News – Page 7

A Warming Welcome at Lozells Food and Faith Festival

Written on May 22, 2012. Posted in Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

The sun might not have been shining but the welcome was as warm as toast as friends and neighbours gathered in George Park for the Lozells Food and Faith festival, funded by Near Neighbours. Organiser, Pall Singh, was one of the first people I spoke to about Near Neighbours when I began this job in July and I was not surprised to receive a bid from him, on behalf of the Lozells Project, quite soon after the fund opened in the autumn. He was pipped to the post, however, by the Buddhists who have a temple just by the Hockey Flyover and were the first organisation to apply for Near Neighbours funding.

So on Saturday, not only did we see the fruit of Pall’s application, as local residents had the chance to meet representatives from their local faith communities and sample a wonderful range of tasty foods but also two of the strands of the Buddhist-based application were represented. Inspire, the music project, provided some of the entertainment on the stage while representatives of the Flour Project were selling the most delicious looking cupcakes.

By 1 pm the park was full of the sounds of fun and music as children enjoyed the fairground rides and bouncy castles and all enjoyed the food, on-stage entertainment and the chance to see the exhibitions on display by community groups and faith organisations. As Near Neighbours we were made really welcome by other exhbitors and appreciated the chance to speak about Near Neighbours on stage with the local faith leaders. So huge thanks to all involved with this fantastic day and huge thanks too to the two local residents who popped back to their house by the park to make us stallholders a cup of tea – much appreciated.

Putting Faith in to Action

Written on May 11, 2012. Posted in Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

Jubilee Debt Campaigner, Audrey Miller, was given a Near Neighbours grant to run workshops for women in Sparkhill on the theme of global poverty. The workshops were run at the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre in March and Audrey was kind enough to share photos and her evaluation with us.

She said that all four creative workshops received positive feedback from the participants who really enjoyed their interactive nature. Activities ranged from banner-making to debate, from crafts to role-play.

The numbers of women attending varied from eleven to eight for the four sessions and participants were drawn from the Sikh, Muslim and Christian faith traditions.

Amogst the Christians were people from the Seventh Day Baptist Church, Church of God of Prophecy and the Orthodox Polish Russian church – all were new to Jubilee Debt Camppaign Multi-Faith meetings.

Different perspectives were given by women of African- Caribbean, Moroccan, Philippine and Asian heritage, who shared their experiences of poverty and culture.

A Jubilee Debt Campaign information resource pack was given to those attending the session and a fairtrade rainbow scarf was given to each participant and used to “create” a new item. This resulted in turbans, a cotta, bags, a necklace and various styles of scarves.

You can seem more photos from the workshops on the Near Neighbours Birmingham facebook page

Fantastic Artwork Raises Awareness of Malaria

Written on April 26, 2012. Posted in Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

Last night was the official opening of the fantastic Art4Action exhibition at MAC in Birmingham.

Art4Action is the brainchild of Faiths Act Fellows, Immandeep Kaur and Steve Hirst who have been based at the Springfield Centre working both with the centre and with The Feast since last September.

Faiths Act Fellows are part of the Tony Blair Foundation and as part of their work they are asked to raise awareness of and raise funds for the fight against malaria. Steve and Immy’s response has been Art4Action – a competition to engage children and young people in the issues and to develop creative and imaginative responses.

Steve and Immy have worked tirelessly delivering workshops about malaria is schools, nurseries and colleges across Birmingham. Through the workshops they have interacted with around 2,500 children and young people and ended up with 400 entries into the competition.

Yesterday we were privileged to see a selection – they were really fantastic. I am afraid the photos from my phone really don’t do them justice. The exhibition runs at the MAC til April 28th and there is a special family fun day this Saturday. You can find out more at www.facebook.com/Art4Action.

The special photobook is a real gem and my congratulations goes to the inter-faith judging panel that managed to make some really hard decisions.

We are really pleased that Near Neighbours could fund this project – fantastic work, Immy and Steve.

Understanding Pakistanis

Written on April 26, 2012. Posted in Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Training.

