inter faith week 2020 connection, learning and cooperation

Inter Faith Week 2020Connection, learning and cooperation at the time ofCOVID

The Inter Faith Network for the UK

The Inter Faith Network for the UK (IFN) leads on Inter Faith Week, inconsultation with the Inter-faith Council for Wales/ Cyngor Rhyng-ffyddCymru and the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum in their respectivenations. IFN was founded in 1987 to “advance public knowledge andmutual understanding of the teachings, traditions and practices of thedifferent faith communities in Britain, including an awareness both oftheir distinctive features and their common ground and to promotegood relations between persons of different faiths”.

IFN’s role is unique: linking national faith community representativebodies, inter faith organisations, and academic and educational bodieswith a focus on inter faith or multi-faith issues and working with them todeepen inter faith understanding and cooperation in the UK. It carriesout its work through raising awareness within wider society of theimportance of inter faith issues, creating opportunities for linking andsharing good practice, and providing advice and information to help thedevelopment of new inter faith initiatives and the strengthening ofexisting ones. Working with its member bodies is an important part ofthis. Each of those makes its own contribution to inter faithunderstanding and cooperation in the UK. To find out more or tosupport IFN’s work of promoting inter faith understanding andcooperation, please visit www.interfaith.org.uk.

Published 2021 by the Inter Faith Networkfor the UKISBN: 1 902906 93 4

© Inter Faith Network for the UK

The Inter Faith Network for the UKRegistered charity no 1068934Company limited by guarantee no 3443823Registered in England2 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH

[email protected]/IFNetUKwww.facebook.com/IFNetUKwww.instagram.com/IFNetUKwww.linkedin.com/company/IFNetUK

The work of the InterFaith Network for theUK is supported byfaith communities,Government, trustsand other donors.

Design by Tattersall Hammarling & Silk Ltd

Cover photographs

Front cover:St Mary the Virgin Church/Merchant Seafarers Association/Muslim friends on Remembrance Sunday, Butetown, Cardiff•Blue Coat School, Coventry, learning about Diwali and Bandi Chorr Divas•Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (UK) with Planting for Peace at OneJAIN Ahimsa Peace Garden, Harrow•

Back cover:Executive Director and Founder President of the Woolf Institute, Cambridge•Diwali lunch at Rowan Preparatory School, Esher•

Inter Faith Week 2020Connection, learning

and cooperation at the time of COVID

RESPECTEDUCATIONDIALOGUEINTEGRITYVALUESCOMMUNITYCOOPERATIONDISTINCTIVENESSACTIONBELONGINGCOMMONGOODFAITHUNDERSTANDINGNEIGHBOURLINESSTACKLINGPREJUDICERESPECT

Foreword the Co-Chairs of the Inter Faith Network

The vision of the Inter Faith Network for the UK is of“a society where there is understanding of thediversity and richness of the faith communities in theUK and the contribution that they make; and wherewe live and work together with mutual respect andshared commitment to the common good.” It is thisvision that led it to establish Inter Faith Week in 2009,in partnership with the Government for the first year,and why each year IFN leads on the Week andsupports the programme.

We are delighted to provide the foreword to thisreport on the 2020 Inter Faith Week: a remarkableWeek which took place in the midst of the COVID-19pandemic. Thousands of people used the Week toconnect digitally and through multimedia in newways and many found solace and encouragement inthe contact they made at this time of isolation.

The 2020 Week ran from Sunday 8 to Sunday 15November. Thousands of people of differentbackgrounds connected to talk; celebrate; learn;make music; visit places of worship as part of virtualexploration trails; and much more. A number ofevents highlighted and celebrated the powerfulresponse of people of different faiths and beliefs toneed in their communities during the COVID-19pandemic. The Near Neighbours programme of theChurch of England encouraged and supported a widerange of activities for the Week.

It was wonderful to have special Inter Faith Weekmessages from many faith leaders about theimportance of faith communities working togetherfor the common good and being in dialogue.

One of IFN’s direct contributions to the Week thisyear was a special roundtable on youth inter faithengagement, reflecting its continuing commitmentto this vital area.

Thank you to all who took part and made the Weeksuch a success and to those who kindly responded tothe post-Week survey to help IFN continue to

develop the Week strongly. Also to IFN’s staff andInter Faith Week volunteers who worked withcommitment and dedication during the very difficultcircumstance of the pandemic.

Inter Faith Week could not happen without the muchvalued support of the Ministry of Housing,Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), andof trusts and individual donors towards the workprogramme, as well as a grant from the Inlight Trusttowards Inter Faith Week. Thank you.

We hope that reading about the activities highlightedin this report will inspire and encourage you to takepart in Inter Faith Week in 2021 and into the future,providing ever more opportunities for people tolearn about and engage positively with those ofdifferent faiths and beliefs.

The Rt Revd Jonathan Clark and Narendra WaghelaCo-Chairs, Inter Faith Network for the UK

3Inter Faith Week 2020: Connection, learning and cooperation at the time of COVID

Narendra Waghela Co-Chair, the Inter FaithNetwork for the UK

The Rt Revd JonathanClark, Co-Chair, the InterFaith Network for the UK

About this report

This report has been put together by the office of theInter Faith Network for the UK which leads on InterFaith Week. It conveys a sense of the wide variety ofactivities that took place and the range oforganisations that held these. There were over 700activities. The report can only cover some of theexcellent activities held but a full list of all those ofwhich IFN is aware can be seen athttps://www.interfaithweek.org/reports.

The report draws on a mixture of sources: social mediacoverage of the Week; information submitted to theInter Faith Week website about activities; furtherinformation researched online across the periodfollowing the Week, including reports by some activityholders; and a detailed survey sent to activity holders.

There has been a survey following the Week since itfirst began in 2009 and this enables some comparisonwith comparable statistics in previous years.

The report on the 2020 Week includes two specialsections: one on the backdrop of the pandemic andhow this shaped activities and participation; and oneon how online and digital opportunities forengagement helped people to connect and interact.

It is clear from the surveys and the comments andreports found through online research and alsocomments at subsequent IFN meetings that the Weekwas even more important than usual for many people:it connected, encouraged, informed and inspired at atime of deep need.

Harriet Crabtree OBEExecutive Director

4 Inter Faith Week 2020: Connection, learning and cooperation at the time of COVID

Follow Inter Faith Week: on Facebook, Twitter, Instagam:

facebook.com/IFWeek twitter.com/ifweek instagram.com/ifweek

Contents

Foreword from the Co-Chairs of the Inter Faith Network.................................................................3

About this report.....................................................................4

1. About Inter Faith Week.......................................................5

2. The Inter Faith Network for the UK and Inter Faith Week ......................................................................9

3. Inter Faith Week – Inspiration and encouragementduring the pandemic............................................................13

4. Embracing digital for a vibrant virtual week ..............20

5. Messages of encouragement and support for the week............................................................................23

6. Inter Faith Week reflections from Faith Leaders .......24

7. Who took part? ..................................................................26

8. What types of activities were held?...............................31

9. Inter Faith Week: A launch pad for new initiatives and seedbed partnerships .................................................34

10. Positive messaging.........................................................36

11. Inter Faith Week and Remembrance: Remembering Together......................................................38

12. Inter Faith Week: Increasing religion and belief literacy and mutual understanding ......................40

13. Inter Faith Week: Building respect, understanding and cooperation.......................................47

14. Inter Faith Week: Tackling social issues together....49

15. Inter Faith Week: Working together for the common good.......................................................................53

16. Inter Faith Week: Increasing youth inter faithengagement...........................................................................54

17. Inter Faith Week: Arts and culture and music...........56

18. Inter Faith Week: Services and devotional activities..................................................................................59

19. Inter Faith Week: Cooking up understanding!.........60

20. Building on this year’s successful week and looking to the future....................................................62

21. Executive Summary .......................................................64

1. About Inter Faith Week

The aims of the WeekInter Faith Week’s aims are to:

Strengthen inter faith relations at all levels •

Increase awareness of the different and distinct•faith communities in the UK, celebrating andbuilding on the contribution which they make totheir neighbourhoods and to wider society

Increase understanding between people of•religious and non-religious beliefs

These aims are linked to IFN’s vision of “a societywhere there is understanding of the diversity andrichness of the faith communities in the UK and thecontribution that they make; and where we live andwork together with mutual respect and sharedcommitment to the common good”.

The Week is a practical and powerful contribution totackling ignorance, prejudice and hatred and toincreasing understanding, respect, cooperation andpartnerships rooted in shared values.

The story of the WeekThe Week was established in 2009 by the Inter FaithNetwork for the UK (IFN), in partnership for the firstyear with the then Department for Communities andLocal Government. It is marked in England, NorthernIreland and Wales.

It drew its inspiration from the pioneering ScottishInterfaith Week which has been led by InterfaithScotland since 2004. There is a close workingrelationship between the two Weeks.

“Inter Faith Week draws attention to the workof different faiths, inter faith organisationsand the good work that faith communities do.”– LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

A Week with impactEach year, thousands of people get involved inactivities. In recent years, millions of people haveencountered the Week and its positive messagesthrough social media. In 2020 – the first mainlyvirtual Inter Faith Week – this developed further still.

Hundreds of organisations hold activities for theWeek, using it as a platform for activities which shareits aims. Many also use it to try out new approachesand create new partnerships.

“Inter Faith Week helps raise awareness of thediversity of religions that exist and helpsstrengthen interfaith relations” – LOCAL AUTHORITy IN NORTHERN IRELAND


of surveyrespondentsbelieved that theiractivity had helped

participants to learn more aboutdifferent faiths and beliefs.

95%

Why a special Week?Special Weeks – and Days and Months – are apopular way to shine a spotlight on a key issue orarea of activity: to raise awareness of the importantwork that goes on year round; provide a platform forcelebrating and growing that; and to launch newinitiatives. Schools, businesses, local authorities andother organisations often structure annual activitycalendars around key Days, Weeks and Months. In anever busier world, it helps preserve a space to givespecial focus to important issues and to plan for thatin advance.

Inter Faith Week has become an important fixture inthe calendar of many organisations – a special timeto highlight the importance of faith and belief in thelives of many people, the contribution of faith groupsto society, the importance of good inter faithrelations; and also to develop relationships and newpartnerships.

For many the Week offers the first chance to learn inany depth about the faiths and beliefs of workmates,neighbours and others or who might use it toencourage their organisation to engage morebroadly and deeply with different communities.

46% of survey respondents said that they workedwith organisations they had never worked withbefore as part of Inter Faith Week.

“Inter Faith Week allows us to become morewidely known – we are a small organisationbut being linked with IFW helps us reach awider audience.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

Why November?The month of November was chosen when the Weekbegan, following consultation with schools anduniversities. It is a time when educational bodies arein session and a helpful distance from other Weeksand Days with related but distinct themes.

“Inter Faith Week gives a particular focus tointerfaith engagement during one week of theyear. Its timing introduces interfaith dialogueearly in the academic year and acts as aprompt for further engagement through thecourse of the year.” – UNIVERSITy CHAPLAIN

The Week has in recent years been timed to begineach year on Remembrance Sunday, encouragingremembering together of the service of people ofdifferent faiths and beliefs and reflection on peace.

Inter Faith Week has had, since its outset, a closeworking relationship with Mitzvah Day – whichusually happens on the first or last Sunday of InterFaith Week – with each adding value and impact tothe other. Mitzvah Day is a special day of socialaction led by the Jewish Community, but with manyactivities held on an inter faith basis. At other timesin the year, IFN profiles Sadaqa Day and Sewa Day.

Inter FaithThe term ‘inter faith’ refers to interaction betweendifferent faith communities and traditions. It is usedin this context as inclusive of non-religious beliefgroups (while recognising that not all would use it inthat way).


of respondents saidthat their activityhelped them to reachnew people or groups.

88%

of survey respondentssaid that Inter FaithWeek adds value totheir work

98%

What’s so important about Inter Faith Week?

Inter Faith Week 2020 survey respondents were asked what they saw as most importantabout Inter Faith Week. Here are some of their answers:


“The Week helps raise awareness of the diversity of religions thatexist and helps strengthen interfaith relations.”

“Opening up dialogue.Getting to know others asindividuals helps createrespect and tolerance aswell as focusing onsimilarities and positivesrather than differencescausing fear and alienation.”

“It highlights that religions are importantin the community and that religions can[work] and are working together happilyand successfully.”

“... it inspires and provides afocus for celebratingdiversity.”

“The Week is a focal point foractivities and for promotinginterfaith.”

“Countering negativestereotypes in social andother media”.

“Inter Faith Week has a national presence and provides acatalyst for schools to focus on Inter Faith. It also providesresources and ideas.”

“The Week encourages positive connections andunderstanding between people of differentbackgrounds.”

“It is national and creates the space to organise and deliver activities/projects relevant and suitable for local need and interests.”

“The Week promotes interfaithunderstanding and therefore supportsfriendship against fear and prejudice.”

“The Week focusses ourattention and that of themedia (and hence generalpublic) on interfaith issues.”

“[The Week] promotesinterfaith collaboration forthe good of the localcommunity.”

“It encourages faiths to reachout to each other, learnmore about each other andwork together.

“Inter Faith Week Increases bonds between differentfaith and belief groups. It also recognisescommunities that might not otherwise be[recognised].”

“The national focus oninterfaith encourages localactivities.”


The Week increases awareness among people who would notusually be involved in interfaith/religious activity.”

“It gives visibility to theimportant work happening.”

“The Week provides a stimulus for local action, and aframework for planning and evaluation.”

“Inter Faith Week getspeople talking andmakes interfaithconnections.”

“It draws attention to the work of different faiths,interfaith organisations and the good work that faithcommunities do.”

“It brings together the range of eventshappening in one place so that thosewho are interested can learn about newevents, projects, organisations.”

“The opportunity to gaininsights into other faiths.”

“It helpsnationwide topromotemutual respectand peace.”

“Building understanding and raising theprofile of the positive benefits of faithand worldviews.”

“Widening/celebratingunderstanding of otherfaiths and common ground.”

“Personalencountersbetween peopleof differentfaiths.”

“Bringing peopletogether.”

“Inter Faith Week is atime for reflection,listening andappreciation of others.”

“The Weekpromotesawareness andunderstandingof the variousfaith groupsand provides afocus nationally,along withgood practice.”

“Raisingawareness andinteractionbetween faiths.”

2. The Inter Faith Network for the UK and Inter Faith Week

Helping Inter Faith Week happenProviding the framework and resources to enable asuccessful Inter Faith Week is a big part of IFN’s workeach year.

Promoting and publicising the WeekIFN promotes and publicises Inter Faith Week in themonths leading up to it. It does this through itswww.interfaithweek.org website and its dedicatedInter Faith Week Twitter, Facebook and Instagramaccounts, as well as through targeted mailings to awide range of different types of organisation. TheInter Faith Week logo and branding are madeavailable through the Inter Faith Week website.

Each year, IFN updates the Inter Faith Week websiteand creates new resources for the Week, fromactivity ideas to thematic guides. It also sendsregistration packs to those who list their activities onthe website to publicise their own events and giveneven greater profile to the Week.


Inter Faith Week 2020

www.interfaithweek.org

COOPERATE/LEARN/TALK/REFLECT/APPRECIATE/RESPECT/VOLUNTEER/MAKE FRIENDS/CELEBRATE

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram:

Inter Faith Week is a programme of The Inter Faith Network for the UK 2 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W0DH020 7730 0410 | www.interfaith.org.uk | [email protected] charity no. 1068934.Company limited by guarantee no. 3443823.Registered in England.

The work of IFN is supportedby faith communities, theMinistry of Housing,Communities and LocalGovernment, Trusts, andother donors.

@IFWeek IFWeek IFWeek

An opportunity to:• Strengthen good inter faith relationsat all levels

• Increase awareness of faithcommunities in the UK, celebrating and building on thecontribution which their membersmake to their neighbourhoods and to wider society

• Increase understanding between peopleof religious and non-religious beliefs

Inter Faith Week 20208–15 November

COOPERATE/LEARN/ RESPECT/REFLECT/ APPRECIATE/TALK/VOLUNTEER/MAKEFRIENDS/CELEBRATEwww.interfaithweek.org

#Interfaithweek

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter:facebook.com/IFWeek @IFWeek

Inter Faith Week 20208–15NovemberJoin the thousands of people andorganisations who will be taking part in Inter Faith Week this year: faith, belief andinter faith bodies; voluntary organisations;local authorities; museums and libraries;schools; colleges; universities; chaplaincies;emergency services; hospitals; sportsorganisations; businesses and workplaces;and many others. At this time of Covid-19, the Week is evermore important, helping people continue to come together; make new links andfriendships; educate against prejudice andhatred; and volunteer together to helpothers. Lots of great ideas for sociallydistanced and online activities are at:www.interfaithweek.org/resources/ideasInter Faith Week begins each year onRemembrance Sunday, encouragingremembering together of the service ofpeople of di-erent backgrounds.

