Open Meeting and AGM which was very kindly hosted by Father David Cain at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Rushey Mead. The evening started with the food sharing festival, and we were very honoured that Father John Lally, Leicester Council of Faith’s Honorary Life Member cut the festival cake.

During the open meeting, attendees heard from 4 speakers, who all gave their personal perspectives on the subject, of Faith in a Multi-Cultural Society. The speakers were:  The Very Revd Karen Rooms, Dean of Leicester, Janet Perry, Leicester Quakers Meeting, Farooq Murad, CEO Islamic Foundation, Hema Acharya, Shantidham.

During the AGM, Fayyaz Suleman presented the highlights report for 2024, and talked about all the activities and programmes the Leicester Council of Faiths have been involved with and delivered during the year.

attended the Navratri celebrations at the Shree Hindu Temple, and met over 300 worshippers to convey a message of unity. 

and discussed community cohesion across Leicester and the work and planned projects for the Leicester Council of Faiths.

in response to the tragic events in Southport and the subsequent riots across the UK. Our Chairman, Fayyaz Suleman, spoke on BBC Radio Leicester about the statements we issued and the response from Leicester’s faith community to the horrific acts of violence.

have been appointed has Honorary Life Members of the Leicester Council of Faiths, recognising their tireless work for inter faith harmony and the Leicester Council of Faiths over many years. We are delighted to have their support. They join our other honorary life members, Smita Shah, Resham Singh Sandhu and Suleman Nagdi.

we delivered 6 cancer conversations events. Faith and belief communities came together to discuss cancer and faith. We talked about the barriers faith communities face in respect of cancer, as well as the opportunities and positives that faith provides when facing cancer. 119 people attended the events and the feedback they have given us, will help Macmillan Cancer Support to improve their support for those affected by cancer.  

released a press and public statement in respect of the situation in Gaza.

deliver 3 faith engagement visits to places of worship in Leicester to support the early years team to understand different faiths. Together, we visited the Sacred Heart Church, the Jain Centre and the East Park Road Gurdwara.

was held at De Montfort University. The theme of the event was the Fragility of Freedom. The theme provided an opportunity for us to remember the Holocaust and subsequent genocides and the chance to celebrate our diversity.

Open Meeting and AGM which was very kindly hosted by Father David Cain at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Rushey Mead. The evening started with the food sharing festival, and we very honoured that Mr Rupert Matthews (the Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland) cut the festival cake.

During the open meeting, attendees heard from 4 speakers, who all gave their personal perspectives on the subject, Women and Faith. The speakers were: Natalie Steel (Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (UK) and Loughborough University Brahma Kumaris and Sikh Chaplain), Dr Akshaya Rajangam (former Vice President of the national Hindu Students Forum UK), Michele Benn (Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation) and Vibhooti Acharya (ex- President and the first female President of the Shree Sanatan Mandir Leicester.

During the AGM, Fayyaz Suleman presented the highlights report for 2023, and talked about all the activities and programmes the Leicester Council of Faiths have been involved with and delivered during the year. The evening closed with elections to the Leicester Council of Faiths board.

calling for peace in Gaza and condemning the perpetrators of the violence.

Statement

to deliver a Cancer and Faith project. The project will focus on engaging with faith communities from across Leicester and Leicestershire to explore the issues around cancer and faith. We will shortly be releasing more information about how you can be involved in this fantastic project.

Our inspirational speakers, Imam, Tina and Meena shared their personal perspectives. We broke out into smaller discussion groups and then came back together to share feedback and possible projects and resources the Leicester Council of Faiths could develop to support faith organisations.

the Granby Primary School Multi-Faith day and were grateful for the chance to talk to pupils about their faith practices.

They included the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire’s multi-faith musical event at De Montfort University, the Shree Sanatan Mandir’s coronation dinner and coronation service at Leicester Cathedral.

be invited to and attend interfaith Iftars throughout the city and county.

