Category Archives: Wandsworth

Inter Faith Week 2014 in London

Posted on by
Reply

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!

Near Neighbours launches in Wandsworth and Brent

Posted on by
Reply

Wandsworth NN launch 10 NovPhase Two of the Near Neighbours Programme (grants of £250 to £5,000 for local groups to develop relationships across diverse faiths and ethnicities) is launching in Wandsworth at 2-4pm on Monday 10 November at the Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street, SW18 2PU and in Brent at 2-4pm on Tuesday 18 November at Brent Civic Centre, Wembley, HA9 0FJ.

Becky Brookman, the Near Neighbours Co-ordinator for West London and parts of South London, is inviting all local religious and community organisations to attend the launches.

Let her know if you are hoping to attend by ringing  07837 936 957 or emailing beckyb@kingscentresouthall.org.uk.

Near Neighbours – additional boroughs

Posted on by
Reply
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.

Black Mental Health conference 9 October

Posted on by
Reply

HOBVHealing Our Broken Village: how much do we know about Black Mental Health and what are we going to do about it?

Conference on Thursday 9 October 3.30-8pm at New Testament Assembly, 7 Beechcroft Rd, nr Tooting Bec tube, SW17 7BU.  Download the flyer.

A warm welcome to everyone across London who cares about

  • why there’s a disproportionately high number of black Londoners in mental health services
  • how local churches, mosques and temples can work with the NHS to co-produce better & earlier services which people trust

Speakers from local religious communities, London School of Economics, SW London Mental Health Trust, Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Group – with workshops, interactive sessions and a shared supper to finish.

hobv5This is the sixth annual conference organised by Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network on Black Mental Health in partnership with clinicians and policy makers – and is always a lively occasion!

Participation is free, but register in advance here.

Walks | pilgrimages | fundays

Posted on by
Reply

Three local walks and pilgrimages and a funday are coming up during September.

BATCA flyerSaturday 13 September Balham & Tooting Community Association’s annual Funday will take place at Gatton Muslim Primary School and St Augustine’s Church of England in Tooting, Wandsworth.  Attractions will include food from around the world, a clown, fairground rides, traditional sideshows, penalty shoot outs, creative arts, free NHS health checks for over 40s, craft stalls, farm animals, a fire engine and much more.

The theme this year is “Celebrating Life Together.”   Download details here.

WF walkSunday 14 September

The Women’s Interfaith Network in Waltham Forest is leading a Friendship Pilgrimage “Sounds of Spirituality” around the borough.

They will visit nine places of worship, starting at the Sri Karpaga Vinayagar Temple and ending with supper together.

People are welcome to join the pilgrimage at any stop.

Download the flyer and programme.

ftilSaturday 20 September Faiths Together in Lambeth will be leading an Inter Faith Walk, starting at Church of the Holy Spirit, stopping at four more places of worship and practice in the north of the borough and finishing at Lambeth Masjid and Progressive Community Centre.

Walkers are invited to join at any time.  Download the flyer and map.

st e walkSunday 21 September The Ethelburga Walk from Barking to Bishopsgate will raise funds for St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace.

It will make its way through “surprising green spaces in East London.”  There’ll be storytelling, music and refreshments en route for a great day out and for a good cause. Children and dogs welcome.

Download the flyer here and register at www.stethelburgas.org/walk.

Are you planning a walk or community event?  Let LBFN know and we can add it to the blog.

Mayor’s police & crime roadshows

Posted on by
Reply

Stephen Greenhalgh, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, is revisiting every London borough with senior Metropolitan Police officers.  Sixteen boroughs were visited early in 2014.

They will be talking about local policing, telling us how they’ve been putting the Police and Crime Plan into practice and answering our questions.

Following our recent meeting at New Scotland Yard with Commander Mak Chishty, the roadshow may provide another opportunity to contact our Borough Commanders to talk about their engagement plans with local faith forums.

The next 16 events are scheduled from September to December.  Attendance is on a first come, first serve basis. They are asking people to register now and to let them know of any access needs.

Church of England Synod

Posted on by
Reply

cmeacLBFN’s Convener is speaking at a fringe meeting “Mind The Gap: how to bring a radical new approach to local community involvement: transforming outcomes of historically excluded communities” at the Church of England’s General Synod this weekend.

The panel has been organised by the Committee for Minority Ethnic Concerns.  Speakers include Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network’s Malik Gul and Lankelly Chase CEO Julian Corner.  It will follow a Synod debate on the Common Good, including a talk by Jim Wallis from Sojourners, USA.

If you are in York this weekend, please join us!  Download the flyer here.

Balham & Tooting Community Association

Posted on by
Reply

Balham & Tooting Community Association have two events coming up in Wandsworth.

OV-BATCA posteWednesday 23 October 6-8pm at 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW. A joint event with One Voice, “What’s next for Palestine?” With activists from Israel and Palestine.  Contact BATCA to add your name to the guest list.

Thursday 28 November 7-10pm at 202 Upper Tooting Road London, SW17 7TG. The annual BATCA Community Celebration and Local Heroes Awards.

“The aim of the awards is to honour ‘local heroes’: people who work tirelessly for the benefit of the community, whether as volunteers or in their jobs.”

Award nomination forms and (free) tickets for the event are available from BATCA.

Peace Ceremony at Tooting Broadway 26 September

Posted on by
Reply

BATCA peace ceremonyJoin Balham & Tooting Community Association on Thursday 26th September 6-7pm for prayers for peace outside Tooting Broadway tube station.

Passers-by light candles and local religious & civic leaders, including Sadiq Khan MP, lead prayers and meditations on the subject of peace.  It is always a popular event and everyone is welcome.

For more information, contact Kate Allan and download the flyer here.

Guest post: religious history in Wandsworth

Posted on by
Reply

Guest posts are always welcome.  Many thanks to John Woodhouse for reporting from Friday’s event.  John runs Westminster Cathedral Inter Faith Group and a busy email list – please contact him for further information.

Exploring Religious History in Wandsworth

Balham Baptist Church 14th June 2012

Supported by the Open University and Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network

Professor John Wolffe introduced the Building on History Project and we had a fascinating talk by Dr Clifford Hill on the Wilberforce Heritage in which he made it very clear that the legacy of slavery was still with us, notably in the 2011 riots. He pointed to white slavery as well as the black struggle.

malik's pic of Building on History

Wandsworth people from Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Sikh traditions decided to move forward with a religious history project.

Dr Tim Powell described the religious archives at the National Archives and a representative from the London Metropolitan Archive in Camberwell spoke. It struck me how people of faith may not know that their history is preserved in local collections like the Local History library at Battersea and Wandsworth Museum as well as National collections.

We then heard from leaders from Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, New Testament (they have their own published history!), Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh communities. Common themes began to emerge. There are many firsts in Wandsworth e.g. Quakers, Huguenots, temples. Many immigrant communities hung onto their faith in the face of opposition and struggled to get established. Youth work and community service were common themes.

Moulana Ali Rizvi i

Moulana Ali Rizvi addressing the seminar.

In the discussion that followed several themes emerged. Informing the younger generation about the past and using SACRE to help with funding. The John Cass foundation which is specifically for Wandsworth was mentioned as a source of funding. The council Green Plaque scheme and Wandsworth library, Balham Society, Putney Society, Battersea Society and especially Wandsworth Historical Society should be approached for help. A website and possibly a book for young people should be established and we were told that a London wide site is in progress.

A fascinating afternoon and a lot was learnt about each other!

John Woodhouse

The programme for the day can be downloaded here.