Visit www.interfaithweek.org for resources and to register and publicise your activity.And don’t forget to share your activities on social media! #InterFaithWeek Scottish Interfaith Week, led by Interfaith Scotland, will also run from 8–15 November –scottishinterfaithweek.org

Inter Faith Week isa programme ofthe Inter FaithNetwork for the UKIFN, 2 GrosvenorGardens, LondonSW1W 0DH

[email protected] www.interfaith.org.ukRegistered charity no. 1068934. Companylimited by guarantee no. 3443823. Registered in England.

Images: IFN webinar; StAnne’s RC Primary School Sunderland atNewcastle Hindu Temple; Near Neighbours East Lancs/LancsForum of Faiths; Board of Deputies of British Jews at Khalsa JathaCentral Gurdwara, London; One Jain/Shrimad Rajchandra MissionDharampur/ Harrow Interfaith/ Harrow Council/ Trees for Citiestree planting; Gardens of Faith at Cardi. Met University –photo:Landscapes of Faith Project, South Wales; Remembrance, Nelson –BuildingBridges Pendle. Event photos: 2019.

Dr Esther-Miriam Wagner, Executive Director and Dr EdwardKessler MBE, Founder President of the Woolf Institute, share amessage of support for Inter Faith Week 2020.

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Produced for Inter Faith Week 2020 by the Inter Faith Network for the UK

A selection of ideas for marking the Week virtually, in the context of COVID-19If you are thinking about an online opportunity for learning, mixing or helpingyour community to come together there are a number of things you might do, for example:

Work with a selection of local places of worship•to create online tours of these and assemblethem into a faith trail that people can take partin online

Hold a ‘virtual’ civic reception for local faith•leaders and perhaps record a joint Inter FaithWeek message about the importance of goodinter faith relations in your area

Hold an art or photo competition which can be•judged online if necessary

Create a calendar for next year with pictures•taken of inter faith events, places of worship inyour area or artwork from differentcommunities

Create an online quiz about the world’s religions•and hold the quiz online during the Week

Create a blog or oral history project about the•history of faith communities in your area, wheninter faith activity began and how it hasdeveloped

Interview members of local faith communities•and non-religious belief groups about the ideaof ‘service’ in their tradition and how theirbeliefs inspire them and their colleagues towork to help the wider community

Hold an online ‘bake-in’ or ‘cook-in’ where•people of different faiths share their recipes andshow the finished item!

If you are a member of a local inter faith group,•across the coming months work with membersto produce a short history of your group (if youdon’t already have one!) with some reflectionsabout why its work is so important and publishit during Inter Faith Week

Set up an ‘Inter Faith Week Buddy’ experience•where two people, each of a different faith ornon-religious belief keep in touch acrossSeptember and October and share during InterFaith Week some of what they have gained fromthis (more details available here if you wouldlike to try this idea)

If there are people still needing to self-isolate or•be ‘shielded’ during Inter Faith Week, consider asafe way that you might encourage an inter faithteam to volunteer and deliver a special ‘InterFaith Week’ lunch with samples of foods fromsome of the different faith communities in thearea

Create an on-line ‘faith fair’ for your workplace•or Student Union with information aboutdifferent faiths and beliefs and opportunities toengage in online chats.

Develop a new website or update your website –•or the faith or inter faith section of it – andlaunch that in Inter Faith Week

Create an exhibition about different faiths with•display panels about each faith group in yourarea that could be exhibited in an open air spacesuch as at your local rail/ bus station

Host a webinar or other educational activity for•the public

Create an online exhibition of some of the•artefacts in your museum linked to particularfaiths, perhaps with talks from people of thosefaiths


“ What I found most helpful was really the factthat the week was driven and generated byIFN and that you supported our event bysomeone attending.” – A NATIONAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

“Thanks to @IFNetUK for their exceptionalwork in coordinating @IFWeek” – NEAR NEIGHBOURS

Inter Faith Week is part of IFN’s year-round work andis supported by its staff rather than by a separateteam. It draws from, and feeds into, its wider work ofpromotion of inter faith understanding andcooperation in the UK.

“It is not just about Inter Faith Week, but theInter Faith Network generally has beenproviding support and encouragement overthe years, which enables local organisationslike ours to do what we do locally so well interms of enabling people and communities tolive well together.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

From April through to October, IFN staff reach out toa wide variety of different organisations to encouragethem to use the fantastic platform that the Weekprovides for increasing religious literacy, promotinggood inter faith relations, celebrating, andhighlighting their own work. An example of this isoutreach to statutory services. For the 2020 Week,liaison by the IFN office with the National PoliceChiefs Council’s Religion and Belief Sub-group fedinto mailings to every Police Force in the UK withideas about how police forces, stations and officerscould mark Inter Faith Week 2020. This also includedthe national network of Police Chaplains, supportingtheir work with officers and staff and encouragingthem to celebrate the role that faith and belief play intheir lives and service to the community.

IFN staff members contributed to a number of InterFaith Week events. For example its ExecutiveDirector, was invited by Building Bridges Burnley to

speak at its AGM about the importance of local interfaith organisations to good inter faith relations.

Inter Faith Week activities are held by independentorganisations and they are invited to register them.As details on planned activities come in, they areadded to an interactive map on the website which isdesigned to enable people to search by area, topicsand date. During the Week, the team continues toadd events as they come in and also to source andadd details for activities that were not preregistered.This enables people to find activities near them orthat they can join online. It also helps ensure that themedia can easily find information about the Weekand its activities.

In the run up to the Week and during it, the IFN officeworks to ensure maximum social media impact – forexample to ensure that tweets have as wide a reachas possible – and to respond to media enquiries. Thisincreases the impact of the Week and adds topositive narratives about faith and belief groups andthe generally good relations that exist in the UK.

In 2020, IFW related tweetsreached a very wide audience – far beyond those who participateddirectly in Inter Faith Weekactivities. Tweets about Inter FaithWeek appeared on the feeds of11million Twitter users (the

‘potential reach’), a total of34.7million times (the ‘potentialimpressions’) during October,November and December.

A virtual scriptural reasoning session led by Maysoon Shafiq,of Al Mu’minun (The Believers), a Kirklees’ CommunityDiversity Champion

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Developing and supporting Inter FaithWeek during the pandemicIn the context of the pandemic, IFN created andcirculated new activity lists for organisations such aslocal authorities, schools, faith and inter faith bodies,hospitals and hospices, and workplaces andbusinesses. These included both in-person andonline options since the course of the pandemic wasso uncertain that different options were needed.Most of the in-person suggestions were easy toswitch from in-person to virtual if needed. It alsoproduced a short list of online activity ideas (seepage 10).

A particular push was made to support digitalactivities including online dialogue – and also to helpready people to do that. In the run up to the Week,IFN held a special webinar on preparing for InterFaith Week, with a particular focus on planningvirtual activities in the context of the pandemic. Thisincluded presentations from a number of local interfaith groups and projects.

A recording of the webinar can be viewed athttps://www.interfaithweek.org/resources/webinars.

As part of its wider work, IFN also included sessions atmember body meetings on the new ways that bodieswere bringing people together during the pandemic,and ran a special webinar for local inter faith groupson ‘Getting Together at a Time of COVID-19’. Thishelped to build the capacity of inter faith initiatives –many of which had expressed prior to the pandemic alack of confidence in using digital technology.

In 2020, additional features were added to thewebsite to make it easy to filter betweenonline/virtual activities and those held in person(such as in schools, hospitals, and hospices) and toview listings of activities taking place on particulardays. A number of people commented that the

virtual nature of the Week meant that it was mucheasier to participate in activities that might usuallybe too far away to attend.

Analysing the Week’s impact to helpdevelop it for the futureAt the end of each Week a survey is sent out to activityorganisers which asks a number of questions aboutthe Week, for example: “Did your Inter Faith Weekactivity help you to engage with new people/ groups?”,“Is your organisation planning any kind of follow-upactivity in the coming months?” and “Do you thinkyour Inter Faith Week activity helped participants tolearn more about different faiths and beliefs?”

The answers, together with media coverage, reportsfrom individual activity holders and reflectionsoffered at subsequent IFN events, help tell the storyof the Week that you are reading here. They also helpIFN develop the Week to ensure that its impactgrows, helping it contribute to the development of asociety where there is respect, tolerance,neighbourliness, religious literacy and a sharedcommitment to working for the common good.

Feedback through this year’s survey includedcomment from several respondents about thedesirability of securing more national mediacoverage of the Week (which had been lower in2020). However, overall, the feedback – whichunderlies a number of the charts and other statisticsin this report – was exceptionally positive andreflected a desire both to take part again and also tosee the Week, with its vital aims of cooperation andunderstanding, thrive.

The Week that is not just a week!Finally, the Week is not just a week! IFN’s Inter FaithWeek programme is a year-round one: planning for thenext Week, publicising it, helping ever more people andorganisations get involved, surveying and reporting onthe Week, and developing new partnerships which canstrengthen the Week and particular areas of work suchas youth inter faith engagement.

IFN also aims to provide two internships a year with aparticular focus on Inter Faith Week, giving youngpeople an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge fortheir future careers and to benefit their communities.

3 . Inter Faith Week – Inspiration andencouragement during the pandemic

The backdrop of the pandemicIn March of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit the UK.Life changed in all sorts of ways as people strove torespond to the kind of medical threat not seen forover a century.

The succeeding months saw faith communities andtheir members playing a major role on many frontsduring the pandemic: supporting their owncommunities, working with Government and otheragencies to maximise COVID awareness and safetyand responding to help people in need of food andother basic necessities.

Inter Faith Week 2020 took place at a time when allnations of the UK were under strict social distancingand lockdown measures. Ahead of the Weekorganisers had wondered whether there would beless keenness to engage or less ability to do sobecause of social distancing and other pandemicimpacts. However, the Week turned out to be onewith real impact.

Inter Faith Week helped people in some significantways and was a bright point for many at a verydifficult time.

“... It felt even more needed this year!” – INTER FAITH CHARITy

“The Week made space for connection betweenpeople who have never met, or who have notinteracted since before the pandemic. Ourtarget audience are particularly isolated andvulnerable, and so making spaces for them tobe together was very valuable.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

“We were all in it together, made a big effort tohave a successful event, and it worked.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

“At a time that people were strugglingphysically, emotionally and financially,spiritual support became the most importantpoint in ordinary peoples’ lives. Any event heldduring the Inter Faith Week this year wasparticularly important from this point of view.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

“The 2020 Interfaith Week has been like noother as it came in during the secondlockdown due to the Covid 19 pandemic.Consequently, we find many people sufferingwith anxiety, loneliness and fear. Yet, always,without fail, faith enhances our mind, upliftsour spirits and fills our hearts with strongfeelings of courage and determination. Morethan ever, caring and sharing with others inour community, becomes more importantthan ever. It gives us all the strength to gothrough this difficult time by sharing love andreaching out with friendship in our hearts.With the current situation in mind promotinginterfaith relationships in our localcommunities and bringing some peace andsecurity...” – GURDWARA SRI GURU SINGH SABHA HOUNSLOWHTTPS://WWW.SGSS.ORG/DOCS/GOBINDMARG/GM%20DEC%202020.PDF


“We had speakers sharing how they have beenimpacted by the pandemic, talking aboutfestivals and holy days that have beendifferent this year, and sharing elements fromtheir faiths that have helped them and giventhem strength during this difficult time.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

Creating powerful webs of connection The Week provided a valuable channel for creatingand celebrating connection and highlighting theamazing response of faith and inter faith initiativesduring the pandemic to help those in need.

“Interfaith week provides us with a fantasticopportunity to celebrate the significantcontribution our faith communities inSwansea make in both good and challengingtimes such as Covid-19….This week we areable to bring all our communities together toincrease interfaith dialogue and to betterconnect with our communities of faith andbelief in the broadest sense.” – CHAIR OF SWANSEA INTERFAITH FORUM AND FAITHAND COMMUNITy MANAGER AT SWANSEA UNIVERSITy(SWANSEA COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE)

A staff member of a children and young people’shospice in the West Midlands wrote:

“Since April the hospice has been workingdifferently, lots of staff had been furloughed,some are still part time furloughed, lots ofstaff are working remotely, our respiteprovision has reduced as a result. Our [InterFaith Week] activity where the childrencreated a mountain scenery built their self-esteem contributing to a project, inviting stafffamilies and volunteers and local faithcommunities to join with us to #ShareTheLightlighting a candle at home, brought everyonetogether and made us visible to our serviceusers who may not have been able to have theusual support from us that they normally getoutside of a pandemic. A lot of families oftentell us, knowing we are there provides supportin itself; this interfaith activity reinforced that.”

AgeUK did an online article, ‘The role of faith duringthe coronavirus pandemic’ with interviews with fiveolder people of different faiths about how their faithhad been affected by the ongoing pandemic.https://www.ageuk.org.uk/discover/2020/11/the-role-of-faith-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/

The Week saw an exploration of topics relating to theimpacts of the pandemic, such as mental health,discussions on the way forward, the role of faith indifficult times, and celebrations of unity. Many alsoused the Week as a platform to celebrate thecontribution of faith communities and faith andbelief-based organisations in responding to thepandemic.

Norwich Inter-Faith Link brought together peoplefrom Norwich’s Baha’i, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, andMuslim communities in an online conversation aboutthe ways in which COVID-19 was affecting faithcommunities. The video showed the key role of faithcommunities across Norfolk during the COVIDpandemic. Assistance on creating the video wasprovided by Rosedale Funeral Homes. The videorecording can be found here:https://youtu.be/PXJVOwL17UQ.

A number of other inter faith organisations heldwebinars on how faith communities in their areashad been coming together during difficult times, forexample Elmbridge Multi Faith Forum; InterfaithWolverhampton; Richmond Inter Faith Forum; andTower Hamlets Inter Faith Forum.

The University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham InterFaith and Cheltenham Borough Council held anevent ‘Faith in a Pandemic’ – looking at differentcommunities’ and individuals’ experiences of the

of surveyrespondents saidthat, in the COVID-19context, Inter FaithWeek provided a

focal point for making orcelebrating positive connectionsbetween people of differentbackgrounds


93%

COVID-19 pandemic from a faith perspective, withvoices from local faith communities through shortfilms, talking pieces and breakouts for participants tocome together in smaller groups to discuss their ownexperiences.

Wellsprings Together in West yorkshire/NearNeighbours produced a series of videos celebratingthe contribution of grassroots faith and communitygroups who had been working during the pandemicto support one another and the most vulnerable:More in Common, Batley; BEAP CommunityPartnership, the Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara,Khidmat Centre, Unity Boxing Academy, andTouchstone Centre in Bradford; the Good ShepherdCentre in Keighley; and the Black Health Initiative,Circles of Life Women Together, the Hamara Centre,Leeds Jewish Housing Association, Makkah Mosque,Rainbow Junktion, St Aidan’s Church and Sikh EldersService in Leeds. These can be viewed athttps://wellspringstogether.org.uk/interfaith-week-2020

They open with a video of the Church of EnglandBishop of Bradford talking about the important workof communities during the pandemic – rainbows atdark times – and taking the time of Inter Faith Weekto express thanks.

Near Neighbours also joined forces with London’sCity Hall to mark Inter Faith Week with an event tocelebrate the work of faith organisations to supportLondoners of all faiths and none in dealing with theimpact of COVID-19 on their lives. Near NeighboursTeams were also active in a number of other areas(see the list of their hubs at: https://www.near-neighbours.org.uk/local-hubs).

Birmingham Council of Faiths in collaboration withBahu Trust held an online celebration of thecontribution of the Emergency Services.


Five people of different faiths interviewed by Age UK about how their faith was affected by the pandemic

Online flyer for an event held by the University ofGloucestershire, Cheltenham Inter Faith and CheltenhamBorough Council

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INTER FAITH WEEK SNAPSHOT 1

Tower Hamlets: Testing Times – A report on an eventLike so many other events this year, our 2020Inter Faith Week event took place online. Thisdidn’t deter the faith community of TowerHamlets and beyond coming together to mark theoccasion – we were pleased to be joined by nearly50 attendees. We had a fantastic line up ofspeakers; for those that could not attend, theevent was recorded and is available here.