These included Iftars hosted by the Wigston Muslim Association, Majid Al Ameen and the Darul Arqam Trust.

at the compound of the Al Aqsa Mosque and issued a public statement of peace and unity.

The subject was cancer and faith. Our five amazing speakers, talked passionately and honestly about their own experiences and reflections on cancer and faith.  

Our speakers were: Dr. Khazeh Fananapazir (retired Surgeon), Dr. Bhavyang Acharya (hospice Consultant), Allia Amjad (women’s cancer support group, Masjid At-Taqwa, Leicester), Deacon Andrew Martin (Spiritual Care Lead Chaplain, LOROS) and Kartar Singh Bring (Head of Chaplaincy, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust).

We were also joined by Robert and Nicola Sherratt from Macmillan Cancer Support. They told us about the support services Macmillan offer. The evening ended with a “roundtable” talk on the barriers faith communities face about cancer.  The open meeting was kindly hosted by Father David Cain.

In January, we said goodbye, when Father Paskal moved from Leicester to his new Parish in Birmingham. To thank Father Paskal, for all his support for inter faith activities in Leicester. Our Chair, Fayyaz Suleman, presented him with a certificate of appreciation.  

We wish Father Paskal well in all his future adventures.

To look at the FCAs Scamsmart campaign https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart and learn how we can protect ourselves from financial scams. 

Executive Director of Enforcement at the FCA, Mark Steward, listened to feedback from workshop attendees. To understand how the FCA can reach our communities to share messages and guidance on avoiding financial scams. The workshop was kindly hosted by the Trustees of the Virbaimaa Jalaram Community Centre.

in the Service of Remembrance and Parade at the Arch of Remembrance in Victoria Park.  During the moving and poignant service, we laid wreaths on behalf of the faith communities in Leicester and Leicestershire.  Our Chair, Fayyaz Suleman, also laid wreaths at the Afro-Caribbean Memorial on Peace Walk and the Sikh Memorial in Victoria Park.

at the Scared Heart Club Room, to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Members of the Leicester Council of Faiths gave their personal memories of meeting the Queen and offered their prayers and thoughts to King Charles and the Royal family.

to read out a golden rule at the Platinum Jubilee event organised by the Sikh association in collaboration with the Brahma Kumaris.

in a service of thanksgiving for the Chairman of the County Council Mr Dan Harrison, for his year in office.

They were joined by representatives from many other faiths from within Leicestershire and each read a section from the Golden Rule.

The service was held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and the Bishop of Leicester Mr Martyn Snow gave the address on the theme of leadership and service.

Leicester Council of Faiths issued the attached statement asking for the sanctity of all Places of Worship to be respected.  Leicester Council of Faiths continue to foster and encourage dialogue amongst Leicestershire’s diverse religious communities, so that conflict overseas does not impact on our strong local relationships of friendship and mutual respect.

Our Statement

who were hosting 25 visitor from a church in Kettering as part of the Pilgrim Cross (formerly known as Student Cross) over the weekend of the 8-10th April 2022.

Pilgrim Cross (Midland Leg) are part of a larger charity who walk in groups  annually from various locations around the country to Walsingham during Holy Week, resting each evening in a different church hall. This has happened bar the last two years since 1948.

Unfortunately this year their stopover in Stamford had fallen through – so they were planning to stay at Sacred Heart from Friday evening to Sunday morning.  This gave them an entire Saturday in Leicester and they have approached us to see if they could visit some other places of faith on that day while they were in Leicester.  They are looking to visit a Gurdwara, a Mosque and a Hindu temple to find out about elements of prayer and pilgrimage.

As they were to be walking between each venue, we asked faith leaders from nearby Shree Hindu Temple St Barnabas Road, Masjid at-Taqwa Mosque Harewaood St and Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara on East Park Rd, if they could visit them.

It was a day enjoyed by all and the Scouts at Masjid at-Taqwa also got to meet the visitors, which went towards one of their badges.

This was an opportunity for representatives from the NHS, County Council and Public Health to hear from young people about their concerns and challenges re Covid and their responses to the new guidance re ‘living with Covid’ to help us understand how we can best support them moving forward. 

