Minutes of the Meeting of BUILD members with All Party Parliamentary Group Connecting Communities
Room 21 House of Commons 5.00 pm Monday 14th March 2005
Apologies were received from John Battle MP
Present:-
Bishop John Gladwin Bishop of Chelmsford ()
Henry Warren Director, Africa Bookcase ()
Alex Morris Countryside Agency ()
Gordon Morris Countryside Agency ()
Bruce Crowther Fairtrade Foundation ()
Nick Maurice Director, UKOWLA ()
Sir Nigel Thompson Chair, BUILD ()
Kevin Barron MP Chair, APPG ()
Mike Waldron The Prince’s Trust ()
Maureen Goodman Brahma Kumaris ()
Rev Pete Askew Diocese Leeds and Ripon ()
Bishop Peter Hullah Salisbury Sudan Link ()
Angela Cook Cambridge Education ()
Virginia Crompton BBC World Class ()
Carole Milner VSO, Head of RVs ()
Margaret Burr HEC Tower Hamlets ()
Fiona Pettit ICW ()
Aziz Rajab-Ali Islamic Relief ()
Stephen Lyon Partnership for World Mission()
David Peck Lambeth Palace ()
Phillida Purvis Links Japan ()
Frank Judd House of Lords 02076307135 (Fax)
Marie Staunton Director, Plan ()
Nawazish Bokhari Muslim Council of Britain ()
Kevin Barron MP - Chair of the APPG welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologised on behalf of John Battle MP who was unable to attend to listen to the debate.
Nick Maurice – Director UKOWLA explained the background to the development of BUILD, a coalition of some 54 agencies which arose from an interagency meeting in 2002 which considered how community partnerships of all kinds could become mainstream in the UK. The all-party parliamentary group “Connecting Communities” had been launched in 2003 under the chairmanship of Kevin Barron to get the right political climate to allow community partnerships between the UK and the South to flourish.
This is the fourth APPG meeting to be held and previously we had met with Charles Clarke, Secretary of State for the Department for Education and Skills, as a result of which we had been invited to have an input into the DfES International Strategy, Richard Caborn, Minister for Sport to consider the role of UK/South partnerships in sports and Gareth Thomas, Under Secretary of State for International Development to consider the contribution that community partnerships can make to international development.
Nick said that he was disappointed that John Battle had been unable to attend the meeting and that he saw the purpose of the meeting to look at and get government commitment to build on three areas of activity within the context of the Faith Communities:
1. the role of faith partnerships in education with particular reference to the Anglican diocesan links and their role in bringing learning from partners dioceses into Church of England Schools
2. the role of faith organisations in social cohesion
3. the role of the faith communities in international development
Nigel Thompson - Chair of BUILD, invited speakers to address these issues.
Stephen Lyon – Partnership House stated that within all the 44 diocese partnerships there are a total of 180 links all in various stages of development. There are some excellent examples of education work within the context of these links e.g. the Leeds Ripon diocesan schools links to Sri Lanka and the Portsmouth, Chichester, Guildford links to West Africa.
In the context of social cohesion, within the Anglican Communion there is long history of “talking about difference” as opposed to shouting at each other!
As far as development programmes are concerned, the faith communities are often and rightly seen as a trusted group through whom important development work can be undertaken, but they are small scale and may not have the capacity to deal with large sums of money.
Rev Pete Askew - Diocesan Link Officer for the Leeds and Ripon diocesan link to two dioceses in Sri Lanka. 11 Parish links involving 6 primary and 4 secondary school linkg which had arisen out of the Parishes. 16 teachers have visited Sri Lanka and 6 teachers had come from Sri Lanka with a further party of 12 coming over in June. The aim is to introduce a global dimension into the curriculum of the schools involved. Resource boxes have been produced not only for the schools but also for other state schools and the wider community.
Mike Waldron - Head of Diversity at the Princes Trust working across the faith communities and instigator of a new NGO Leap of Faith Together (LOFT).
Young people can make things happen and there is already great commitment.
Guests in Good Faith is a part of the LOFT programme taking socially excluded young people 18-30 from different faith communities (which are often divided), but living in a single town, to a place of one predominant faith. This will enable the young people involved to become advocates on behalf of other faiths.
Naz Bokhari - Muslim Council of Britain. A 2001 census revealed that there are 1.6million Muslims living in Britain of which the majority have links to Asia and Africa and of which 40-45% were born in UK. Many have links to their home countries, linguistic, social and educational. There are examples of schools links between Muslim schools here and in Asia as evidence school in Birmingham linked to a school in Baluchistan. Likewise there are Musim relief organisations e.g. Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid.