Our first speaker was Janet Daby MP, ShadowMinister for Faith, Women and Equalities. Janetpaid tribute to the hard work and dedication offaith leaders, volunteers and congregationsthroughout the pandemic. She acknowledged thatthere has been much disruption for faithcommunities due to the closure of places ofworship, and confirmed that she works hard torepresent the views of faith leaders to thegovernment, stating that faith and places ofworship should not be an afterthought. Janet alsohighlighted the importance of religious educationstarting from a young age, to aid community andcohesion. [She] went on to talk aboutbereavement and the impact that will be felt forsome time due to so many people losing lovedones throughout the pandemic.

Our next speaker was Senior Imam at East LondonMosque, Sheikh Mohammed Mahmud. The Imamspoke about the hard work that went into makingthe mosque covid secure. He explained about thecalls to prayer being adapted to tell people to prayat home. Prayers are now recorded and broadcastvia Facebook, YouTube and Zoom and classes arealso carried out online. Counselling services arealso done remotely – with weddings taking placevia Zoom! The Imam spoke about the many waysthat they supported the local community, forexample by running a food bank and supplyingPPE to other mosques and care homes. You cansee presentation slide here.

Acting Chief Inspector Pete Shaw was next and heexplained that the police are focused on the ‘threeE’ approach to the public and coronavirus law –engage, encourage, explain. He said thatenforcement as an approach is low down on theirlist of priorities, especially with faith

communities. He highlighted the importance ofworshipping safely at a venue and underlined thatwearing a mask is a requirement by law. Pete thengave an overview of the current guidance aroundindividual prayer and gatherings such asweddings, before giving some tips on how tomake a venue covid secure.

Following on from Pete’s advice, Abigail Knight,associate director of LBTH Public Health and PollyAshmore, public health specialty registrar, definedthe guidance further. Highlighting the circumstancesin which places of worship can be open:

Independent prayer;•

Service broadcasting;•

Funerals (with up to 30 people), and linked•ceremonial events (such as ash scattering, withup to 15 people), with social distancingmaintained;

Education and training;•

Childcare purposes and supervised activities for•children;

Support groups;•

Essential services, inc blood donation and food•banks;

To provide medical treatment.•

Full details can be seen on the presentationslides. Polly went on to explain about projectstarting in the near future that will involveengagement officer/s distributing PPE to places ofworship in the borough. This will help getpractical feedback on requirements. Abigailhighlighted the Community Champions Network,which meets online each week and is a great wayto stay up to date with all the latest advice and askquestions.

Lastly, Peter Okali, CEO of THCVS spoke about thefunding that is currently available. The two mainpots of funding at the moment are the LBTHsmall grants fund and the National Lottery.

https://www.faithintowerhamlets.org/2020/12/01/inter-faith-week-2020-event-review

The London Borough of Hillingdon Council, with theassistance of Hillingdon Inter Faith Network (HIFN),put out a Week-long series of videos with faithleaders on how they had helped to keepcommunities safe and connected throughout thepandemic. HIFN recorded the conversations with

leaders from the local Christian, Hindu, Jewish,Muslim, and Sikh communities. A playlist of the videoseries can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHgUbmOJNk9f9bGbWT4cjdbEV0yN92ufc

In Bournemouth, the Mayor chaired an event on‘Coronavirus and Congregational Cohesion’ withBournemouth Islamic Centre and Mosque,Bournemouth Reform Synagogue and St Peter’sParish Church.

In the London Borough of Haringey, the HaringeyFaith Forum arranged for a number of pairs of clergyof different faiths to meet virtually. This video showsthe Rabbi of Muswell Hill Synagogue and the Vicar ofChrist Church in West Green each speaking andtalking together about their role and experiencesministering to their congregations during thepandemic, while showing each other round theirrespectivie place of worship via video call.https://youtu.be/Aqssy-_NhyI

The National Emergencies Trust marked the Week byhighlighting a number of case studies of work thathad been taking place with support of funds raisedthrough the Coronavirus Appeal, including the LinkFamily and Community Centre in Newtownards,Northern Ireland, the Jewish Community Council ofGateshead and the East London Mosque and LondonMuslim Centre.https://nationalemergenciestrust.org.uk/inter-faith-week/

Other organisations also held events on a pandemictheme. For example, Barnardo’s and Action forChildren, supported by the Association of MuslimSchools UK, held an online discussion where faithand community leaders shared their experiences ofhow they had supported their communities duringthe pandemic and reflected on the impact of thepandemic on communities, including what this hasmeant for children, young people and families andhow a wider charity response might support faithcommunities to which many of their service usersbelonged.


Top: The Revd Gita Bond, Christ Church in West GreenBottom: Rabbi David Mason, Muswell Hill Synagogue

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INTER FAITH WEEK SNAPSHOT 2

West Yorkshire: Wellsprings TogetherNear Neighbours West Yorkshire Coordinator talksabout its Inter Faith Week project at a subsequent IFNmeeting for local inter faith organsations in Yorkshire.

“During Covid, when everything got shut down,we saw how many people from faithcommunities went into action to support peoplewho had lost jobs, or were on the breadline withnot enough benefits to support them. Amazingwork was done across the whole of the country.The value of faith communities at times of crisiswas really clear – how everybody stood up. I sawthis first hand across West Yorkshire: Sikhs,Hindus, Muslims, Christians, everyone was goingnonstop from March to help others.

“It got harder for faith communities as food andfinancial needs increased and loneliness, mentalhealth, suicide and self-harm rose. But the workstill had to be done or some people would havegone hungry or possibly even died. The faithcommunities stepped in and we wanted tocelebrate that. I was seeing so many ‘thank yous’for frontline workers and others but I did not seethat same type of appreciation being expressedfor what was going on within the faithcommunities. So for Inter Faith Week, I wanted toshow what the West Yorkshire, Faith andCommunity sector had been doing to supportpeople during the Covid pandemic and I wanted athank you to be said.

“We put together a series of small short films. Fortwo weeks I travelled around the whole of WestYorkshire with my mask on and I intervieweddifferent groups. They were videoed, with theassistance of Pishdaad Modaressi Chahardehi,and photos were taken as well. We created twentytwo 20 second videos in total and a 4 minutes oneencompassing all the groups covered. We usedthe photographs as a taster so people knew thatsomething was coming. The videos were releasedduring Inter Faith Week, with the 4 minutesoverview shown on the final Sunday. We were soproud of the videos. I felt “That’s it I’ve shown it,I’ve given the space for recognition that faithcommunities needed in a national way, through a

Yorkshire lens.” Through those videos we showedour appreciation and the importance of what thefaith communities were doing and why theyshould be centre stage alongside the nurses anddoctors and other front line workers who havegiven so much.”

Bryron Francis of Unity Boxing Academy, for a video byWellsprings Together

Sofia Buncy of the Khidmat Centre, for a video by WellspringsTogether

Gian Singh holds a sign to introduce the Wellsprings Togethervideo for the first day of Inter Faith Week 2020

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School Inter Faith Week events also saw pupilsexploring this key issue, as this example fromOldham Sixth Form College illustrates:

Inter Faith Week at Oldham Sixth FormCollege.

“Staff and students attended (virtually, ofcourse) with members of the 4 major religions:Father Phil Sumner, Rabbi Daniel Walker,Mufti Helal Mahmood and Mr Jit Kara.Students had the opportunity to discuss keytopics with leaders of the faiths. The first topicdiscussed was an obvious one. Students posedquestions about how the coronaviruspandemic had impacted on the number ofpeople accessing support from their faith. Theleaders discussed how they had been workingtogether to ensure the Oldham community asa whole was supported, such as using theMosques to provide food packages for those inneed. The overall message was that there hasbeen an increase in the number of peopleaccessing support, but it has beenincreasingly difficult to provide support in ameaningful way without face-to-facemeetings.

The first topic discussed was an obvious one.Students posed questions about how thecoronavirus pandemic had impacted on thenumber of people accessing support fromtheir faith. The leaders discussed how theyhad been working together to ensure theOldham community as a whole was supported,such as using the Mosques to provide foodpackages for those in need. The overallmessage was that there has been an increasein the number of people accessing support,but it has been increasingly difficult to providesupport in a meaningful way without face-to-face meetings.”

Conveying a message of hope was an important partof a number of COVID-focused activities for the Week,for example, the Archdiocese of Birmingham InterReligious Dialogue Commission’s Dare to Hopeonline event and the ‘Messages of Hope’ videocreated by North Kent Council for Inter-Faith

Relations with contributions from different local faithcommunities (https://youtu.be/l60fWfTC0sI).

North Kirklees Interfaith shared ‘messages of hopefrom people across Kirklees around faith andcommunity’ through Petals for Peace, supported bythe Cohesion team at Kirklees Council.

BAPS Swaminaryan Sanstha held an onlineconference, ‘Kindness during Covid’.


A collection of ‘Petals for Peace’ made by pupils St Patrick’sCatholic Primary School, Birkby

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One of the messages shared as part of Petals for Peace

4. Embracing digital for a vibrant virtualweek

COVID-19 drives exploration of digitaland multimediaThe social distancing measures in place for COVID-19led to Inter Faith Week 2020 being held mainly virtually.

During the months that led up to it, however, manypeople were getting to grips with the world of virtualmeetings, and by the time Inter Faith Week tookplace there was widespread and enthusiasticengagement through routes such as Zoom and MSTeams, with participating organisations findingcreative new ways to host activities and celebratethe Week.

There was a significant increase in use of videos andvideo messages – notably among local authorities,ranging from individual messages for the Week suchas the Mayor of Bradford’s video message on InterFaith Week and Islamophobia (the Week falls during

Islamophobia Awareness Month), to video seriessuch as that produced by South Tyneside Council:


of activities tookplace online or had astrong virtualelement

74%

Councillor Norman Dick, the Mayor of South Tyneside

INTER FAITH WEEK SNAPSHOT 3York Interfaith GroupOur Inter Faith Week 2020 will be certainlyone that we will all remember because of thestrange situation and uncharted waters wefound ourselves in. We had to be creativewith thinking of different ways to put on ourevents virtually instead of actually and I haveto report that it worked amazingly well. Wehad over 330 people ‘attending’ our events,which is far more than we usually get undernormal circumstances. We think that theactual number may even be closer to 350 butit was not possible to count all the faces onsome of the screens. It was an amazing turnout given the current situation though.

The majority of the faith groups that makeup membership of York Interfaith Groupwere able to put on an event this year whichwas really fantastic given the difficulties

caused by the pandemic. There were eventsorganised by the Mormon Church, the YorkBuddhist Network, The Baha’i’s, the Quakers,the Liberal Jewish Community, the Muslims,the Hindu and Sikh communities, plusadditional events from the University of Yorkand the York LGBT Forum regarding youngpeople and their faiths. Our InterfaithService to close the week’s activities washosted by members of Jesus Christ of theLatter Day Saints Church and it was attendedby 65 people, including the Lord Mayor ofYork Janet Looker and the MP for CentralYork Rachel Maskill. The service wasentitled ‘Faith in Unusual Times’ and that ismost certainly what it has been this year.

– York Interfaith December newsletter

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“This week South Tyneside is paying tribute toInter Faith Week – a tremendous opportunityfor us to demonstrate and strengthen linkswith the diverse local community and toencourage new links and partnerships whichcontribute to integration and cohesion. Wehave put together a series of virtual talks fromreligious leaders of different faiths … throughthese videos we hope to highlight theimportance of positive engagement betweenpeople of different backgrounds, tacklingprejudice and standing up to hate, solidarityat times of difficulty and inter faithunderstanding and cooperation.” – MAyOR OF SOUTH TyNESIDEHTTPS://WWW.yOUTUBE.COM/EMBED/P7P_39RFLAW

The London Borough of Barking and Dagenhamcelebrated the Week by flying an Inter Faith Weekflag above the Town Hall throughout the week, andshared a video from the Deputy Leader and CabinetMember for Community Leadership and Engagementand faith leaders from the borough.

In some cases, thosewhose activities wererestricted used videos tohighlight relevant workpast and present, forexample HarrowInterfaith held its firstever Zoom activity, InterFaith Week 2020,bringing together acollection of memoriesof Harrow Interfaith overthe years.

https://youtu.be/vyQ_5JQ0XaQ

Dudley based Active Black Country put out a videocelebrating faith centres across the Black Country,noting that places of worship are unique communitytouchpoints for cohesion, development andregeneration and identifying challenges andopportunities in communities in getting peopleactive.

The Faith and Belief Forum created a special InterFaith Week video message series with a wide range ofcontributors.

Canterbury and District Interfaith Action andSheffield Interfaith both took their walks online.CANDIFA shared videos of their chair and twomembers reading ‘spiritual texts from a range offaiths, beliefs and worldviews’.https://candifa.gbsite.org/2020-interfaith-week-text-readings/https://candifa.gbsite.org/final-text-reading-from-our-interfaith-week-woodland-walk/

Sheffield Interfaith took a different approach, withmembers joining a Zoom call to share images andstories of places that had been important to themduring the pandemic.

Even food got a digital treatment, with lots oflunches and cooking sessions going online, such asCardiff and Vale’s Students’ Union ‘Inter Faith Weekbig lunch’ where people were invited to join on theircomputer or mobile app, bring along a traditionalmeal from their own faith or just join in and say hellowhile people chatted and ate lunch together.

Some in-person activities took place in schools,colleges, universities, hospitals, hospices and othersettings that remained open during lockdown/ tieredrestrictions.


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There were also hybrid activities, for examplespeakers linking in to talk to school classes andrespond to questions virtually.

There were also prayer and meditation sessionswhere people followed a suggested order of serviceseparately, at a particular time, without any kind ofdigital link.

On-line inter faith engagement – a newworld of possibilities Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, mostevents took place virtually. While noting somechallenges, 75% of event organisers that respondedto the feedback survey said they found the onlineelement of the Week to be beneficial.

57.5% of survey respondents said that they believedmore people had participated in their activities as aresult of their being online: it had made it easier forthem to find speakers where distance and travel costsmight previously have been a barrier and enabledthem to engage a wide range of participants.

“We saw participation from various faithcommunities in the Swindon area; overallthroughout the week, we reached around 100individuals. All of the events featured apositive discussion between those of differentbackgrounds.”– LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

“Due to meeting online, this year speakers andparticipants had no boundaries and joined usfrom 6 countries.” – LOCAL FAITH COMMUNITy BODy

“We had a wider audience and wider list ofpeople able to contribute”– UNIVERSITy CHAPLAINCy

Holding meetings online meant these were often abit shorter than usual and that – together with noneed for travel – enabled people to take part whomight otherwise have been too busy to do so due toother commitments or accessibility.

“Holding an online event enabled people to justtake an hour out of their day to participate. Itcould have been their lunchtime. Those whojoined us really enjoyed the event.” – LOCAL AUTHORITy

The online experience may also have encouragedsome who would have been reticent about in personinvolvement:

“We know that some people are daunted toattend our in-person events as they don’tknow what to expect, but online people wereable to observe and take a more back-seatrole, which I think is a brilliant start, andhopefully they may attend in-person in future.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

Looking to the futureA number of survey respondents wrote in theirgeneral comments that they would continue to use amixture of virtual and in-person events in the futureor find ways to run hybrid activities, such as throughlive streaming.

“We hope in future to run a live stream linkalongside a face-to-face event so that peoplewho are unable to attend in person can stillattend online”– FAITH GROUP


of surveyrespondents said theonline element of theWeek was beneficial

75%

5. Messages of encouragement andsupport for the week

The UK Government’s Minister for Communitiesprovided the message above for the Week.

The Deputy Minister in Wales shared a video onTwitter in support of the Week.https://twitter.com/WG_Communities/status/1327529235083390977

She also made an oral statement in the Senedd on 17November:

“Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Interfaith Weekcelebrates the contribution people of faithacross this country have made to theircommunities. It’s hard to imagine when thanin the recent history of the COVID-19 pandemicthis contribution has been more necessary ormore appreciated by so many, and it is attimes like this, times of adversity, that careand compassion in people and communities offaith and no faith shine through. It’s nosurprise that a great many of those who havecome forward have been from our faithcommunities.

