Thursday, 06 October 2022

Police services and Inter Faith Week 2022

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Inter Faith Week takes place this year from Sunday 13 to Sunday 20 November. It is a Week for those of all faiths and beliefs: a time to celebrate diversity and the contribution of faith groups to their areas and to highlight and strengthen positive relationships.

An increasing number of police forces / services use Inter Faith Week as a great platform for reaching out to local faith groups to strengthen connections and highlight their own work for good relation. The recently published 2021 Inter Faith Week report https://www.interfaithweek.org/resources/inter-faith-week-2021-a-widening-impact has a section showing some of the ways that a number of forces did so last year. Members of many other forces took part in activities arranged by other types of local body such as faith groups and the local authority. Police chaplaincies, with the encouragement of Police Chaplaincy UK have been key in many activities during the Week.

Below are just a few possible ideas for marking the 2022 Week:

Hold a meeting or webinar, inviting members of different faith groups to meet officers to hear a presentation about the Police service and diversity, in particular engagement with people and groups of different backgrounds and career opportunities
Invite members of the local inter faith group and/or members of local faith communities to present their work to officers and staff exploring the way that faith groups work together, such as responding to social needs, making statements and calling for calm when incidents occur or when tensions arise
Join with the local inter faith organisation in you area to issue a message about the importance of positive inter faith relations (a list of local groups can be seen at https://www.interfaith.org.uk/involved/groups)
Hold an online or in-person event focusing on a particular issue of relevance to faith communities, such as tackling hate crime, security of places of worship or positive inter faith relations.
Offer an Inter Faith Week linked staff training session about different faiths and beliefs
Arrange with a small number of places of worship of different faiths in your area to provide your officers and other staff members with a chance to visit for a tour during the Week – or invite them to work with you

Below are a selection of tweets from events held during Inter Faith Week 2021.

Let us know about the activity you are planning

If you arrange an activity, please do take a few minutes to tell us about it at www.interfaithweek.org/submit. If your event is just for your organisation – for example a training session in a workplace or a classroom activity – then you can indicate this on the form and we will list the activity as closed. However, having it on the website helps to inspire others and shows what you’re doing to support good inter faith relations.

If you submit your activity on the website, you will also be eligible to receive a free Inter Faith Week branding pack (see below).

Inter Faith Week branding and resources

Free Inter Faith Week branding packs containing a poster, flyers, a social media message card, and stickers are available to those submitting their activities to the Inter Faith Week website, with the first packs being posted to organisations very soon.

You can also download the Inter Faith Week logo, flyer, poster, and other branding materials at www.interfaithweek.org/resources/publicity-and-branding.

Inter Faith Week badges can also be purchased, subject to availabilty https://www.interfaithweek.org/resources/buy-badges.

The Inter Faith Network’s main website has lots of useful short publications which are great to use when you are setting up activities or initiatives https://www.interfaith.org.uk/resources/publications.

Details of IFN’s online ‘Inter Faith Buddies’ scheme can be found at www.interfaith.org.uk/resources/inter-faith-buddies. It’s ideal if you are unable to travel far or to meet in person and would like an opportunity to dialogue with a person of a different faith or belief in the run up to the Week.

Social media

Please use #Interfaithweek on posts about the Week, tagging @ifweek on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

Please do share this with your colleagues – or use your communications channels to tell people about the Week. There is short copy you can use here.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Best wishes,
Harriet Crabtree OBE
Executive Director

Subscribe to Inter Faith Week mailing list

Notes

The Inter Faith Week website carries information about events and about the Week more generally. www.interfaithweek.org.
Inter Faith Week is a programme of the Inter Faith Network for the UK (IFN), a charity which has been working since 1987 to promote mutual respect and understanding between the faith communities of the UK. It works with the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum and the Inter-faith Council for Wales/ Cyngor Rhyngffydd Cymru in relation to the Week in those nations.
Local inter faith groups in the UK can be found using the locator tool on the IFN website at https://www.interfaith.org.uk/involved/groups.
Inter Faith Week has its own Twitter account www.twitter.com/IFWeek, LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ifweek and Facebook page www.facebook.com/IFWeek and is on Instagram at www.instagram.com/IFWeek.
Social media users are encouraged to use the hashtag #InterFaithWeek in tweets and posts about the Week, as well as to post photos, quotes and ideas linked to the Week.
Inter Faith Week was established in England and Wales in 2009, and in Northern Ireland in 2010.
Scottish Interfaith Week has taken place since 2004 and is led by Interfaith Scotland (www.interfaithscotland.org). It has its own dedicated website at www.scottishinterfaithweek.org.
The last day of Inter Faith Week is also Mitzvah Day (https://mitzvahday.org.uk/). Each year, many ‘Inter Faith Mitzvah Day’ activities take place to jointly mark Inter Faith Week and Mitzvah Day.