Leicester Council of Faiths are very proud to have held similar meetings in the past and are pleased to say that information shared at these has been taken on board by the representatives and used to influence future decisions, so it was a great opportunity for young individuals to have their voices heard.

honoured to receive an invite from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

As in previous years the invite was received from Olivia Marks-Woodman OBE the CEO of the Holocaust Memorial Day to attend this year.

Once again, forced by the Pandemic the event was held virtually.  The event started at 6.45 pm with Youth Photography Exhibition, with the main event starting at 7 p.m. and finishing at 8.00 p.m ending with “lighting” of a candle provided by the Trust.

The host opened the event with a welcoming speech followed by short speeches by the Prime minister, the Secretary of State for the Dept for Levelling up, Housing & Communities, the Leader of the Opposition, the First Minister of Scotland, The first Minister of Wales and many other dignitaries.

The event was also shared by the experiences of the Holocaust Survivors and their families then and the more recent ones  from Rwanda, Sudan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur.

Narendra Waghela said of the event  “As always this was a very moving event, it does make one wonder if human beings will ever respect, accept and tolerate the people as what they are, and learn from past mistakes.”  He also observed that the online format perhaps enables more people to join as it is virtual.

Leicester Council of Faiths attended the Remembrance day service at Victoria Park yesterday (Sunday 14th November 2021) and the Chair laid a wreath on behalf of the faith communities of Leicester and Leicestershire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogYBu4P0Ouk

We were excited to welcome 30 participants.

It was a frank and honest conversation and NHS colleagues were really pleased with all the feedback received and have expressed an interest in doing something similar again in the future, which is fantastic for our young people.

Many of the young people expressed an interest in taking this group further and LCOF is keen to support this.

following the Israeli-Gaza conflict which killed over 200 Palestinians and 12 Israelis and caused tensions locally

Our Statement

Further to the Statement on the Al Aqsa Mosque Attack, there were hostilities between Israel and Gaza, in which over 220 people were killed, mainly civilians including Children in Gaza (over 60) and Israel (2). There was a lot of anger and tension in the UK and we allowed faith leaders/groups to express their concerns of the human cost of the attacks and to call for resolution of the conflict and solidarity here in Leicestershire. We also supported calls for prayer for a long-term solution to the conflict and to maintain the unity here in Leicestershire by opposing any promotion of hatred against any faith community.

following the Mount Meron stampede in Israel which killed scores of people

Our Statement

Faith leaders shared condolences to the Jewish Community at the stampede at Mount Meron in Israel who were celebrating a religious festival. We pray that the families find strength and patience during this difficult time.

including the Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire Mr Mike Kapur, the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Bishop Martyn Snow, Leicester City MP’s, the Chief Constable and Faith Leaders attended LCOF Remembrance vigil held online.

Prayers and comments were said by faith leaders and key dignitaries, including the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire Mr Mike Kapur.

Covid’ held for Young People where many young people shared their views to others.

Fayyaz Suleman Chair of LCOF said “It was wonderful to meet young people from faith communities sharing their experiences of lockdown, vaccines and ideas for projects. Thanks to all”

to disseminate a Home Office survey to the faith groups across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.

Following the horrendous attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, the then Home Secretary committed to a package of measures, including a new faith security training scheme, to support the continuing work on the places of worship protective security scheme. In order to better understand and explore views from faith communities, the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) in the Home Office launched a market research survey with Plus4.

it was our first held online and had over 45 participants.

Dr. Ivan Browne, Director of Public Health England, spoke about present challenges and Andy Williams, Chief Executive, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups and Andrew Furlong, Medical Director, University Hospitals of Leicester, who spoke about the proposed changes to the Leicester hospitals, both were very insightful presentations and raised lots of comments and questions.

with the theme Using My Faith to Cope with COVID-19
Over 30 people participated and we were honoured to hear from speakers from 7 different faiths.