In Wales, we have a unique opportunity tobring our faiths together in the interfaithcouncil, which co-exists alongside ourinterfaith forum, which has played a vital rolein the collective response to the pandemic”

Shadow Communities Minister, Janet Daby MP, tookpart in an Inter Faith Week event in Tower Hamlets.See page 16.

There were also many messages from high sheriffs,lieutenants and mayors.


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6. Inter Faith Week reflections from Faith LeadersThe Inter Faith Network for the UK invited faith community leaders/ bodies to offer a message whichhighlighted the vital contribution of faith communities to society – especially at this time of COVID-19 – andspoke of the importance of faith communities working together for the benefit of society.https://www.interfaithweek.org/news/reflections-from-faith-communities.

7. Who took part?

An amazing range of organisations took part in theWeek. 720 are known to have taken part overall. Thechart on page 30 gives a breakdown of these by type.

The pattern of participation in the 2020 Week wasdistinctive due to the impact of social distancing andother necessary restrictions. Thus, for example, therewere significantly fewer activities held by sportsorganisations, museums, galleries and librariesbecause most of their premises were closed oroperating restrictedly and possibly also because oflevels of staff on furlough. By contrast, schoolparticipation went up 90% on the previous year anda much higher number of hospitals and hospicestook part.

Faith communities and inter faithorganisationsFaith organisations played an active part in the Weeklocally and nationally.

National faith community leaders were invited byIFN’s Faith Communities Forum to mark the Week bysharing reflections on social media during the Week.(see pages 24-25).

Many local inter faith bodies and local faithcommunities ran their own activities and/orsupported those run by others, such as throughproviding speakers for events, advice, contacts andinformation.

Employers and staff networksThis year saw a number of employers and staffnetworks joining in with marking the Week, forexample, Transport for London, Anchor HanoverCare Homes, Admiral Jobs, LexisNexis Risk Solutions,PWC and Inclusive Employers.

The Civil Service saw a wide range of activitiesarranged by civil servants working in multipleDepartments, celebrating and building on thecontribution that people of different faiths andbeliefs make to the Civil Service and wider society.

For example, Civil Service Diversity and Inclusionhosted a staff quiz in partnership with theDepartment of Work and Pensions; the FCDO createda blog series; the Ministry of Defence shared a seriesof blog posts; the Department for Business, Energyand Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Faith and EthnicMinority (FAME) Network hosted a ‘lunch ‘n’ learn’event with the Chairperson of the Civil Service HinduConnection network; and the Department forEducation hosted a poetry event. Agencies, such asthe Office for National Statistics, also held activitiesto mark the Week.


INTER FAITH WEEKSNAPSHOT 4Transport forLondonEach year, we come together tocelebrate the various religions andbeliefs across our organisation duringour Inter Faith Week. This is led by ourFaith Staff Network Group, withcolleagues encouraged to get involved.From 8 to 15 November, posters withquotes from colleagues talking abouttheir faith were displayed in stationsand across our social media channels,including Yammer, as part of a series ofevents held during the week.Additionally, we held an online paneldiscussion tackling questions such aswhy faith is important in theworkplace, how have faithcommunities have coped with thepandemic and lockdown, and whatmore we can do to support a faith-friendly culture.

– http://content.tfl.gov.uk/tfl-commissioners-report-9-december-2020-acc.pdf

“There are 17 different religious or beliefsystems followed by staff at Admiral... We celebrated Inter Faith Week in Novemberby sharing videos from our colleagues on whattheir faith means to them, which was receivedpositively throughout the business.” – ADMIRAL GROUP PLC DIVERSITy AND INCLUSIONPACKHTTPS://ADMIRALGROUP.CO.UK/SITES/DEFAULT/FILES_PUBLIC/ADMIRAL%20DIVERSITy%20PACK%202020.PDF

Local authoritiesLocal authorities played a key role in the Week. Somelocal councils also took part in or hosted events incollaboration with faith communities and otherorganisations. In Kirklees, for example, theauthority’s cohesion team supported developmentof a week-long programme. Others, such as theLondon Borough of Hammersmith, used theirwebsites and social messaging to get across the aimsof the Week and encourage involvement.

A number of mayors issued messages or videos, forexample, the Mayor of London and the Mayor of LBEnfield. Some played an active part in events, forexample the Lord Mayor of Birmingham wholaunched the week-long programme in Birmingham,and the Mayor of Watford.

SchoolsThe number of schools participating in the Weekincreased by 90% on Inter Faith Week 2019. Fromystradowen and Haverfordwest, to Exeter, Blackburn,Morpeth and LB Newham, many different kinds ofschool took part: primary and secondary; state-maintained and independent.

71% of the schools were primary, just under 26%were secondary, and just under 3% wereindependent schools that catered to both theprimary and secondary age ranges. One nurseryschool also took part.

Higher and Further EducationThe pandemic affected involvement from students inhigher and further education. Even so, a wide rangeof universities took part through activities arrangedby their Student Unions and Faith and BeliefSocieties or through their chaplaincies or universitywelfare services. So, too, did some academicinstitutes such as the Woolf Institute.

Universities known to have taken part inInter Faith Week 2020

Anglia Ruskin University; Aston University;Bath Spa University; Bournemouth University;University of Brighton; Bristol University; City,University of London; Coventry University; DeMontfort University; Durham University;University of East Anglia; University of Exeter;Goodenough College; University ofGloucestershire; Goldsmiths University;University of Hertfordshire; Imperial College;Lancaster University; Leeds Trinity University;University of Leeds; Liverpool University; LSE(Faith Centre(; Nottingham Trent University;Nottingham University; Oxford BrookesUniversity; Roehampton University; SolentUniversity; University of Southampton; StMary’s University; University of Sunderland;University of Sussex; Swansea University;Teeside University; University of Warwick;University of Westminster; University ofWinchester; University of the West of England;Wrexham Glyndwr University; and york StJohn University.


Caroline Stock, Mayor of Barnet, participates in Age UK’sBringing Smiles To Your Door campaign

Tulip Siddiq MP attends a card making event run by theHolocaust Memorial Day Trust

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A number of colleges also took part such as Cardiffand Vale, South Dartmoor Community College,Tresham College, and Wirral Metropolitan College.

Youth organisationsA number of youth organisations took part, fromnational associations such as the Scouts, the JewishLads and Girls Brigade, the Army Cadet Force, andFaiths United youth Network to locally focussedinitiatives such as 495 Air Cadets (Sutton Coldfield),and Islington youth Council.

PolicePolice ChaplaincyUK and a numberof police forcestook part, suchthose in theLondon Boroughsof Greenwich,Enfield,Edmonton (which

visited Rumi Mosque) and Merton. This year saw thefirst involvement from the States of Jersey Police.

In Wales, the Gwent Police and Crime Commissionershared a blog of reflections on the Week and theNorth Wales Police Force shared an image of theNWPF Chaplain with a special message (in Englishand in Welsh) about Inter Faith Week. The Englishversion is reproduced below.

The ArmedForcesThere wasinvolvement thisyear from theRoyal Air Force,StrategicCommand andan event atPermanent JointHeadquarters.

The NHS,hospitals and hospicesNHS Blood and Transplant and NHS digital took partin the Week. A number of hospital Trusts took part,such as Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals,Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS FT, Rotherham NHSFoundation Trust, Solent NHS Trust, West Herts NHSTrust, and West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

The number of hospices participating grew by 80%,including, for example, St Luke’s Hospice in Sheffieldand a number whose mission is to support terminallyill children, young people and their families, such as


An Inter Faith Week message from Gerald Williams, the Lead Chaplain of North Wales Police

Aaron shares an Inter Faith Week message as part of a themedlearning activity run by the Medical Needs Teaching Service,Leeds Children’s Hospital

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of survey respondentssaid that taking part inInter Faith Weekhelped to raise theprofile of their work

95%

Richard House Children’s Hospice, the Donna LouiseHospice for Children and young People in Stoke-on-Trent, and Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice inArundel, West Sussex.

Museums, libraries and archivesA few museums and libraries took part, such asKirklees Libraries; Headstone Manor and Museum inHarrow, London; Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds; andWinchester Discovery Centre. However, numberswere low by comparison to other sectors as so manywere closed and/or with staff on furlough. Somearchives such as Kent Archives and the Surrey HistoryCentre took part. Archive holdings lend themselveswell to digital sharing.

SportsinitiativesThe pandemic,with socialdistancing andclosed venues,also led to muchlowerinvolvement fromsports initiativesexcept throughthe online routesmentioned in thedigital section.

Charities and community organisationsNationally, a number of charities and voluntaryorganisations took part, such as CAFOD, the GreatGet Together, Kidney Research UK, the SmallCharities Coalition, Stop Hate UK, the HolocaustMemorial Day Trust and Remembering Srebrenica.

There was also involvement from a broad spectrumof local and regional community organisations ofdifferent types, such as Caritas Salford,Faiths4Change (an environmental charity in theWirral), North Somerset Bangladeshi Association, theDacorum Indian Association, Birmingham City ofSanctuary, Oxford Sexual Assault and Rape CrisisCentre, and Voluntary Action Leicestershire.

Equality bodiesA number of organisations working for equality orraising awareness of particular strands took part,such as Race Equality First and Inclusive Employers.There was a greater involvement this year fromLGBT+ initiatives, such as the Mosaic LGBT+ youngPersons’ Trust, the Proud Trust, Just Like Us, yorkLGBT Forum, the Open Table Network, House ofRainbow, London Queer Muslims, Sarbat LGBT Sikhs,and KeshetUK.

Media organisationsA new category was added this year for recording theparticipation of media organisations, following asignificant increase particularly from radio stations.Those taking part included Manx Radio, Unity FM(Birmingham), EAVA FM (Leicester), BBC RadioManchester, BBC Radio Humberside, Voice of IslamRadio, Premier Christian Radio, NottinghamHospitals Radio, and Unity 101 Radio (Southampton).IFN staff and Trustees were interviewed about InterFaith Week on a number of the programmes.

Other types of organisations The Week continued to draw in an increasing rangeof different types of organisations such as carehomes, embassies and funeral homes.

The chart overleaf shows how many of each type oforganisation were involved in the Week.Organisations can only be assigned to one type andare listed according to their main characteristic. The figures are based on organisations which heldactivities. The range of organisations from whichindividual participants in events came was of coursemuch wider. For example, panels generally includedspeakers from several different bodies.


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Other charity/voluntary organisation 43

Museum/gallery/library/arts/cultural org 12

Police/emergency serviceRegional faith community (eg diocese)

96

1216

32

1174

Other public sector 11

Other 4Non-religious belief group 3

National/ Regional Inter Faith Organisation 17National Faith Community

Workplace employee networkYouth organisationYouth organisation

Student organisation/societySports organisation

School

27

Media organisation 16Local inter faith organisation 77

Local Faith Community 76Local authority 31

Hospital/Hospice/other healthcare 29Higher/Further Education institution 18

Faith-based charity/voluntary org 30Equality organisation 18

Educational/Academic Body 16Community organisation 26

Chaplaincy (Other) 5Chaplaincy (Healthcare) 12

Chaplaincy (HE/FE) 25Business/professional body 23

Armed services 5

0 12010080 140604020

Inter Faith Week 2020 – Participating organisations in England, Northern Irelandand Wales by type

Charity fundraising event

112Remembrance/Armistice

87Service or vigil

82

Competition or quiz117

Civic reception

44School activity

Social action or social issues

93

6

Celebration or festival

Intergenerational

24

Children's event

8Other (event type)

24

Dialogue/discussion

47

Education/learning

15

Higher or Further educationFood

34Pilgrimage walk/faith trail

8

Interfaith Mitzvah Day

63Arts/culture/music

Open door day

Women's event

Media – press, radio, tvYouth event

Health and social care

Social media campaign/blog/onlineSporting event

11Environment/ climate event

186

Conference/seminar/talk/workshopCOVID

20Exhibition or fair or demonstration

435

4

2213

1119

2434

125

52

0 25020015010050

Inter Faith Week 2020 – Activities by type

Footnote: Except those marked ‘Interfaith Mitzvah Day’, activities can be assigned to multiple topic categories, reflecting the fact that manyactivities touch on multiple themes. There is significant overlap between the categories ‘School activity’ and ‘children’s activity’; and ‘Higher andfurther education activity’ and ‘youth activity.’ The total number of activities with a youth/ children’s dimension was 210.

8. What types of activities were held?

A huge variety of activities were held as part of InterFaith Week 2020: celebrations; exhibitions and culturalactivities; charity fundraisers and social actionprojects; volunteering activities; webinars; virtualservices; virtual concerts; virtual tours; dialogues;competitions; quizzes; videos; blogs; podcasts; radiobroadcasts; book clubs; school activities; virtualcooking and recipe sharing; and more. Overall a totalof 717 activities are known to have taken place.

This report can, of course, only give a flavour of theWeek by sharing some of the 700+ activities. A full listof activities for the Week can be seen at:https://www.interfaithweek.org/resources/list-of-all-2020-inter-faith-week-activities

Week long programmesSome towns and cities such as Birmingham, Kendal,Kirklees, Preston, Swansea, Swindon and york sawambitious week-long programmes of activities.

“This year presents a particular challengebecause of the need for social distancing as aresult of the Covid-19 Pandemic. However ourregular team of Interfaith Week organisershave risen to the challenge in an amazing waywith 22 events, mainly virtual……

Whether you enjoy debates; spiritualactivities; hearing the stories of migration toBirmingham; understanding how people ofdifferent faiths are working together; takingpart in meditation; learning about thechallenges and opportunities experienced bypeople with mental health issues; or takingpart in a quiz – there is something here foreveryone.”– FROM THE EVENTS PROGRAMME OF BIRMINGHAMCOUNCIL OF FAITHS

A number of organisations also held week-longprogrammes for the Week, for example, the Faith andBelief Forum shared video messages from different faithand belief communities alongside other events and

activities and Solent NHS Trust held a number of eventsthroughout the Week including radio broadcasts, aremembrance service, and a number of blog posts.

A number of others towns and cities such as Leeds,whilst not having formal city-wide programmes, sawa very dense concentration of activities. Contributoryfactors included the existence of active local interfaith bodies (in the case of Leeds, two bodies: LeedsConcord Interfaith Society and Leeds Faiths Forum),universities, voluntary organisations, and activeinvolvement from the Near Neighbours programme.

Impact of the pandemicSome Inter Faith Week events were hosted virtuallyfrom places of worship and many other locationssuch as libraries and museums, schools, colleges,universities, hospitals and hospices, communitycentres and outdoors.

As might be expected, due to social distancing andother restrictions, some types of activities weredown significantly on the usual numbers, forexample social action volunteering together, sportsactivities and children’s activities outside of school.By contract, activities such as dialogues andmeetings which translated well to Zoom and MSTeams were higher than usual.

Events in ScotlandLed by Interfaith Scotland, Scottish Interfaith Week,or SIFW, has taken place since 2004 and providedimportant inspiration for the Week in England, Walesand Northern Ireland. Each year, it has a theme. In2020, the theme was ‘Connecting’, which wasselected to develop a programme of events whichreflected the pressing need for human connectionduring a time of isolation. Over 70 events took placeto mark Scottish Interfaith Week. These wereincluded on the Inter Faith Week map but are notincluded in the activities in the chart below. For moreinformation about Scottish Interfaith Week 2020,visit https://scottishinterfaithweek.org/



Map of Inter Faith Week 2020 activities

Footnote: Where events were held virtually, in most cases the location of the main organisation holding the activity has been used on the map. 56activities known to have taken place are not included on the map because they were entirely virtual, and led by national or UK-wide organisations.Scottish Interfaith Week events are shown on the map for information by agreement with Interfaith Scotland.


A selection of flyers and posters for the Week

9. Inter Faith Week: A launch pad fornew initiatives and partnerships

Inter Faith Week is a very good time for organisationsto highlight or launch new initiatives or take them tonew stages. 2020 was no exception.

A number of national faith community bodiesdeveloped new initiatives linked to the Week. Forexample, the Salvation Army UK, Muslim Council ofBritain, Baptist Inter Faith Working Group, ChristianMuslim Forum, Methodist Church and UnitedReformed Church launched and celebrated a pilottwinning programme between 20 churches andmosques across Britain to mark the start of InterFaith Week 2020. The pilot brought mosque andchurch leaders together for a series of onlineconversations between clergy and Imams, as well aslay leaders and volunteers, to foster deeper levels offriendship and understanding.

