Slough Faith Partnership organised week-long events taking place to celebrate Interfaith Week this year. We had excellent speakers with plenty of opportunity for debate and discussion.

Talk and Discussion – Fear of Change: Monday 18th November at 7pm at Langley Academy, Langley Road, Slough SL3 7EF

Rev Alistair Stewart will talk on The Rhetoric of Persecution, with discussion on fear of change to one’s Faith, including the evolution of ideas, and faith and evolution.

Speakers Reverend Alistair Steward and Atta-ul Khan

Audience at a glance

Talk and Discussion – Fear through Faith: Tuesday 19th November at 7pm at Slough & Eton Business & Enterprise College Ragstone Road SL1 2PU

Speakers Dr Hugh Boulter and Khalid Abdullah with chair Monique Cunningham

Audience gather at Slough and Eton Business Enterprise College for a discussion on Fear through Faith

Dr Hugh Boulter of Oxford Diocese Committee for Interfaith Concerns talked on The Importance of Dialogue, with a Buddhist perspective provided by Khalid Abdullah.

Video and Discussion – Fear of Secularism: Wednesday 20th November at 7pm at Slough & Eton Business & Enterprise College Ragstone Road SL1 2PU

James Gibbons of St Joseph’s Catholic High School with the evening’s Chair David Sparrow.

Young People from local schools showed their video interview with prominent Humanist Professor AC Grayling, followed by discussion on doubt, and how faith and doubt go hand in hand.

Talk and Discussion – Fear of Extremism: Thursday 21st November at 7pm at Slough & Eton Business & Enterprise College Ragstone Road SL1 2PU

Revd Julie Wearing chairs the evening: Fear of Extremism

Paul Salahuddin Armstrong and Mohammed Abbassi from the Association of British Muslims, and Alfred Agius, former Director of Westminster Interfaith.

Paul Salahuddin Armstrong and Mohammed Abbassi from the Association of British Muslims, and former Jesuit priest Alfred Aguis will speak, along with young people from local schools.

Talk and Discussion – Fear and Freedom of Speech: Friday 22nd November at 7pm at Iqra School, off Wexham Road, SL2 5FF

Revd Rod Cosh, Area Dean of Burnham and Slough and Nigel Cohen of the Maidenhead Jewish Community will speak, exploring the limits and responsibilities of freedom of speech.

Conference – Overcoming Fear: 

Saturday 23rd November at 2pm  at Upper School, Eton College, SL4 6EU (entry via gatehouse)

Following on from our discussions, we use what we have learned during the week to identify ways of overcoming the hold that fear has on our lives and communities. The event is chaired by Eton College Conduct, Rev. Canon Keith Wilkinson.

IFWAllWeekLR Poster

For more information, contact Malcolm 07909 100675

As a new venture for 2012, Slough Faith Partnership is supporting a project to encourage local
action on the environment across faith communities. Called Shared World, it aims to bring people
together in a shared space as a focus in making decisions towards a practical and local expression of our responsibility towards our shared environment. The project is a partnership between Slough Faith Partnership and the Burnham and Slough Deanery Climate Concern group.

This is the  first meeting for the project. Feedback from this event will then inform a second event at 7pm on Friday Nov 23rd at The Centre, Farnham Road. At this event, the spotlight will turn to the state of the environment both globally and locally, not only because of its crucial importance in contemporary thinking, but because most faiths have an awareness of our relationship to creation as a significant part of their self-understanding.

For more information, contact Rafi 07887 840477 or Michèle 07919 095118

Slough is a multi-cultural town;  people living here have many different nationalities, languages, belief systems, customs and traditions, but we all share the same values of peace, respect, wisdom and harmony.

Throughout the year, Slough Faith Partnership promotes these values by organizing activities involving different faiths and community groups with the aim of increasing mutual understanding and providing opportunities to exchange ideas, socialise, and work together. This year we are proud to be holding an awareness walk in the town centre on Sunday Nov 18th, where we will meet members of the public and encourage them to get involved with our work.

For more information, contact David 07412 974454

Who Am I? is a project in which young people explore and discuss their religious identities. It grew out of an Inter Faith 2010 event and has now been produced and filmed at Slough Grammar School, with  Sixth-form students, teachers and Inter Faith groups taking part.

The resulting DVD – a resource for schools and other groups as a basis for debate and discussion – will be officially launched  at Kingsway, Church Street on Monday Nov 19th at 7pm. During the evening some of the students who took part will be talking about their experiences.

For more information, Contact Zafar 07838 189380

The Slough Local Police Area Commander, Superintendent Richard Humphrey, will talk us through the challenges of establishing and maintaining legitimacy in policing and its value in building trusting relationships that deliver safer communities.

Referring to the core principles of policing in the UK and the specifics of policing in the Thames Valley, he will set out his own view of the future challenges we all face together. The event will take place at The Centre, Farnham Road, on Tuesday Nov 20th at 6pm.

For more information, contact Andrea 07446 187762

Chaz Akoshile, Joint Head of the Forced Marriage Unit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Home Office will join us at The Centre, Farnham Road at 6pm on Wednesday Nov 21st to talk about the Unit’s work.

In the UK the FMU helps victims and potential victims of forced marriage, assists those worried about friends and relatives, and supports professionals working in the social, educational and health sectors. The unit also works with embassy staff abroad to rescue victims who may have been held captive, raped, forced into a marriage or into having an abortion. In 2011 the Unit responded to some 1500 calls for help.

For more information, contact Emel 07446 129154

Mad – Kupenga – Pagaal – Sanki – Szalony – Locura – Mathari …
It doesn’t matter which language you speak or which faith you hold, on Thursday Nov 22nd at 6pm at The Centre, Farnham Road, members of the Slough Community Mental Health Team Karen Shukla and Jacqueline Oliva invite you to find out more about the effects of cultural stigma in Mental Health.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapist Toyin Odowu will introduce Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s
Talking Therapies initiative, and there will be time for questions and discussion.

For more information, contact Malcolm 07909 100675

As a new venture for 2012, Slough Faith Partnership is supporting a project to encourage local
action on the environment across faith communities. Called Shared World, it aims to bring people
together in a shared space as a focus in making decisions towards a practical and local expression of our responsibility towards our shared environment. The project is a partnership between Slough Faith Partnership and the Burnham and Slough Deanery Climate Concern group.

This is the second meeting, following on from the event on 10th, and addressing feedback from that meeting At this event, the spotlight will turn to the state of the environment both globally and locally, not only because of its crucial importance in contemporary thinking, but because most faiths have an awareness of our relationship to creation as a significant part of their self-understanding.