Interfaith Week - Police Chaplaincy UK

Thursday, 06 October 2022

Police services and Inter Faith Week 2022

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.

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Interfaith Week Police Forces Police Chaplaincy Multifaith

Police Chaplaincy UK

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Friday, 02 July 2021

Inter Faith Week 14-21 November 2021 #InterFaithWeek

Dom Jones

Inter Faith Week is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the role of faith and belief in local, regional and national life and highlight the overwhelmingly good relations between people of different faiths and beliefs.

Each year, many Police Forces take part in the Week, creating opportunities for learning about different faiths and beliefs, building understanding, and strengthening links with the wider community. The Week is also an excellent opportunity to showcase the work of police chaplains and they work they do with people of all faiths and beliefs.

COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease for most at this time and the hope is that this will continue. What last year taught us, however, was the amazing potential of online communication, with nearly 73% of activities being held online or having a strong virtual component.

The Week has been getting bigger every year and it is a great opportunity for police chaplains to:

highlight chaplaincies’ important work to support officers and staff of all faiths and beliefs in their working lives
showcase the good inter faith engagement and the relations that the police help foster through their community engagement
tackle misunderstanding and prejudice and to encourage a united response to hate crime
create opportunities for officers and staff to learn more about some of the faith communities and belief groups within the community they serve, such as through visits to places of worship

You can find out how to join in, download resources and register events at the interfaith website