The Week also saw new local inter faith initiativeslaunched. For example, Glyndwr chaplaincy hosted,in collaboration with Wrexham Council’s CommunityCohesion team, the first meeting of a new InterfaithForum for North Wales. In London, the LondonBorough of Newham launched a new Forum of Faithsin Newham to bring together faith communities totackle inequalities. It is a programme framed withinthe council’s ‘Newham United Dialogue’ initiativewhich was established formally to recognise andcelebrate the contributions of the faith sector and toenable residents with an interest in faith-baseddialogue and those with a particular faith persuasionto have a greater understanding and connection withothers.

The Week was also the time for the launch ofinitiatives in other sectors, for example of a newproject by Barking and Dagenham ClinicalCommissioning Group; Barking, Havering andRedbridge University Hospital Trusts; Barts HealthNHS Trust; NELFT NHS Foundation Trust; and faithcommunities in the London boroughs of Barking andDagenham, Havering, and Redbridge.

“The NHS and faith communities in Barkingand Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge havejoined together and created the BHR Healthand Faith Network. The group began meetinginformally in April in response to thepandemic with an aim to understand differentcommunities’ needs and to share importantmessages with faith groups. The membersdecided that the end of the pandemic,whenever this should be, shouldn’t be the endof them meeting and so they developed aterms of reference and planned the officiallaunch event as part of Inter Faith Week 2020.” – HTTPS://WWW.BARKINGDAGENHAMCCG.NHS.UK/BARKING-NEWS/FAITH-COMMUNITIES-JOIN-TOGETHER-WITH-A-COMMON-GOAL/129738


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Faiths Against Child Sexual Exploitation (FACES)launched a Community Safeguarding Forum, toconnect, inform, and support local organisations toimprove the safeguarding of children and youngpeople in Luton.

46% of survey respondents said that they workedwith an organisation or organisations that they hadnever worked with before to hold their activity.

The Week is also a seedbed for new partnerships.Some local inter faith bodies work in partnership forthe first time during the Week and manyorganisations of all kinds find it a great time topartner with others on activities.

“This is the first time we have worked withanother organisation, and we had only fairlyrecently built links with the hospice. Thatassociation has been greatly strengthenedand we hope to plan other activities andsupport theirs.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

Birmingham Scouts launched a ‘More in CommonBadge’ in partnership with the Jo Cox Foundation.The badge is designed to encourage Scouts andGuides to show compassion, kindness, andfriendship to others.

The post-Week survey asked activity organiserswhether they used the Week to do something theyhad not done before, such as trying a new kind ofactivity, reaching out to a different audience, orlaunching a new resource/ initiative. 88% ofrespondents said ‘yes’. Examples included 2 bookslaunched during the Week, a number of groupsgetting the taste for film-making and using digitalcommunications, and the pilot of a virtual ‘faithvisitors’ project for schools in Cumbria.

As well as formal joint initiatives and partnerships,activities held ofr the Week often enabledorganisations to engage with other organisationswith expertise on particular topics, with the prospectof further interaction. For example, the Board ofDeputies held a webinar on Religious Freedom withChristian Solidarity Worldwide, the UK Baha’icommunity, and the US Commission on InternationalReligious Freedom.


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10. Inter Faith Week: Postive messaging

The power of social mediaPositive messages on social media about people ofdifferent faiths and beliefs learning about oneanother and working together reached a very wideaudience beyond those who participated directly inInter Faith Week activities. This amplified the impactof the Week, and of positive narratives about faithand belief groups and the generally good relationsthat exist in the UK.

Tweets about Inter Faith Weekappeared on the feeds of11millionTwitter users (the‘potential reach’), a total of34.7million times (the ‘potentialimpressions’) during October,November and December.

Information about the Week and posts aboutactivities were also shared widely on Facebook andon Instagram, particularly through ‘stories’. Forexample, De Montfort University in Leicester sharedvideos on its stories of students of different faithsand non-religious beliefs answering questionsrelated to their beliefs.

Many organisations chose to mark the Week bysharing messaging about the Week on their socialmedia channels, blogs, websites and intranets. Forexample, Telford and Wrekin Interfaith Councilshared a series of inspirational quotes during theWeek on Twitter and each day Windsor andMaidenhead Community Forum shared a quote froma different faith, as well as information about keydates/ festivals for that faith. Walsall Togethercreated a series of blogs for the Week by members offaith communities on community spirit in Walsall.Safer Swansea Partnership held a week-long onlinecampaign sharing what faith means to somemembers of Swansea’s communities.

“We got the local paper to support us with anarticle; as well as a short local radio interview.” – LOCAL INTER FAITH ORGANISATION

On the airwavesDuring Inter Faith Week 2020, radio stations bothcovered the Week and were a place for significantstories and dialogues. For example:

EAVA FM in Leicester hosted a special three-hour•radio show marking the launch of Inter Faith Week2020 with inspirational readings and special guests.A series then continued throughout the Week with awide range of guests.

BBC Radio Manchester interviewed a Christian and•a Muslim about a Church and Mosque twinningprogramme.

Unity FM in Birmingham hosted two Connecting•Communities Programmes about Inter Faith Week,one ahead of the Week featuring guests from IFN,BCF Footsteps for a Low Carbon Future, and NearNeighbours, and one during the Week on ‘Faith,Diversity and Health’.

Premier Christian Radio interviewed Aled Jones on•his spirituality and his recent album and bookwhich draw inspiration from different Christiantraditions and other religions.

Solent NHS Trust held an inter faith Q & A panel on•Unity 101 Radio, with panelists including a ChiefDruid and a Buddhist Nun.

BBC Radio Humberside dedicated a Sunday•Breakfast slot to Inter Faith Week.

Voiceof Islam Radio in London had a radio•discussion on topics linked to the theme of interfaith harmony and included a guest from IFN.

Nottingham University Hospital celebrated the•Week by inviting its chaplains to choose tracks toplay through the Nottingham Hospitals Radio.


Articles and blogsThere were also press articles such as one that amember of the Focolare Movement wrote for thePolish language Polonia 24 UK about the importanceof inter faith understanding and Inter Faith Week.https://polonia24.uk/informacje/wielka-brytania/tydzien-miedzyreligijny-w-uk and a pieceby the Chair of MINAB for the Jewish News:https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/interfaith-unity-will-allow-us-to-get-through-this-national-lockdown-together/

David Jonathan, the Director of Luton Council ofFaiths and Grassroots, wrote an article for the FaithMatters column of Luton News about an Inter Faithweek prayer and reflection event.https://www.facebook.com/groups/LutonFaiths/posts/3133676166737983/


Imam Qari Asim with Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz

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11. Inter Faith Week and Remembrance:Remembering together

Inter Faith Week begins each year on RemembranceSunday, encouraging the remembering together ofthe service of soldiers and civilians of different faithsand beliefs and also thinking about peace.

The beginning of Inter Faith Week encouraged manydifferent bodies to hold multi-faith remembranceservices and events. Despite the challenges ofCOVID-19, acts of remembrance continued, bothvirtually and in socially-distanced ways.

Faith communities and inter faith organisations wereamong those who held special events. Some were in-person socially distanced services, for example at theParish of St Mary’s the Virgin in the Diocese ofLlandaff with Muslim friends and the MerchantSeafarers Association present.

Most, however, were virtual services and events,such as those held by Community House in Newport,Bury Faith Forum, and Faiths Together in Lambeth.Halifax Minster, which plays an active role inCalderdale Interfaith Council, held a ‘Civic Evensongon Remembrance Sunday’.

A number of universities and colleges heldremembrance events and activities. For example,Bath Spa University Students’ Union and Chaplaincyarranged a ‘Remembrance Cairns’ event where thenames of those who had died were painted ontostones in a special act of remembrance. TheUniversity of Southampton held a RemembranceService; and the University of Westminster InterfaithTeam held an activity ‘On Silence and Remembering’.


A wreath being laid on behalf of Watford Interfaith Association by its Chair, Harjit Singh.

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In Warwickshire, Southam College’s pupils created awhole school Remembrance display, rememberingall who fought for their country. Millwood SpecialNeeds Primary School in Bury made rainbowwreaths and year 3 pupils at Boothroyd PrimaryAcademy in Dewsbury created artworks onRemembrance themes.

Some Remembrance activities focused on thediversity of those who fought in the First World War.For example, South London Interfaith Group hostedan event on the sacrifice of BAME soldiers; 495 AirCadets hosted a Remembrance service with a guestspeaker talking about Sikh soldiers who supported

the British Army on the Western Front and theirmemorial in Birmingham; and Barclays EmbraceSikh Forum did an online presentaton about on Sikhsin the World Wars, bringing stories to life throughindividuals and artefacts. Makkah Mosque in Leedscreated a video ‘Remembering the sacrifices ofsoldiers in WW1’ and the International Imam HussainCouncil, the London Institute of South Asia andInterfaith Exchange collaborated on a Diversity andInclusion Interfaith Conference during the Week,where the contributon of diverse members of thearmed forces during the First World War wascommemorated.https://www.facebook.com/lisauk.org/videos/2680847438911724

The theme of peace was picked up in a number ofremembrance events such as Medway Inter FaithAction’s Thoughts for Peace and Hope for the Future,and Redbridge Faith Forum’s ‘Love andRemembrance: Virtual Walk of Peace’. SunderlandInterfaith Forum’s opening event for the Week was aPeace Gathering with a prayer from each major faithtradition, and “a chance to remember those whohave died in all the wars since World War I, as well asa focus on the recent incidents in Kabul, Vienna andNice.”


St Mary the Virgin Church, the Merchant Seafarer Association,and Muslim friends on Remembrance Sunday, Butetown

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12. Inter Faith Week: Increasing religionand belief literacy and mutualunderstanding

Religion and belief literacy is vital in a diverse society.Inter Faith Week helps increase people’s knowledgeand understanding of the different faiths and beliefsin the UK and it provides opportunities for this with areal personal dimension.

The Week saw a very wide range of activities thatincrease learning and understanding, from simple(and not so simple!) quizzes to in depth dialogues.

The importance of Inter Faith Week: anexcerpt from AgeUK’s online article for InterFaith Week based on interviews with olderpeople of different faiths:

“Talat believes it’s vital for people of all faiths,and none, to learn more about each other.“Lack of knowledge leads to fear. The less youunderstand, the more stories your mindconjures up.”

Rahda agrees: “To understand someone else’sreligion and faith, means that you get rid ofany assumptions or misunderstanding. Iwouldn’t criticise anyone else’s religionbecause, at the end of the day, we all pray toone God. Just do good to people. Whetherthey’re atheist or a believer, just do goodthings for other people.”

“We are all in the same boat with a lockdownand COVID,” says Rajinder. “We are all part ofone human race and we should learn from oneanother’s faith and belief, and celebrate them.”

HTTPS://WWW.AGEUK.ORG.UK/DISCOVER/2020/11/THE-ROLE-OF-FAITH-DURING-THE-CORONAVIRUS-PANDEMIC/

“[Our] event provided an opportunity toincrease social awareness on religious andcultural issues and deepen understanding ofdifferent faith traditions.”– A LOCAL AUTHORITy

Faith groups throwing open the virtualdoors to increase understandingA number of faith communities marked Inter FaithWeek by throwing open their virtual doors. Forexample, Chatham Memorial Synagogue held anopen Friday evening service for Inter Faith Week andthe Buddhist Group of Kendal held an online openmeeting for those of all faiths and none.

Learning through virtual faith tours was also popular.For example, Bradford Cathedral shared an onlineversion of the special tour it had created with anumber of nearby places of worship of other faiths.Bath Spa University SU provided tours of local placesof worship on youtube.

Bristol University Chaplaincy normally takesstudents and staff on a guided tour around differentlocal faith centres in Bristol as an opportunity tolearn about different faith traditions in Bristol andmeet new friends. The ‘Faith Crawl’ is one of its mostpopular events of the year. This year it went online.Leaders from three different local faith centres –Bristol Baha’i Centre, Humanism in Bristol and StThomas Mar Thoma Church – each tuned in to give ashort talk about how faith is lived out in theircommunity, with time to ask questions. It was sosuccessful that they are planning to do this again.

Bolton Interfaith Council also used Inter Faith Weekas an opportunity for wider discussion of inter faithissues and activities in Bolton.



“After our success in November with the firstvirtual Faith Crawl, UoB Multifaith Chaplaincyhave decided to continue with the Faith Crawlbeing an online event! Join us on Zoom for agreat opportunity to learn about differentfaith communities in Bristol and to meet newpeople!”– UNIVERSITy OF BRISTOL CHAPLAINCyHTTPS://SPRINGACTIVITIESLIBRARy.BLOGS.BRISTOL.AC.UK/2021/02/05/UNIVERSITy-OF-BRISTOL-MULTIFAITH-CHAPLAINCy-FAITH-CRAWL-11-MARCH

QuizzesQuizzes were very popular during the pandemic andthat was certainly the case in Inter Faith Week wherethey enabled people to test their knowledge aboutdifferent faiths and beliefs.

Quizzes featured in the activities of organisationssuch as Faiths Together in Croydon; Barnet Multi FaithForum; Kirklees Library; Outreach Ealing; the JewishMuseum London; and Swindon Interfaith andSwindon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.A number of universities such as the University ofBristol and Anglia Ruskin University also held quizzes.

“To celebrate National Inter Faith Week, you’reinvited to join ARU & the Mid Essex Inter FaithForum for an online Inter faith quiz. Test yourknowledge in a fun, interactive quiz and see ifwhat you think you know about other faiths isreally true. Event hosted by The Rev’d CanonIvor Moody, Vice Dean and Canon Pastor ofChelmsford Cathedral and quiz mistress SidraNaeem.”– HTTPS://ARU.AC.UK/COMMUNITy-ENGAGEMENT/INTER-FAITH-WEEK-QUIZ

In Cumbria, a teacher from Dallam School inMilnthorp produced an Inter Faith Week quiz basedon celebrities and this was shared between schoolsin Cumbria through the RE Teach Meet network.

Learning in schoolsMost schools were in session despite COVID and theneed for ‘bubbles’ and they held many activities thatcontributed to the religious literacy of their pupilsand staff. It is a challenge to choose just a fewexamples of their activities, but the following givesomething of a flavour!

The National Association of SACREs and the WelshAssociation of SACREs had given encouragement toschools to take part and many schools used theWeek to help their pupils learn more about particularfaiths. This was usually within RE or whole schoolactivities where participation in the Week was usedto add value to their year-round learning.

Pupils at Mayflower Primary School, Tower Hamlets, hearfrom a faith leader

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There were also some ambitious programmes.Cumbria SACRE members, for example, ran a ‘TalkingHeads’ activity with six representatives from differentreligions and worldviews. See the Snapshot below.

Many schools – particularly primary schools – heldclassroom activities with a focus on Buddhism,Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikism andother traditions. For example, Lapworth Church ofEngland Primary School near Solihull had a specialfocus on learning about Sikhism, East Ward Primaryin Bury explored Islam and Buddhism, andMayflower Primary in Tower Hamlets in London hadlearning sessions about Christianity with localChristian clergy by video link and a general learningsession on different faiths and beliefs. The St Philips

Centre in Leicester held three assemblies andworkshops for St Margaret’s School, Stoke Goldingon Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.

Some school sessions had a special personaldimension. For example, Gurukula Hare KrishnaPrimary School in Watford had a presentation from arabbi through the Jewish Community of Berkshire:https://mobile.twitter.com/jcobschools/status/1331631666046132228 The Faith and Belief Forum hostedtheir first virtual ‘Encountering Faith and Belief’ sessionwith year 7 pupils from Forest School in London.

Pupils of different ages also learned from each other.For example, at St Columba’s College in St Albansseveral events were held for Inter Faith Week. At one


Pupils at Rowan Preparatory School, Esher, listen to a presentation about Diwali

INTER FAITH WEEK SNAPSHOT 5Cumbria SACRESix representatives from Cumbria SACREproduced a series of 3-5 minute ‘TalkingHeads’ for use in school during Inter FaithWeek. These included representatives fromBaha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Humanism,Islam and Judaism. Teacher representativeson Cumbria SACRE piloted these across theirown schools, giving valuable feedback as apreliminary exercise for the Culham StGabriel’s Project. Questions included: Whatdoes it mean to live a religious life? Howdoes your religion or worldview impact onyour daily life? Head of RS at DowdalesSchool, Victoria Bunter said: “Talking Heads

has been an amazing way to interact withstudents over a digital platform. They havehad the opportunity to learn about differentFaiths from ‘real people’ in the localcommunity of Cumbria.” Head of RS at TheQueen Katherine School, Katherine Francesaid: “We were able to use the ‘TalkingHeads’ across the school during Inter FaithWeek, not only in RS lessons. They gave areally personalised and local reflection forour students. A fantastic resource for futureuse too!”

https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/elibrary/Content/Internet/537/6381/6528/17360/44154115931.pdf

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Diwali and Inter Faith Week 2020Diwali, which took place during Inter FaithWeek, was the focus of many activities.