Aziz Rajab-Ali - Islamic Relief. IR has 14 Field offices. In some ways, it acts as a bridge between the UK community and needy communities across the world. IR works on common humanitarian principles as outlined in the Koran in the field of relief and rehabilitation.
In Albania and Afghanistan working in agriculture, income generation, micro-credit livestock management, bakeries run by women. IR stays on after emergencies and works on the principle of ‘hand up rather than hand out’, enabling people to become self-sufficient. It places great emphasis on supporting local communities and local economies.
Bishop Peter Hullah - Bishop of Ramsbury, Salisbury Diocese leads the Salisbury diocesan link with Sudan. Working with the secondary Heads Association on inclusive schools programme and expecting a secondary head visitor from Sudan.
Margaret Burr – Humanities Education Centre, Tower Hamlets suggested that the faith communities networks could prove extremely valuable in helping to identify individuals with particular expertise, such as headteachers with good leadership skills, whose skills we could learn from here in the North and whose experiences could be shared with colleagues in the South operating under similar constraints and circumstances
Maureen Goodman - Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. Has links between UK and India, Mt Abu in Rajasthan. Arrange exchange visits and support global hospital and village schools. Used links to support victims of tsunami and run a Serve Africa project, bringing empowerment to people and communities through the highest values. The Spiritual University acknowledges peoples’ beliefs and encourages the development of common values, the encouragement of a shared vision and inter-religious dialogue. In Africa it works with UNDP and UNESCO and youth programmes. It supports Living Values Education in e.g. areas of conflict.
Values in education and health care are not sufficiently highlighted.
Fiona Pettit - International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS
Raising awareness of issues confronting women with HIV infection. They have been working with faith communities and the World Council of Churches strengthening their work in the field of HIV Aids. Fiona highlighted the importance of the Connecting Communities initiative making links with national and international networks of HIV positive people, as well as faith based organisations making similar links.
Angela Cook - Cambridge Education raised the issue of the sustainability of partnership links and their quality
Kevin Barron MP has been involved in the Aston School / Makanduchi, Zanzibar Link and a cluster of schools in South Yorkshire linked to Tanzania. Identifies with the issue of HIV through links to a Village of Hope for abandoned children who are orphans as a result of HIV. Kevin is very prepared to “rattle doors” within government.
Carole Milner - Head of Returned Volunteers VSO. We cannot ignore the spiritual dimension in learning through partnership links and in development. Values and spirituality run through our work. Faith based links could bring those values to their development work and their work in social cohesion more than they do at present.
Bishop John Gladwyn - Bishop of Chelmsford and Chair of the Board of Christian Aid. “You underestimate the significance of faith based communities at your peril!” Faith based communities are often ill equipped for development and require much in the way of capacity building.
Virginia Crompton - BBC World Class Particularly interested in schools linking and the interfaith dimension of schools partnerships. Not had much evidence that much is happening.
Mike Waldron – Prince’s Trust There is a lot happening but it needs to be harnessed to some of the other networks
Nawazish Bokhari – Muslim Council of Britain confirmed that lots happening in terms of interfaith dialogue and that he had been only recently at a meeting late on a cold night in Guildford Cathedral with 300 others representing Christians, Muslims, the Jewish community, Hindus
Aziz Rajab Ali – Islamic Relief Islamic Relief have recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with CAFOD
Maureen Goodman - Brahma Kumaris sees increasing evidence that people with a spiritual dimension to their lives want to come together even though their theology might be different. There are Israeli Arab initiatives in Middle East, interfaith initiatives in Northern Ireland, Interfaith chaplaincies in hospitals and prisons in the UK.
PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE THAT IS COMING OUT OF THIS MEETING IS THE VALUES THAT THE FAITH COMMUNITIES BRING AND WHICH NEED TO BE SHARED, CELEBRATED AND PROPAGATED PARTICULARLY THROUGH EDUCATION
Lord Judd of Portsea Just come from the Commonwealth Day Service in Westminster Abbey, very well planned and thought out and which focused on education. But what do we mean by education? Are we talking about the qualitative aspects of education or simply the quantitative aspects or literacy, mathematics etc. Are we addressing issues of common values in education and how these can be sustained?
Margaret Burr – Humanities Education Centre We need to be careful that the emphasis promoted by faith communities through partnership may be on “Giving” without a proper analysis of why there is the need in the first place.
The Meeting ended at 6.30 pm
3