Fr John Lally said “Really uplifting meeting. Tremendous sense of unity. It felt like a new moment. Keep up the good work!”

Praful Thakrar said “It was a very knowledgeable meeting. Nice to know how different faiths have taken COVID19 in their faith.”

Narendra Waghela said “A unique event with positive vibes. And also unifies all.”

following the Terrorist Attack in Nice (France)

Our Statement

apply for either a Minister of religion (tier 2) or Religious Worker (Tier 5) visa. Then the rules were changed which required all Religious Workers to be treated as Ministers of Religion.

This meant that applications for Tier 5 have been rejected and places of worship mainly from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and some Churches have been deprived from being able to sponsor Religious workers at Tier 5.

The LCOF campaigned via the local MPs, led by Jon Ashworth MP to lobby the Home Office to provide clarity and raise these issues.

and fear among people. This was the time that we put the Unity Declaration into practise and showed our common humanity and worked together to support vulnerable members of our society. The Leicester Council of Faiths collaborated with the Leicester and Leicestershire authorities to support faith communities/leader’s engagement during the early days of the pandemic and beyond.

LCOF was in communication with the Police & Crime Commissioner Lord Bach and Chief Constable Simon Cole.

LCOF participated in the phone conference with the Local Resilience Forum tasked with providing a coordinated response to the pandemic and plan the recovery phase.

LCOF setup a Whatsapp Group of over 50 faith representatives or leaders of faith centres/places of worship in Leicester and Leicestershire.

LCOF has been sharing the government guidance on places of worship regularly and suggested options for services whilst adhering to the guidance.

The group has also allowed faith leaders to share examples of support being provided and examples of how they are dealing with services for their communities, such as worship, supporting the vulnerable and funerals.

LCOF put together a list of issues for councils and authorities to respond to or deal with or report on so that faith communities could be assured that their needs were being taken into account.

Fayyaz Suleman also met with NHS England and the Cabinet Office about the faith communities response to COVID-19.

The Leicester Council of Faiths established partnership working early in July in response to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases. We planned and delivered a messaging project for people to follow guidelines in 15 different languages with over 30 groups and faith centres participating. These messages were mainly in video format and reached a direct audience of over 26,000 who were connected to the groups as members, worshippers or supporters. Apart from messages in English, the messages were produced in 14 other languages, including Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Kutchi, Somali, Bengali, Polish, Shona, Yoruba, Portugese and Pigdin English. This was hailed as a huge success in such a short timeframe. Prof Azhar Farooqi, clinical chair of NHS Leicester City CCG and a local GP, said: “During the extended Leicester lockdown it has been more important than ever that we reach out inclusively and engage with all of our many diverse communities across Leicester. Faith has had an important role to play in that, not least because of unique position of many religious leaders at their heart of their local communities. We have been delighted to work with the Leicester Council of Faiths on this project, which has helped supplement the community outreach activity of the NHS and its local partners during this crucial period.”

following a knife attack in Reading.

Statement

following an attack on the Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara in Derby.

Statement

from the negative and divisive campaigning during the election and of incidents of hate crime in the city, some of which had manifested in schools with Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents reported. As well as incidents in Pakistan against Sikh people and in India from the protests, have all caused anxiety among local communities.

Leicester Council of Faith felt there was a view that a collective Unity declaration by faith centres and civic and political leaders would be a good basis to underline our commitment to keeping things harmonious and cohesive in Leicester.

To this end, the board of the LCOF met and adopted a ‘ONE UNITED LEICESTERSHIRE’ declaration, supported and signed up to by over 80 signatories from Faith and Public leaders.

the LCOF supported the HMD event with over 100 guests from the civic, faith and non-faith community of Leicester and Leicestershire. Word of thanks was also given to Tony Nelson for Chairing the HMD Committee and making the annual event successful.