In schools it was an opportunity for manylearning activites, such as learning about thestory of Ram and Sita in a number of schools,including Hale Broadoak Primary in Manchester,Holy Trinity C of E Primary in Oswestry,Usworth Colliery Primary in Washington,Rowan Prep in Esher, and St Andrew’s Churchof England Primary School in Kettering.

Some local inter faith organisations providedopportunties to learn about Diwali and to enjoythe festive celebrations of friends marking it.Barnet Multi Faith Forum, for example, held:

“Diwali: What you always wanted to know aboutDiwali (but were too afraid to ask!). A uniqueopportunity to appreciate and celebrate thisFestival of Light in Song, Dance, Words andVirtual food!”

To mark Diwali, and as part of Inter Faith Week,Headstone Manor & Museum shared an onlineexhibition documenting the festival celebratedin Harrow and

Bournemouth University Students asked theuniversity community to “to join together inhope by sharing an image of light, whereverthey are in the world”, putting their images onsocial media using the hashtag#spreadalittlejoy, or take a moment to browsethe images shared by others.

Crawley’s St Catherine’s Hospice catering teamproduced special star shaped biscuits forpatients and staff to celebrate both Diwali andInter Faith Week.

Marking Diwali and Inter Faith Week, AnchorCare Homes featured a blog from a Hinduemployee talking about Hinduism/SanatamDharma, the impact this has on her work, and Diwali.https://www.anchorhanover.org.uk/news-events-blogs/blogs/inter-faith-week-hinduism

The Jain Network held a joint virtualcelebration of Diwali and Christmas, and used this occasion to donate food to a localfood bank.

Many other kinds of organisations put outmessages about Diwali and Inter Faith Week,sharing festival facts, for example the localauthority of Neath Port Talbot as part of itsweek-long Inter Faith Week series “celebratingthe interfaith community” by having a look atdifferent traditions and celebrations happeningat this time of the year for different faithcommunities.https://www.facebook.com/NeathPortTalbotCBC/posts/350710992601242

Pupils at Rowan Preparatory School, Esher, enjoy aspecial Diwali lunch

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of these, the Head Boy and an Upper Sixth studentshared their faith experience with Form 3, enhancing3’s study of Islam and celebrating one of the manyfaith traditions that make up the St Columba’sCollege community. They spoke about theirexperiences of Ramadan, attending the mosque, thesense of community they feel, and what it has beenlike attending a Catholic school as a Muslim. At SouthBank Primary School, Middlesborough, the Weekfocused on bringing pupils together to help improveunderstanding of faiths and share what we have incommon. Each class studied a different faith andlearned from each other at a whole school assemblywhere they shared their research.

There was also exchange learning between schools.For example, pupils at three schools in Coventry:

“As part of Interfaith Week, pupils from EdenGirls joined pupils from Blue Coat School andSeva School to take part in a virtual interfaithpanel. This provided an opportunity for ourpupils to work collaboratively with pupilsfrom different cultures and backgroundstolearn about other faiths, beliefs and practices.Along with this, pupils in Year 7 shared apostcard of peace and collaboration with theirpeers from Blue Coat School.”– HTTPS://WWW.EDENGIRLSCOVENTRy.COM/WP-CONTENT/UPLOADS/2020/12/EDEN-GIRLS-COVENTRy-NEWSLETTER-ISSUE-13-SM.PDF

Sometimes major faith festivals fall within Inter FaithWeek. This year it was Diwali during the Week, aswell as the Sikh festival of Bandi Chor Diwas.

Employers and workplacesThe Week is often used by employers, workplacenetworks and professional organisations to exploreand learn more about different faiths and beliefs. Forexample, Trowers & Hamlins shared reflections onInter Faith Week from staff and partners, includingmembers of its staff Inter Faith Network on socialmedia during the Week; Inclusive Employers hosteda webinar on religion and the importance of beliefs;Morgan Stanley Faith Forums held an inter faithpanel; and Aviva celebrated the Week by encouragingits staff Origins Community Group to share their faithstories across the company. A wide range of faithnetworks of employees in different UK GovernmentDepartments took part.

As with most Inter Faith Week events this year, themajority of business and workplace events wereonline. For example, Cadent Careers held a ‘Lunchand Learn’ event on MS Teams – an interactivesession “aimed at celebrating Inter Faith Weektogether by sharing stories, asking questions,listening and learning.”

Online learning opportunties frommuseum, libraries and archivesThere were a number of opportunities to learn moreabout different aspects of faith communities andtheir histories from online offerings of museums,libraries and archives.

The Khalili Collections in partnership with GoogleArts & Culture and Good Faith Partnership presented‘A Visual History of the Hajj from the KhaliliCollections’; and the Jewish Museum London held anonline session exploring one of the Museum’s objectsas part of both Mitzvah Day and Inter Faith Week. TheJewish Museum’s activity included step-by-stepinstructions for creating a care package. TheHuddersfield Library and Past Truisms provided anonline talk: ‘Hidden History of Faith: The WorkingClass Victorian Muslim – With Jewish and ChristianFootsteps’.

Pupils from Blue Coat School, Coventry, learning about Diwaliand Bandi Chorr Divas

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Archives provided furtheropportunities forlearning. For exampleSurrey History Centreposted a week-long seriesof tweets featuring aselection of faith-relatedimages from the Surreyarchives, starting with theShah Jehan Mosque inWoking, the first purposebuilt mosque in NorthernEurope.

Similar archive sharing also took place by someothers such as @SouthamptonStories whichexplores the stories behind the objects, archives andartworks in the care of Southampton City CouncilCultural Services.

Discussions and dialoguesAn example of the kind of creative inter faithconverations and learning seen in Inter Faith Weekwas one held by NatWest Sikh Network between twosenior Christian and Sikh women: the Ethos andFormation Director for Oasis and the CEO of the SikhAssembly and Managing Director at JP Morgan Chase

Bank, its topic: Servant Leadership: ‘What do ourfaiths Teach and how does it influence the way welead in our workplace?’ Conversations betweenthose of religious and non-religious beliefs were alsoimportant.

The Week gives people a chance to explore this in avery personal way – in conversation. For example,Slough Faith Partnership brought local womentogether for an ‘inspirational discussion’ about whatfaith means to them in Britain in 2020.

“By listening to each other we becomeeducated about different faiths, therebytaking away the stigma that evolves throughfear and the unknown. That results in actuallylearning that we have things in common witheach other and liking the other person that wewere wary of in the beginning. Friendships aremade this way! – A FAITH GROUP

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council held a virtualevent in which members of the public wereencouaged to share readings from their faith. TheWorld Congress of Faiths held its annualyounghusband Lecture on the topic ‘One Mystery,Two Stories – Science and Religion in Dialogue’ with

speakers attending fromaround the globe. CountyDurham Faith Network heldan event at which members ofdifferent faith and beliefcommunities shared theirpersonal perspectives onpilgrimage. The IMOSFoundation hosted adiscussion in the RomneyMarsh Sculpture Park in Kent,which has “inter faith,

multiracial, international, and Humanist sculptures”.Members of the public met for individual, in-depthconversations and to explore the developingsculpture park.

University of Sunderland Chaplaincy released a videoin which its Inclusion Manager and UniversityChaplain discussed the importance of Inter FaithWeek, celebrating faith and belief communities.https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=810855566362771


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Inter Faith Buddies – connectingdifferently, connecting deeplyThe Inter Faith Network for the UK developed aspecial ‘Inter Faith Week Buddies’ scheme for theWeek. This was specially designed to enable anddeepen communication at a time of socialdistancing. The scheme involved two individuals ofdifferent faiths or of a faith and of a non-religiousbelief choosing to ‘buddy together’ and havingconversations by phone, virtual meeting, email ormessaging. The guidelines it provided can be seen athttps://www.interfaithweek.org/resources/inter-faith-week-buddies

In the weeks leading up to Inter Faith Week theychose or developed questions on which to share theirthoughts and experiences. During Inter Faith Week,sthey shared online or at a socially distanced event,in an agreed way, some reflections on what they hadgained from the experience.

A number of IFN’s Trustees took part in the scheme.One wrote:

“We spoke on several occasions duringSeptember and October. Like many interestingconversations, we began our chats by exploringour roots and interestingly our politics. …Although coming from very different faith andpolitical perspectives [we] found ourselvesconsidering where we would start in addressingsocial justice. […] Both of us explored ideas, andmade a start on possible answers of what anequitable society might include.” – AN INTER FAITH NETWORK TRUSTEE

A number of local inter faith groups, such as CornwallFaith Forum, Brighton and Hove Interfaith ContactGroup, Leeds Faiths Forum, the Isle of Man InterfaithGroup and Surrey Faith Links took up the scheme.Three of the Isle of Man pairs were interviewed byManx Radio. Surrey Faith Links made a short videoabout their very positive experiencehttps://youtu.be/wHgNwAQsJyk

“The people taking part were members of theMuslim and Jewish Communities andChristian and Pagan Communities andsomeone with an interest in all Faiths.Everyone said that they learned a lot andreally appreciated the rare opportunity to askpersonal questions in a safe environment.We also talked about what the most surprisingthing was, we had learned. I learned from myBuddy that whenever times were difficult, shewould pray more and ask for more help. Ifound that really helpful to hear becausealthough it makes sense to pray more, it isoften more difficult during times of stress andstrain.We all decided that the Inter-Faith BuddiesScheme was a good experience and it doesn’thave to take a lot of time.” – HTTPS://DORKEMMyN.ORG.UK/FEEDBACK-FROM-INTERFAITH-WEEK-2020/

Humanists UK also took up the scheme, and workedwith the Inter Faith Network office to arrange a seriesof buddy links between Humanists and people ofdifferent faiths. Feedback from those involved in the12 buddy pairs in different areas was very positive.

“The buddy scheme worked very well and bothmy assigned “buddy” and I intend to continuefor the foreseeable future on this. When COVIDallows we intend to meet and I look forward toseeing what his community programme doesin the region.” – A HUMANIST PARTICIPANT

The inter faith buddy scheme was also verysuccessfully adapted by Interfaith Scotland forScottish Interfaith Week.


Interfaith Buddies Debby and Annabelle, from Surrey FaithLinks, speak about their experiences

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13. Inter Faith Week: Building respect,understanding and cooperation

Inter Faith Week plays a part in highlighting andstrengthening respectful and positive relationshipsbetween people of different backgrounds in ourdiverse society.

For example, pupils at some schools, such asArchbishop Tenison’s Secondary School in Londonand Moreton Say CE Primary School in MarketDrayton learned about broader themes such asshared values and inter faith understanding andcooperation. The Medical Needs Teaching Service,Leeds, and Leeds Children’s Hospital arranged for thechildren to mark Inter Faith Week by “exploring thedifferent faiths and cultures followed throughout theworld, focusing on the importance of tolerance andequality”.

“… [E]ach day we focused on one religion in ourassemblies. Children completed knowledgeorganisers for each religion and posters tocelebrate the British values of mutual respectand tolerance.”– HAyWARDS PRIMARy SCHOOL, CREDITON

Building Bridges Pendle held, with In-Situ, a ‘DigitalTalking Society’ event exploring such questions as:How have interfaith relations been impacted byCovid-19 and what does this mean for the future?How are people of different faiths and backgroundsworking together to support their communities andwider society? How can we strengthen goodinterfaith relations at all levels?

The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchesterheld an event titled ‘What I like about Religion X’, atwhich three speakers gave their view on what theyliked about another’s religion and the audience hadchance to contribute their own positive thoughts ona religion that wasn’t their own.

Cohesion Plus in Gravesend created a special visualmontage of the values highlighted in Inter FaithWeek.


INTER FAITH WEEKSNAPSHOT 6Kent EqualityCohesion CouncilAs part of National Inter Faith Week, inthe midst of a pandemic, Kent EqualityCohesion Council worked with localcommunity and faith organisations onthis special image. Faiths representedin the image include the Christian,Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and Sikh.Gurvinder Sandher CEO of KentEquality Cohesion Councilcommented, ‘Each year we work hardto arrange events for National InterFaith Week working with localcommunity and faith partners.Unfortunately due to the nationallockdown this has not been possiblethis year. Nonetheless I wanted to markthe week somehow and the result wasthis image with everyone holding up asign sharing one of the values of InterFaith Week. I am grateful to all partnerswho supported us with this.’

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Values such as respect and tolerance were the focusof a number of discussions. For example, theAhmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association ofHounslow North held an online inter faith event todiscuss the nature of tolerance, with Buddhist, Sikh,Jewish and Muslim perspectives.

The Birmingham based Universal Peace Federation,Women’s Federation for World Peace explored howpeople of faith can contribute to healing divisions.

Nottingham Interfaith Council, with the help ofNottingham City Council and One Nottingham,invited people of different backgrounds to a Zoomsession to celebrate Inter Faith Week and to sharetheir experiences of faith and friendship, followingopening talks by speakers from the Baha’i, Buddhist,Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions talkingabout their perspectives on friendship.

Good relations in the workplace were also a focus, asthis Facebook post by PwC’s Sikh Network reflects:

“PwC LLP UK – Inter Faith Week (8 to 15November) symbolises the importance ofcoming together and learning about eachother’s faith. To our PwC Sikh network, it isabout having respect for each otherirrespective of gender, faith, culture andwealth. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj isthe Living Guru of the Sikhs, and says “No oneis my enemy, and no one is a stranger. I getalong with everyone”.

In Sikhi ‘Sewa’ is a core value which means‘selfless service’. Sikhs perform ‘Sewa’ in avariety of ways, including feeding hot servedmeals and providing clothes to the homelessand those in need. In all Gurdwaras (place ofworship), anyone of any faith is welcome toseek the blessings of Guru Ji (spiritualteacher).

Our Sikh Network encourages greaterinteraction between people from differentbackgrounds and faiths to celebrate ourdifferences while having a better appreciationfor each other’s beliefs. Inter Faith Week isalso a great time to start a conversation withsomeone from a different faith. You may findthat you share more in common than youthink: from cherishing the same hopes anddreams for yourself and others, to sharing thesame values we each live by. #InterFaithWeek#EverydayInclusion | Facebook”HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/PWCUK/PHOTOS/A.10152358586148526/10157894102748526

Good relations, as well as religious literacy, was alsothe focus of a webinar held by Platform HousingGroup about ‘What we have in Common’. This wasdesigned “to explore how to strengthen inter faithrelations, awareness of different and distinct faithcommunities in the UK, and understanding betweenpeople of religious and non-religious beliefs.”https://www.facebook.com/291177615056159/posts/as-part-of-interfaith-week-were-holding-a-webinar-what-we-have-in-common-to-expl/785552478952001/


of people think thattheir activities arelikely to have helpedcontribute to

developing stronger/morepositive relations within theirworkplace or institution

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14. Inter Faith Week: Tackling socialissues together

Each year, Inter Faith Week provides a platform forfaith communities and belief groups to addressissues of common concern from the environment totackling hate crime.

A number of activities ranged across a number ofdifferent social issues and were often very practicallyfocused. One such activity was ‘Towards a betterunderstanding of Judaism and Quakerism inBirmingham’. This was a sharing of perspectivesbetween Birmingham’s Jewish and Quakercommunities. Speakers talked about theircommunities in Birmingham with particularreference to social action and welfare, climatechange and prison chaplaincy.

The environment and climate changeThe UK Government had originally been due to hostCOP26 in Glasgow in November 2020. Due to COVID-19 it was postponed for a year. However, manyevents still took place focusing on the environmentand climate change. IFN worked with Faith for theClimate to encourage that.

Hope for the Future and Faith for the Climate hosteda special event which brought together people fromall faith traditions and backgrounds, including MPsfrom across the political spectrum, to reflect, share,and consider the vision for the coming year as the UKprepares to host the UN’s annual internationalclimate negotiations in November 2021.

Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum and the GreenParty Northern Ireland collaborated on a virtualmeeting on ‘Faith in the Environment, an Inter FaithPerspective’, with contributions from Belfast IslamicCentre, Jampa Ling Buddhist Community, IndianCommunity Centre, NI Humanist Association andEco-congregations Ireland.

Religions for Peace UK’s Women of Faith Networkheld ‘The Role of Women of Faith in Protecting theEarth’, showcasing examples of inspirational women.

Many local activities took place, such as:

Harrow Interfaith, Shrimad Rajchandra Mission•Dharampur UK (part of OneJAIN), and HarrowRecreation Ground Community Gardeners held asocially-distanced Planting for Peace event at theAhimsa Peace Garden.

Footsteps – Faiths for a Low Carbon Future•(Birmingham) and Faith for the Climate held anevent ‘Countdown to the Glasgow UN climatesummit 2021: Faith voices from Birmingham’,exploring how grassroots communities, especiallyfaith groups, can contribute to more ambitiousclimate action in the run-up to COP26;

Warwick District Faiths Forum held an activity•called ‘8 Days to Help Creation – Call for Action’ toencourage communities to get involved, and do agood deed to protect and heal creation;

Participants of St Denys, Evington, ‘Footpaths’•course held an event with various faithcommunities on why caring for the planet mattersto them;

Faiths4Change, in the Wirral, held an event with•reflections on Community and Eco action in thecurrent climate involving the Bishop of Warrrington,


Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (UK) attending thePlanting for Peace event at OneJAIN Ahimsa Peace Garden,Harrow

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Operation Noah and local congregationsparticipating in the Eco Church scheme.

Manchester Cathedral and FN4M held a session on•‘Our Faith, Our Planet, Our Challenge: Caring forGod’s Creation’ to “inspire actions in our faithcommunities and neighbourhoods towardsreducing carbon output and preventing moredamage to our world”.

An interfaith dialogue on the theme of ‘Saving the•Earth’ took place with representatives fromdifferent faith groups from the University ofSouthampton Faith and Reflection Centre.

Black Lives Matter and racial justiceInter Faith Week 2020 took place during a time ofheightened awareness of the importance of workingfor racial justice due to the impact of the murderearlier in the year in the USA of George Floyd and therenewed urgency of the Black Lives Mattercampaign. This prompted a number of special focusdiscussions. For example, as part of its response tothe issues, the Board of Deputies of British Jews heldan Inter Faith Week podcast on ‘Navigating Faith,Race and Identity in 2020’ with guest speakers fromJewish, Christan, and Muslim backgroundsdiscussing the Black-Jewish relationship.

Local inter faith discussions in a number of areasfocussed on racial justice. For example Woking

People of Faith held an event exploring whatreligions are doing about race inequality and PrestonFaith Forum and the Christian Muslim Forumexplored the question ‘Has interfaith effectivelytackled racism, Islamophobia and antisemitism?’. Ata Devon Faith and Belief Forum event, ‘What can welearn from the Black Lives Matter protests?’, Baha’i,Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish,Muslim, Pagan and Sikh and other participantsdiscussed the relationship between faith and beliefand unconscious bias and shared their experiencesand perspectives.

Stafford and District Friends of Faith memberscontributed to a recording on the theme of Faiths forRacial Justice. https://sdff.org.uk/SDFF-FOP-2020.mp4

“The best aspect of our activity this year wasraising awareness around race inequality” – FAITH GROUP

“As a nation and indeed a school, we have beenchallenged these past few months to confrontracism and discrimination entrenched withinour society. I have said in previouscommunications that, as a school community,we will not tolerate racism and discriminationof any kind and acknowledged that we havean important role in promoting inclusion andovercoming prejudice. This week is InterfaithWeek, and our Chaplain has put togethersome resources for our students. She will bedelivering assemblies to the whole school toremind us that we are all in this together, andthat we are all responsible for cultivating ananti-racist community, that embraces andcelebrates our wonderfully diverse multi-racial, multi-ethnic community.” – WOODHOUSE GROVE SCHOOL, APPERLEy BRIDGE,WEST yORKSHIREHTTPS://WWW.WOODHOUSEGROVE.CO.UK/WP-CONTENT/UPLOADS/2020/11/ALL-PARENTS-NOVEMBER-2020.PDF


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Responding to refugees Brent Multi Faith Forum used Inter Faith Week tofurther their roles as a partner in the Brent Boroughof Sanctuary scheme. During their programme‘Reflections of Sanctuary’ faith and communityleaders in Brent heard reflections from the Mayor ofBrent and a variety of faith and communityrepresentatives including about Brent Shelter ofSanctuary, a winter night shelter coordinated byBMFF which supports homeless men in Brent,particularly ‘those who have no rights and norecourse to public funds’.

Birmingham City of Sanctuary held an online event‘In Celebration of Sanctuary – Faiths Welcoming theStranger’.

Tackling prejudice and hate crimeHate crime linked to religious and racial identitycontinues to be a concern across the UK. Inter FaithWeek provided an opportunity for both discussionand practical training. For example Standup!Education against Discrimination, a programme ledby Maccabi GB and the Community Security Trust(CST), offered councillors, faith leaders and thoseworking in the community free bespoke anti-discrimination training with a focus on antisemitismand Islamophobia.

The UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation arrangedtwo Foundation Stones stone painting workshops aspart of Inter Faith Week where people could paintand share a Foundation Stone live on Zoom and thencontribute it to become part of the planned UKHolocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in London.Each stone represents a commitment fromcommunities and faith groups across the UK toremember the past and build a future free fromdiscrimination and hatred. Remembering Srebrenicaheld a webinar on the importance of faith and interfaith events and activities as a powerful tool tocounter the hatred that causes discrimination andmarginalisation of religious minorities.

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The Director of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trustwrote a piece for Asian Image about learning fromSister Agnes Walsh and Abdol Hossein Sardari whorisked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust:

“... It is on each of us to remember with purposeand stand firmly united against prejudice anddivision. In Interfaith Week and beyond, I urgeeveryone to follow the example set by Sardariand Agnes and to shine a light on injusticewherever you see it. It is not enough tocelebrate our diversity; we must also activelydefend and support it.” – OLIVIA MARX-WOLDMAN OBE ASIAN IMAGE HTTPS://BIT.Ly/3TFT1JK

Violence against women and girlsDuring the pandemic, an increase in domestic abusewas a serious concern.

A number of activities were about responding to this.Colchester Borough Council and J9 Domestic AbuseInitiative held training sessions for church and otherfaith group leaders to raise awareness and increaseknowledge and understanding of domestic abuse.

Oxford Sexual Assault and Rape Crisis Centre andOxford Brookes University held a an inter faithdiscussion about the role of faith in protectingwomen and girls from violence, and in perpetuatingviolence.

Health and wellbeingA wide range of health and wellbeing issues wereexplored during the Week.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, St NicholasHospice and Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmundsjointly created a video describing how theirchaplaincy services offer a place for people to dealwith moments of great joy and great tragedy. EssexPartnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT)produced a video about spirituality and kindness.Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust held awebinar with various faith representatives onreligion and mental health. Barking, Havering andRedbridge University Hospital Trust’s Chaplainsposted a series of Tweets for the Week. Rotherham

NHS Foundation Trust launched a Handbook ofFaiths and Cultures for all of its wards. The Midyorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust held a ‘My RoleMonday’ to spotlight an individual member of staff.Nottingham University Hospitals shared a series ofvideos on Twitter of their chaplains of different faithsand beliefs.

NHS Blood and Transplant ran an awarenesscampaign during the Week and also held a webinarabout the different faiths’ and beliefs’ perspectiveson organ donation to encourage people to thinkabout organ donation within the context of theirfaith or belief.

NHS Digital published a cookbook, an online faithposter exhibition and an online discussion on faith inlockdown.

A number of hospices played a part in the Week. Forexampe, the Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull held anevent with Solihull Faiths Forum on ‘Finding Peaceduring the Pandemic’; the Donna Louise Hospice forChildren and young People in Stoke on Trent held aspecial Inter Faith Week celebration and RichardHouse Children’s Hospice in London shared a blogabout faith and belief. St Barnabas Hospice in WestSussex shared a series of tweets about the multi faithsupport provided by the hospice’s Pastoral Care andChaplaincy Team.

Mind in Mid Herts marked the Week with interviewswith three people of different faiths about faith andmental wellbeing and the Centre for Reconciliation(Lincoln) held a webinar across three days on ‘MentalHealth Support and Strategies from faith andreligious perspectives’. Old Kent Road Mosque andIslamic Cultural Centre hosted a discussion with amulti faith panel exploring ‘Faith and Mental Health’.Alzheimers Society Essex and Colchester BoroughCouncil held a joint session on Dementia Awareness.


West Suffolk NHS FT and others Inter Faith Week video

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15. Inter Faith Week: Working togetherfor the common good

Inter Faith Week is a great opportunity for people ofdifferent backgrounds to come together to help theircommunities in practical ways, and to celebrate theways that this takes place at other times of year.

“A HOMILYToday is the last day of Interfaith Week 2020. I have been an active member ofWatfordInterfaith Association since I came to StMichael’s, and took the chair for 4 years.Interfaith work recognises that we aredifferent, and we don’t try to water down ourbeliefs to fit in with others. Often, talking withpeople of other faiths can strengthen our own,not weaken it. We understand our own faithbetter through explaining it to others. Thereare certain commonalities and manydifferences between the faiths. Each of themainstream faiths, however, stresses the needto do good in the world, and to make a positivedifference to the existence of all human beings,not just their own adherents. We shouldremember such things as Watford InterfaithAssociation when people tell us that religioncauses hatred and warfare.Love and prayers Fr Geoff”– FROM THE PARISH NEWSLETTER OF ST MICHAELAND ALL ANGELS, WATFORDHTTP://WWW.STMICHAELS-WATFORD.ORG.UK/WP-CONTENT/UPLOADS/A5MESSENGER201115.PDF

The COVID-19 pandemic made some forms of jointvoluntary service more challenging, but workingtogether to help the most vulnerable was reflected ina number of events. For example, the Inter-faithCouncil for Wales / Cyngor Rhyng-ffydd Cymru held a‘help the homeless’ activity in Cardiff where peoplecould buy something from the Huggard CentreAmazon toiletries wish-list for those in need and theRE Department at the Cardinal Wiseman CatholicSchool encouraged pupils, staff and parents to makedonations of items needed by Coventry Refugee andMigrant Centre.

Mitzvah Day Inter Faith Week has had, since its outset, a closeworking relationship with Mitzvah Day – whichhappens at or very near to the Week – with eachadding value and impact to the other. Mitzvah Day isa special day of social action led by the JewishCommunity, and this year, it was largely focusedaround COVID-19 response, and due to the nature ofthe pandemic the Day was expanded into a ‘Month ofMitzvahs’. Where activities are held on an inter faithbasis to mark both Mitzvah Day and Inter Faith Week,these are listed as ‘Interfaith Mitzvah Day’ activities.In 2020, these included only activities that took placein Inter Faith Week or the week either side of it.

Schools, universities, charities, inter faithorganisations such as Worcestershire InterfaithForum, faith communities, emergency services, andbusinesses were some of many organisations thattook part in Interfaith Mitzvah Day activities in 2020.


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16. Inter Faith Week: Increasing youthinter faith engagement

A large and varied range of activities took place inschools, colleges, and universities across Inter FaithWeek. A number of these are highlighted in earliersections but some have been grouped together hereto convey the significance of youth engagement withthe Week now and for the future.

Earlier sections of this report have highlighted a widerange of activities involving schools and highereducation institutions.

The numbers participating and the breadth of eventswas evidence of wider involvement of young peoplebenefitting from the opportunities that the Weekprovides for learning and skills development.

“[The meeting] was a great opportunity and Idefinitely feel more connected with otherInterfaith Youth organisations which is veryhelpful for our Network.” – PARTICIPANT AT IFN ROUNDTABLE EVENT.

A number of activities held by and/or for youngpeople focussed on the COVID-19 pandemic. Forexample, Islington Faiths Forum with Copenhagenyouth Project & young Creators, Islington youthCouncil, and Islington Council organised a debate on‘Keeping the faith in a pandemic’.

Initiatives of Change (Sustainable CommunitiesProgramme) UK worked together with theInternational Centre for Eritrean Refugees andAsylum Seekers (ICERAS) and the Muslim WelfareHouse to hold ‘Hope - A youth Perspective’. This wasan evening of celebration with music, poetry, andreflections from young leaders of different faiths andbeliefs on the impact of COVID-19.


The Inter Faith Network for the UK held a by-invitation Zoom which brought together anumber of youth inter faith initiatives andnational student faith bodies to talk abouttheir work and discuss the significance ofyouth inter faith engagement for the future ofthe UK.

The focus of this discussion was activitiesinvolving, and in some cases run by, youngpeople in approximately the 16-25 age range. Itserved as the launchpad for further outreachto HE and FE student religious organisationsand other youth inter faith organisations, andthe development in the following four monthsof a new section of IFN’s website.

The following bodies were represented at theRoundtable: The Feast; Barnet Multi Faithyouth Forum; British Organisation of SikhStudents; Catalyst/Near Neighbours; CatholicStudent Network; CCJ Campus LeadershipProgramme; Devon Interfaith Forum 4 youth;Faith and Belief Forum; Faiths United youthNetwork; Inter Faith Network for the UK; InterFaith youth Trust; Interfaith Scotland; LSEFaith Centre; National Hindu Students’ Forum;Religions for Peace UK youth Network; StudentChristian Movement; and Union of JewishStudents

“I think that having experiences like this arereally helpful for everybody because it makesyou feel more involved, and able to ask morequestions. The more conversations you have,even if you disagree, will disintegrate thewalls and the barriers between us.” – BECCA BROWN AT ‘HOPE – A yOUTH PERSPECTIVE’

HTTPS://IOFC.ORG.UK/NEWS-POST/yOUTH-SHINE-A-LIGHT-ON-INTERFAITH-COOPERATION/

Over 60 participants attended to hear from panellistsaged between 16-25, who spoke about how COVIDhas impacted their lives, and how their faith or beliefhave provided them with hope.

Coventry City Council produced a video called‘Together we can get through this’, a video with localfaith communities highlighting the thoughts andfeelings of children during the COVID-19 pandemicand how they marked faith festivals during thisdifficult time.

Kumon y’all held ‘The Imam, the Priest and Kumony’all (Old heads / young heads)’, a live question andanswer session for young people. It also shared aseries of videos on social media throughout theWeek, looking back at some of its past inter faithactivities with young people. Faiths Together in

Croydon ran an event which combined a youth panelabout faith with an online quiz.

Some faith communities also encouraged youthengagement. For example, the United ReformedChurch ran a URC youth Trialogue Discussion duringwhich three young panellists from different faiths(Muslim, Jewish and Christian) responded toquestions submitted live. Newcastle Diocese’s Voicesof Faith Group’s youth forum discussion video askedseven young people from the Muslim and Christiancommunities about their thoughts at the end of2020. They shared their reflections on the Black LivesMatter and Climate Change movements, and theirthoughts for the future.


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Zoe speaks about her experience as a child in the pandemic aspart of Coventry City Council’s ‘Together we can get throughthis’ video

Khadija discusses the climate change movement duringNewcastle Diocese’s Voices of Faith Group’s youth forum

17. Inter Faith Week: Arts and culture

Faith and belief is often expressed through the arts.Poetry, music, film, art and crafts featured strongly inthe Week. Live dance, theatre, and other types ofactivity which would have involved in persongatherings without social distancing did not.

Inter Faith Week Multi media eventsA number of multi media events took place duringthe Week. For example, the Inter-faith Council forWales / Cyngor Rhyng-fydd Cymru hosted an onlineevening of music, readings and personal experiencesof faith; the All Faiths Network held a celebrationevent with music, dancing, poetry, and prayer; and

the Greater yarmouth Inter Faith and Belief Networkheld a week of poetry and prayer.

The Women’s Interfaith Network hosted an online‘unexpected connections’ activity where membersshared poems, drawings, written accounts andstories showing how their involvement in inter faithwork had brought about enriching and surprisingrelationships. This video from a member of its Sussexgroup reading her poem gives a flavour of the event.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EszgZNCvxdw

Students at the University of Derby projected a shortfilm about pilgrimage onto the Multi-Faith Centrebuilding as well as a special message.

