coordinators Becky or Tim (see Borough by Borough page) for details.

The Near Neighbours programme has expanded into more boroughs.  It offers small grants (£250 – £5,000) to bring together neighbours and develop relationships across different religious traditions & ethnicities in order to improve our communities.

Check whether areas of your borough are included and contact Becky (West and South London) or Tim (East and South East London) if you’d like more information or would like to talk over an idea.

Launch events for the new boroughs are planned and we hope Becky & Tim will join us at LBFN before long to tell us more.

Southwark invitations during Ramadan

 

One of South London Inter Faith Group's walks last year.

One of South London Inter Faith Group’s walks last year.

Here are three generous invitations to break the fast (‘iftar’) with Muslim friends during the month of Ramadan. LBFN members and others from different religious and belief traditions are very welcome.

  1. Monday 22 July Muslim sisters at the Rockingham Women’s Group invite women and children to Harper Road (Baitul Aziz) Mosque, I Dickens Square, SE1 4JL, at 8pm for a meal after 9pm.  Nearest Tube station – Elephant & Castle.  Borough Buses 133, 40, 35.
  2. Wednesday 24 July The Old Kent Road Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre, 365 Old Kent Road, SE15 5JH has invited all who are interested to break the fast and to arrive at around 8pm. The invitation is to St Peter’s Church, Walworth, and other local churches. A walking party will be leaving St Peter’s Church at 7.30pm.

Siriol Davies (Diocese of Southwark), who circulated the invitations, reminds potential guests,

“This will be a great opportunity to witness a little bit of Ramadan and to enjoy the friendship which exists across our faiths. The generosity and hospitality of the local Muslim communities in making these invitations is a great example to all of us.

Muslim brothers and sisters will have been fasting from dawn, around 3.00am, and the fast continues until sunset which is around 9pm. It is a complete fast which means no food or liquids.

Any visitors to the iftars are invited to fast for all or part of the day if they wish to.

If you would like to come to either or both evenings you are welcome to just turn up, but it would be very helpful if you could let me know by email siriol.davies@southwark.anglican.org or text 07913 470 816.

If you intend to walk on Wednesday from St Peter’s Church in the group leaving at 7.30pm it would be good to know this.  Also, please ask if you have any further questions about the evenings.”

  1. Sunday 28 July At Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge, SE1 9DA, the South London Inter Faith Group is marking the end of its photo-exhibition there celebrating 16 years of inter faith walks.  All who are interested are invited to view the exhibition (7.30pm), to hear a short explanation of Ramadan and Iftar (8.30pm) and to join Muslim brothers and sisters for the call to prayer and iftar (around 9pm – 10pm).  Download the flyer here.  The Exhibition is open to the public every day from now until 28 July.

Please let me know if there are similar opportunities in other parts of London.

 

Regeneration in London – more questions than answers

badge_DaveHill_620Housing was one of the key issues highlighted by Elizabeth Simon at our last meetingHere are Dave Hill’s thoughts on the Elephant & Castle regeneration scheme in Southwark, whose progress some of us have been following for many years now.

How can the poorest benefit?  What is the role of local communities?  What kind of planning policy should London and its boroughs have?  The comments are also worth a read.

Save the dates: Multi Faith Spaces Exhibition 9th-13th July

Do you ever visit a prayer room or quiet room?

Does your local hospital, commercial centre, police station, airport, university, college or prison have a multi faith space?

  • Who are the key individuals involved in the development and management of these spaces?
  • Do multi faith spaces encourage social cohesion, or do they simply house difference’?

LBFN is bringing Manchester University’s research Multi Faith Spaces – Symptoms and Agents of Religious and Social Change to London.

The display will be up from Monday 9th July to Friday 13th July at St Alphege Hall, Kings Bench St, SE1 0QZ (nearest tube Southwark).

The Principal Researcher, Dr Chris Hewson, will be talking about the research on Tuesday 10th July at lunchtime.  Revd Dr Howard Worsley of London South Bank University’s Multi Faith Chaplaincy will also be speaking.  Light refreshments will be served.

Opening times are still to be confirmed but they are likely to be 11am to 4pm each day.

Chaplains, those with pastoral or managerial responsibility for a multi faith space, designers, architects and those interested in what these spaces represent and the impact they have will find the exhibition of interest.

Discussions will take place each day at allotted times, with refreshments served.

Workshops on multi faith spaces in

  • the NHS
  • in universities
  • in colleges of further education
  • in the police and prison services
  • in commercial settings

are being planned.  If you are interested in taking part, let LBFN know so that we can fix times that are convenient for you – and if you would like to lead a workshop on another topic.

For further details, please get in touch.  In the meantime, here is the project’s latest newsletter.

Guest post: flags and bunting!

LOCOG’s Karoline Rutrecht will be joining us at Thursday’s meeting and has kindly offered this guest post – thank you Karoline!

The Olympic Flame is nearly here – are you ready to celebrate?

This Friday 18 May the Olympic Flame lands in Britain to begin its historic 70-day relay across the UK.  Eight thousand people will carry the Torch 8,000 miles across all of the UK’s nations and regions.

Now local faith and multifaith groups have the chance to get involved and dress their Torch Relay, Games celebrations or Truce activities with London 2012’s Community Celebration Pack. The pack contains a range of official goodies- hand flags, bunting, a large flag and flagpole and a horizontal banner- with packs of hand flags also sold separately.

Packs are just £99 plus delivery. Plus, if you order nine packs, you’ll get the tenth for free.

Make sure your group places an order before the Torch comes to your borough! For further details and to order now, go to www.gameslookbook.com/community.

Thursday 17th November – next meeting

We are invited to the London Fire Brigade’s HQ (just south of the river, in Southwark, SE1) for our next meeting (see previous post).

We’ll gather on the morning of Thursday 17th November – and the LFB has kindly arranged a visit for us afterwards to the adjoining London Fire Brigade Museum.

We’ll be hearing more about the Near Neighbours programme and sharing news from across the capital.  Inter Faith Week (20-26th November) will be around the corner and we’ll have updates about opportunities during the Olympic and Paralympic season next year (see our London 2012 page for the latest news).

Anything you would like to include on the agenda or share with us?  Please let me know asap.

As ever, please let me know if you are planning to join us and I will send details.  Your name needs to be on the list to gain entry, so please be in touch by 14th November if possible.