We held this meeting to make amendments to our constitution to add a faith organisation membership category following requests for this and review by the board over the last year or so. Several clauses were amended to allow faith organisations operating locally to apply. There are conditions for membership to this category, before the faith organisation can be admitted as a member. The conditions will include that the faith organisation is either a member of the national interfaith network or an organisation whose national representative body is a member of the National interfaith network, and the admission of the organisation will not be against the interests of the Leicester Council of Faiths as determined by the board when considering the application. This will ensure that our membership of faith organisations will be within the framework for membership of the National Interfaith Network. We continue with our current categories of membership of individuals. The other changes made to the constitution is that we will have a minimum number of persons elected or appointed at the AGM from each faith on the board, to avoid 1 or 2 faith representatives overpowering the board. This will be more representative.

the Methodist Church’s Scriptural Reasoning Inter-faith event that was held on the 13th of June 2019 at Bishop Street Methodist Church, Leicester.

Scriptural Reasoning is a tool for inter-faith dialogue whereby people of different faiths come together to read and reflect on their scriptures.  Unlike some forms of inter-faith engagement, it is not about seeking agreement but rather, exploring the texts and their possible interpretations across faith boundaries, and learning to ‘disagree better’. The result is often a deeper understanding of others’ and one’s own scriptures, as well as the development of strong bonds across faith communities. 

The event drew out many examples of common lessons for the adherents of the 3 Abrahamic faiths and relevance to todays world of diverse faiths and communities. The panel was excellent and thank you to Dr Angela Jagger, Rumaysa Sidat and Uri Gordon, and the Methodist Church for making the event a success.

from Faith leaders in the city, condemning the terrorist attacks at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed over 150 people and injured hundreds more.  Thank you to all of you who attended the Interfaith Vigil held at the Cathedral, led the Rt Rev Bishop Martyn Snow to remember and pray for the victims of the Terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka. We would like to thank the Cathedral and the Leicester Anglican Diocese for organising this event.

Statement

Leicester council of Faiths once again supported Sathya Sai International Organisation (UK) on their Human Values Walk and Concert and encouraged Leicester’s faith communities to come along, bring a banner and join in.

condemning the terrorist attack in Kashmir on 14th February 2019 and invited people to join us for prayers at Shree Sanatan Mandir the following evening.

Statement

at Sacred Heart Church Hall, Mere Road.  An opportunity to experience food from different cultures and faith communities and we were not disappointed.  There was a an amazing turn out, with everything from a vegetable curry, to a Victoria sandwich cake.  Definitely something for everyone.

on the very important subject of Mental Health.  Following on from World Mental Health Day and the growing recognition of the problems faced by millions of people and how spirituality and faith helps at difficult times.

Many practitioners, such as Chaplains, do a wonderful job in supporting people suffering from Mental Health issues. Equally at this time, there was a lack of awareness of what Mental Health really is and how we all can play a part.

As well as hearing from a variety of specialists in this field, including a General Practitioner and several Chaplains, we also offered the opportunity for members of the audience to share their own experiences or to convey their views about how they have used faith to support people with Mental Health issues.

Sathya Sai International Organisation (UK), invited you to a series of special events in celebration of ‘Human Values Day’ which took place in Leicester City Centre on Saturday 21st April 2018.

The events consisted of:
Walk With Values – A walk from the King Richard III Visitor Centre (LE1 5DB) to Humberstone Gate. Many people brought banners or flags with a focus on Human Values which represented their faith, to pledge their commitment to practice at least one human value in our daily life.
Human Values Concert – At Humberstone Gate. There were various groups and artists performing songs related to the Human Values on a dedicated stage.
Lunch – At the Salvation Army Building, Kildare St, Leicester LE1 3FY.  Everyone was invited for lunch and an opportunity to meet with the other faith groups supporting the event.

Unity of Faiths Symposium – At the Salvation Army Building, Kildare St, Leicester LE1 3FY. Faith leaders presented their thoughts on the Human Values from the perspective of their faith.

This was a wonderful occasion to foster unity within our community and raise awareness of human values and its practice in our daily lives which will impact the communities around us in a positive way.