PoetryBradford Touchstone Women’s Interfaith Bookclubconnected with one another during Inter Faith Weekby sharing a poem that meant something special tothem.https://twitter.com/Touchstone3/status/1326878950409314305


A collage of photos from the All Faiths Network’s virtual interfaith celebration

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The Batley poets regularly hold an activity for InterFaith Week. This year they held a special Virtual InterFaith Poetry Session.https://www.facebook.com/BatleyPoets/posts/2776097749320648

Staff of ‘all faiths, beliefs or none’ at the Departmentfor Education shared poetry that gives them a senseof connection, with a special reading by itsPermanent Secretary.

Westminster City Council and Westminster FaithExchange held an art and poetry competition forschools on the theme ‘Covid-19, Lockdown and My Faith’.

MusicThere were almost no live musical events in 2020because of social distancing requirements andrestrictions on singing. A number of online eventswith music did take place, in particular a numberwith music forming part of a wider activity. Forexample as part of a Guildford and GodalmingInterfaith Forum activity about faith and mentalhealth there were contributions of devotional musicfrom the Bahá’í, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, andMuslim communities.

ArtFor Inter Faith Week and Mitzvah Day, the TorahTeam at Mosaic Jewish Primary School collaboratedup with the Quran Crew at the Muslim voluntaryaided Gatton Primary School to create a piece of artfor Gatton to hang in their school.

For Tuxford Primary Academy’s first Inter Faith Week,they made mandalas while learning about Hinduismand Buddhism. year 6 pupils at All Saints Benhilton Cof E Primary School also made mandalas tocelebrate Vesak, as well as clay hands showinghenna art when learning about Muslim celebrations.

Barking and Dagenham Faith Forum ran an Art andCreative Competition in advance of the Week,inviting entries of artwork, drawings, paintings,poems, and essays on the theme of Faith, Hope andPeace. Shortlisted entries were showcased duringInter Faith Week, and the top entries were awarded acertificate at BDFF’s Inter Faith Week event on 13November.

The Safer Swansea Partnership ran an Inter FaithWeek photo competition, asking people to capturethe place where they feel most connected to theirfaith, explaining why they chose the place.

Craftsyork Interfaith worked with local faith communties tocreate a special Lockdown Quilt.

Hounslow Friends of Faith celebrated their 20thanniversary during Inter Faith Week with a specialevent, and also published a ‘History and Memories’booklet and exhibited a specially knitted banner withdifferent faith symbols.

Bournemouth University Faith and Reflection Teamdistributed knitting packs.

Many schools, sixth form colleges and youth focusedorganisations also had Inter Faith Week art projects.For example, Greenhead College, Salisbury PrimarySchool, and Murdishaw West School asked childrento design and create a 3D Church.


The ‘Lockdown Quilt’ produced by members of York Interfaith

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DanceLeeds University Students’ Union, Leeds UniversityUnion Interfaith Group and Leeds Irish DancingSociety hosted a virtual Irish dancing class.Devotional dance also formed part of someactivities, for example that of Guildford andGodalming.

VideosMany videos were produced and shared for theWeek, a number of which are featured elsewhere inthis report. Faiths United created an Inter Faith videosketch with faith leaders of different religions andbeliefs.

CompetitionsCompetitions were widely used to mark the Week,particularly in activities involving young people. Forexample, Oldham Council and Oldham Play ActionGroup with Oldham Inter Faith Forum held artcompetitions with the following themes: We havemore in common than the things that divide us; WhatBuddhists, Christians, Jews, Hindus or Muslimsbelieve; Festivals from different faiths; Pictures ofyour family celebrations; and Pictures of places ofworship. Overleigh St Mary’s Church of England

Primary School in Chester held a photographycompetition; Harris Church of England Academy inRugby held a ‘Design an inter faith place of worshipfor the 21st century’ competition; and CarmelCatholic Sixth Form College in St Helens held anessay competition. Nottingham UniversityChaplaincy held an art competition titled: Faith in aTime of Crisis.


A video sketch produced by Faiths United for Inter Faith Week

A banner featuring different faith symbols knitted byHounslow Friends of Faith for their 20th anniversary duringInter Faith Week 2020

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18. Services and devotional activities

As might be expected, there were a number ofactivities for Inter Faith Week 2020 which were either‘services’ or had a devotional aspect. Those whichwere particularly linked to Remembrance arecovered in that section of this report.

The Shree Ganapathy Temple in Wimbledon,London, held prayers and hosted an online inter faithservice for Inter Faith Week with contributions fromdifferent places of worship in the service.https://youtu.be/vngxCa88gKo

The Cardiff Baha’i Community hosted DdefosiwnRhyng-Ffydd (Cymraeg)/Welsh language ‘InterfaithDevotional for Interfaith Week ‘ on Zoom, wheresacred verses from different faiths were read in Welshwith inspirational music.

A number of services responded particularly to thepandemic, for example ‘A Fragile Hope: InterfaithResponses to the Coronavirus’. This was a specialinter faith service with a message of hope andreassurance. It was held at Kendal Unitarian Chapeland arranged by the minister with colleagues ofothers faiths.

In Leeds, All Hallows C of E church closed the Weekwelcoming the imam from Makkah Mosque Leeds,and the rabbi from Sinai Synagogue, to its morningworship service.https://twitter.com/AllHallowsLeeds/status/1328022779724255234

Interfaith chanting, prayers and blessingsSaturday 14 November 16.00 – 18.00

London Buddhist Vihara held ‘Interfaithchanting, prayers and blessings’ wherecontributors of different faiths came together.

“We chant and pray for those who had becomevictims of Covid-19 and left us.

We chant and pray those who are sufferingfrom this illness, for a speedy recovery andback to their normal self.

We chant and pray, wishing for every one ofyou to be free from this deadly covid-19 and forthe world to be free from this pandemicdisaster.”

As well as services, many more general eventsincluded contributions of prayers and devotionalmusic. There were also special reflections offered forInter Faith Week such as one from the RomanCatholic Diocese of Westminster:https://vimeo.com/479261144


Shree Ganapathy Temple hosted a virtual service

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19. Inter Faith Week: Cooking upunderstanding!

Food was at the centre of many activities, even wherepeople were unable to come together in person!Some shared recipes, others held virtual lunches.

Virtual interfaith cooking sessions were popular, suchas those held by Rotherham United CommunitySports Trust, which held an online inter faith cookingsession, and Star Primary School in Newham’s onlinefamily cooking session. So, too, were ‘bake-off’s suchas Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School in Coventry’sbake off where they encouraged pupils to create acultural cuisine of their choice and send in recipesand photos; and the University of East Anglia JewishSociety’s virtual Challah bake.

Safer Swansea Partnership shared recipes inspiredby community members of different faiths andbeliefs on their Facebook page.

NHS Digital ‘Faith-a-licious Cookbook Display’encouraged staff to cook / bake items which areeither faith related or culturally important. Recipesand images were then published during Inter FaithWeek in the form of a cookbook.


A young boy in Lake View, Edgware, bakes for Mitzvah Day

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Headstone Manor & Museum shared an onlineexhibition documenting the celebration of Diwali inHarrow, a recipe book comprised of recipes donatedfrom the local community, cooking videos onyouTube, a Rangoli demonstration video and otherresources.

Virtual cafes and lunches featured this year. Forexample, Cardiff and Vale College Students’ Unionheld a virtual Inter Faith Week lunch, whereparticipants baked and virtually brought along atraditional meal from their own faith or joined tochat and eat lunch together.

In a number of areas, groups’ activities involveddonating food to those in need. For example inBradford, Inspired Futures started the Week bydelivering essential food packs to diverse faith andcommunity groups across Bradford. Ten familieswere given boxes containing essential items for themto enjoy during this period. Also in this area,including Keighley, The Volunteering InterfaithProgramme (VIP) VIP team with AgeUK Bradforddistributed food to people in Bradford to mark InterFaith Week and to promote good communityrelations amidst the COVID-19 lockdown.

Dewsbury’s ‘Tea, Samosas and yorkshire Puddings!’actvity, held by South Dewsbury Covid-19 group,encouraged people, in a COVID secure way, to dropoff their favourite food with a neighbour fromanother community and let them know at a meetingduring the Week how they got on.


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20. Building on this year’s successfulWeek and looking to the future

Activities inspire ongoing work.One of the most important ways that people build onthe Week is by developing longer term projects andprogrammes as result of taking part.

“We plan to engage more with the generalpublic and will be running an interfaithprogramme in the new year focusing on therole of faith communities during the Covid-19pandemic and examining how they are.uniquely positioned to support people andfoster resilience during the COVID-19 pandemicand help people create meaning in times ofgreat uncertainty or anxiety. We would like toexplore the role of faith communities duringthe Covid-19 pandemic further through aseries of talks and facilitated discussion.” – LOCAL AUTHORITy IN NORTHERN IRELAND

“We have committed to holding a series onongoing discussion meetings” – LOCAL INTER FAITH GROUP

“We were part of a WhatsApp group to helpplan events. This group will now continue andexpand.”– LOCAL INTER FAITH GROUP

“We will be rolling out a new teacher trainingprogramme with a grant we have receivedand using what we have learnt during interfaith week to help to plan this”. – AN INTER FAITH CHARITy

Others build on the Week through the relationshipsand partnerships strengthened through participationin the Week.

Learning from 2020, planning for 2021!The Inter Faith Network will be working towards a2021 Inter Faith Week which draws on learning fromthe 2020 Week to enable even more people to getinvolved and, through this, to learn about thecontribution of faith groups to society and tostrengthen and deepen inter faith understandingand good relations, including with those of non-religious beliefs.


of surveyrespondents saidtheir organisationwas planning follow-

up activity in the coming months.

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either ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ beorganising an Inter Faith Weekactivity again in 2021

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To find out about plans for the 2021 week visitwww.interfaithweek.org and follow Inter Faith Weekat www.facebook.com/ifweek,www.twitter.com/ifweek andwww.instagram.com/ifweek.

If you take part, please do tell us! you can list youractivity at www.interfaithweek.org/submit to beeligible for a free pack with Inter Faith Week stickers,a poster, flyers, and a blank message card on whichto share an Inter Faith Week message.


An opportunity to:• Strengthen good inter faith relations

at all levels• Increase awareness of faith

communities in the UK, celebrating and building on thecontribution which their membersmake to their neighbourhoods and to wider society

• Increase understanding between peopleof religious and non-religious beliefs

Inter Faith Week 202114–21 November

COOPERATE/LEARN/RESPECT/REFLECT/APPRECIATE/TALK/VOLUNTEER/MAKEFRIENDS/CELEBRATE www.interfaithweek.org

#Interfaithweek

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter:facebook.com/IFWeek @IFWeek

Inter Faith Week 14–21November 2021Join the thousands of people andorganisations who will be taking part in Inter Faith Week this year: faith, belief andinter faith bodies; voluntary organisations;local authorities; museums and libraries;schools; colleges; universities; youthorganisations; chaplaincies; emergencyservices; hospitals; sports organisations;businesses; workplaces; and many others. The Week is ever more important, helpingpeople continue to come together; makenew links and friendships; educate againstprejudice and hatred; and volunteertogether to help others. Lots of great ideasfor activities –virtual and in person –at:www.interfaithweek.org/resources/ideasInter Faith Week begins each year onRemembrance Sunday, encouragingremembering together of the service ofpeople of di.erent backgrounds.

Visit www.interfaithweek.org for resources and to register and publicise your activity.And don’t forget to share your activities on social media! #InterFaithWeek Note: Scottish Interfaith Week, led by Interfaith Scotland, will this year be running at adifferent time from usual. Its dates are 31 October to 7 November, linked to the UK’shosting of COP26 in Glasgow. scottishinterfaithweek.org

Inter Faith Week isa programme ofthe Inter FaithNetwork for the UKIFN, 2 GrosvenorGardens, LondonSW1W 0DH

[email protected] www.interfaith.org.ukRegistered charity no. 1068934. Companylimited by guarantee no. 3443823. Registered in England.

Images: Blue Coat School Coventry celebrating Diwali and BandiChorr Divas; Faiths United video sketch; Shrimad RajchandraMission Dharampur (UK) with Planting for Peace at OneJAINAhimsa Peace Garden, Harrow; IFN Trustees; IFN youth roundtableevent; Guilford & Godalming Interfaith Forum Zoom event (Photo:UK Baha’i OPA); St Mary the Virgin Church/Merchant SeafarersAssociation/Muslim friends on Remembrance Sunday, Butetown,Cardi0. Event photos: 2020.

21. Executive Summary

Inter Faith Week 2020 took place against thebackdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, and at a timewhen all nations of the UK were under strict socialdistancing and lockdown measures. Ahead of theWeek organisers had wondered whether there wouldbe less keenness to engage or less ability to do sobecause of social distancing and other pandemicimpacts. However, the Week turned out to be aremarkable one. The following is a summary of keyfacts and figures from this report.

717 activities are known to have taken place to mark•the Week in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Activities were organised by 720 organisations, with•many activities organised in partnership.

The number of schools taking part in the Week•increased by over 90%.

Through these organisations and activities, many•thousands of people participated directly in theWeek.

The Week had an extensive social media reach. For•example, tweets about the Week appeared on thefeeds of 11million twitter users a total of 34.7milliontimes. This helped raise awareness of the Week andits participants, and to act as a counterpoint tonegative or hateful narratives shared online.

95% of survey respondents believed that their•activity had helped participants to learn moreabout different faiths and beliefs.

98% of survey respondents said that Inter Faith•Week adds value to their work.

In-person activities took place in settings where this•was possible, including in schools, hospices andhospitals. However, 74% of activities were eitherheld entirely online or had a strong virtualcomponent, and 75% of survey respondents saidthe online element of the Week was beneficial.

A number of survey respondents also said that theywere keen to incorporate technology into futureactivities, including through live-streaming orrecording activities, enabling even more people toengage in some way.

93% of survey respondents said that had Inter Faith•Week provided a focal point for making orcelebrating positive connections between people ofdifferent backgrounds in the context of COVID-19.

Many activities took COVID-19 as part of their theme,•often focusing on the ways that faith communitiesand others had been serving their communitiesduring the pandemic.

46% of activity organisers who responded to the•post-Week survey said that they worked withanother organisation they’d never worked withbefore to hold their activity.

88% of respondents said that their activity helped•them to reach new people or groups.

Some organisations chose to mark the Week•internally, including many workplaces, universitiesand colleges. Of those that responded to the post-Week survey, 76% thought that their activities arelikely to have helped contribute to developingstronger/more positive relations within yourworkplace or institution

The Week also has a longer-term impact: For•example, 77% of survey respondents said they wereplanning a follow-up activity in the monthsfollowing the Week, and 100% said they were likelyto mark the Week again in 2021.

The post-Week survey also asked activity organiserswhether they used the Week to do something theyhad not done before, such as trying a new kind ofactivity, reaching out to a different audience, orlaunching a new resource/ initiative. 88% ofrespondents said ‘yes’. Examples included 2 bookslaunched during the Week, a number of groupsgetting the taste for film-making and using digitalcommunications, and the pilot of a virtual ‘faithvisitors’ project for schools in Cumbria.

The Inter Faith Network for the UK leads Inter Faith•Week, having established it in 2009. It was inspiredby Scottish Interfaith Week, which was establishedin 2004.

The Inter Faith Network’s Faith Communities Forum•invited national faith community bodies and/or


their leaders to share reflections and messageslinked to the Week on social media. 20 did so, andtheir messages can be read athttps://www.interfaithweek.org/news/reflections-from-faith-communities

The Inter Faith Network provided the framework for•the Week as well as developing a special ‘inter faithweek buddies’ scheme for the Week, encouragingindividuals of different backgrounds to engage in 1:1dialogue and holding a special round-table duringthe Week for youth initiatives – including nationalfaith-based student bodies – to make connections,share about their work, and discuss the importanceof inter faith activity involving young people.Feedback on this was positive.

The 2020 survey was the longest and most detailedsurvey carried out since the Week first began. 40 fullycompleted surveys were received from a widespectrum of types of body. Desk research intoindividual report events and correspondence withactivity holders, as well as information shared atsubsequent IFN meetings, enable the themes to beexplored more widely.


Published 2021 by the Inter Faith Network for the UKRegistered charity no 1068934 Company limited by guarantee no 3443823 Registered in England

ISBN: 1 902906 93 4

The work of the Inter Faith Network for the UK issupported by faith communities, government,trusts and other donors.

inter faith week 2020 connection, learning and cooperation

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