On the 26th April a group of us met at the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre to hear Karamt Iqbal teach us about the history of the Pakistani community in Birmingham along with the current situation. Karamt spoke about his own experience of being a Pakistani who moved from Mirpur to Birmingham in 1960’s and used this to highlight the experiences of many within the Pakistani community.

Hearing first hand of what it was like to make such a significant move was both interesting and insightful as he unpacked the implications for a community that has had to establish itself within the city.

Karamat’s style was to be both informative and anecdotal, he also challenged the majority white community whilst being reflective and self critical of his own Pakistani community.

Karamat has many years experience of working for the local authority and used this experience to highlight the current situation and to encourage participants to consider the implications for the city of a large (and growing) Pakistani community living, working and contributing to life in Birmingham.

The day was well received and we are hoping to run it again in the autumn along with a shorter version aimed specificaly at church leaders. Details of these events will be on the website when confirmed.

Bringing People Together – making the strapline a reality

Written on March 26, 2012. Posted in Dialogue, Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

Near Neighbours Development worker Jessica Foster writes: The small grants part of the Near Neighbours programme has been running for just over seven months now and we have funded well over 40 projects, distributing nearly £170,000 to projects and activities that will create and strengthen friendships between people of different faiths who live close to one another.

For some projects the planning is over and it has been an absolute privilege to have been invited to the launch of a job club in Handsworth and the evening celebration of Hodge Hill’s Unsung Heroes recently.

While both events were very different, responding to the different needs in different parts of the city what delighted me was that at both occasions I saw that very real friendships were being built and nourished between people of different faiths and ethnicities who discovered huge amounts in common – shared values, shared concerns and shared neighbourhoods.

On my table of heroes in Hodge Hill, people from different faiths and ethnicities chatted away, building and deepening friendships. Throughout the evening we saw people appreciating the contribution their neighbour was making and that appreciation was enthusiastic, heartfelt and warm as people saw in one another the shared willingness to work together for the good of Hodge Hill.

In Handsworth the commitment to give the most disadvantaged people a second-chance had brought a steering group together to support Alvin Henry and the Dorcas Club to set up a job club. Here people wanted to see young people skilled and equipped to achieve in a competitive employment market. There was a particular concern for people who had left prison and were struggling to quit the offending cycle without any hope of a job.

Amongst this steering group of people was Ajit from the local gurdwara. Alvin told us that the Near Neighbours grant meant he needed a steering group made up of people from different faiths and he had approached Ajit from the Nishkam centre expecting a formal half-an-hour meeting. Three hours later Alvin and Ajit had become firm friends and Ajit is now an integral part of the group overseeing the job club.

At a lecture I attended as part of the Muslim-Christian forum residential for women we heard that friendship is not only personal and intimate but also civil and political. Friendships have the power to bring about real and lasting change in communities. We sometimes think they are something that happen to us but in reality we choose and nurture our friends. We hope Near Neighbours helps to build hundreds of new friendships across this city – we do hope you can be part of it

Men and Inter-Faith

Written on March 22, 2012. Posted in Dialogue, Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Interfaith.

Why is it that inter-faith events seem to attract more women than men, and that women’s events are often better attended than ones for men. These were some of the questions we considered at the consultation on the 21st March.

First of all we recognised that there is lots of good inter-faith work going on, and that there is an issue of needing to get more women involved in leadership. We also weren’t suggesting that events for women should be in anyway curtailed or undermined by this discussion.

We also acknowledges that there are good examples of men’s interfaith events especially some of the sporting competitions that take place.

We spent a good deal of time looking at what we thought might prevent men attending inter-faith events. Some the the suggestions we came up with included:
Enjoying competative activities that are often missing in inter-faith events
Not seeing the need for just building relationships, more interested in networking or making contacts
Wanting to engage through doing not just talking
Not wanting to be made to feel foolish, for example by sharing in small groups
Different communitities having different expectations of how and when an event is run
Not being convinced that it is worthwhile, so needing the aims and motives to be better articulated

We went on to discuss what we could do to overcome sdome of these obstacles. Some of our conclusions included:
Ensuring joint leadership from different communities in the planning of the events
Finding appropriate competative activities to form the basis for the discussions and engagment
Less talk of relationships and more emphasis on activity, contacts and networking
Focus on specific interest or work groups eg local business men, the elderly, sports

This was a consultation not a conclusion so please feel free to add your comments and thoughts, or discuss these questions amongst men that you know.

Olympic Torch Visits Near Neighbours Areas

Written on March 20, 2012. Posted in Near Neighbours.

The route for the Olypmic Torch Relay has been announced and will be in Birmingham on the evening of 30th June and early morning on the 1st July. Much of the route passes through areas earmarked for Near Neighbours funding, so it’s a great chance to get together with people in your area to see the flame pass and have fun.

Details of the route are available on the London 2012 site along and a detailed list of the roads being used and timings can be found on the BBC website.

Jessica Foster, the Near Neighbours Coordinator, said ‘This is a great opportunity to be part of the Olympics by getting together with neighbours to see the Olympic Torch. The fact that it passes through Near Neighbours areas is an added bonus, as grants could be available for groups who organise a joint celebration or event on the day’

Read more about the Near Neighbours programme and grant process.

More Faithful Conversations

Written on March 13, 2012. Posted in Dialogue, Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Near Neighbours, Training.

Following the successful ‘Faithful Conversations’ training day in February we are running it again on 21st April, this time starting at 7:30 so that those who work during the day can attend.

The programme will follow the same pattern as last time with an opportunity to think about our own faith story and how we can share that with others in a constructive and positive way.

The training also includes listening exercises and the opportunity to hear the experiences and beliefs of others.

The training is taking place at The Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, 10-12 Court Road, Sparkhill. B11 4LX, and costs £5 per person.

For full details and information on how to book see our events pages or download a Faithful Conversations Flyer

Birmingham Projects Scoop more than £40,000 of Extra Government Cash.

Written on February 28, 2012. Posted in Near Neighbours.

Extra Government cash has been given to the Near Neighbours small grants programme this week allowing projects across the city to be funded for activities that bring people of different faiths together – turning neighbours into friends. Thanks to the extra funding there will be music in Moseley, laughter in Sparkhill, parties in parks, football in Washwood Heath and mosaic-making in Highgate. The cash will also be used to fund an interfaith event at Birmingham University and to support a new interfaith group based in Highgate.

The latest cash boost means that £57,000 has been given away to 14 projects in Birmingham in 2012 on top of the £100,000 (99,808 to be precise) given away in the last four months of 2011.

This year 22 groups have applied for Near Neighbours funding but by mid-February all the money for small grants was fully allocated until the end of the financial year (March 31st.) Applicants were told they would have to wait until April to receive their funding if their application was successful. The extra money means events in March and early April can now go ahead and there will be more money to distribute to new applicants in the coming financial year.

On hearing the news about the extra cash the Right Revd David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, said: “This is awesome. It is really exciting when people of faith come together and work together to transform their communities. People find they have so much in common when they meet to build community, care for people who are vulnerable and tackle poverty side-by-side.”

Applications continue to be imaginative and creative as well as practical and effective and we are really pleased to be able to distribute this extra cash to people who will use it well. More applications are always welcome and we’ll help with the application process at every step on the way. Do check out the main Near Neighbours website www.near-neighbours.org.uk or e-mail me, jess@nearneighbours.com.

A Faithful Conversation

Written on February 13, 2012. Posted in Dialogue, Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Interfaith, Training.

On the 9th of February we ran the Faithful Conversations training morning at the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre. The morning included a chance for people to think through their own faith stories and then to have the opportunity to share those stories with others, to learn how to speak positively about faith and how to listen to others. It was also an opportunity to hear the faith stories, beliefs, practices and experiences of others.

The morning was greatly appreciated by all the participants. Read what they said about it:
There were really interesting discussions held with interesting people
The course was excellent, easy to get to and with parking available
There was a good balance between activities and discussions
It was very useful, I will definitely be having ‘Faith Conversations’

Due to the popularity of this course we are planning to run it again in the evening of Thursday 26th April. You can find all the details on our events pages