Newham Brings Faith and Community Together Across Generations

Across the first few months of 2026, Newham Council has been pioneering a new sort of relationship with its faith, charity and youth sectors.

Through Faith and Belief Connect – a project designed to strengthen relationships between the council and local faith and belief communities – council staff, faith leaders and residents came together in a series of thoughtful, practical and energising encounters. Funded by the City Bridge Foundation and coordinated by the Faith and Belief Forum, the project ran from January to March, building new connections across the borough and creating space for people to learn from one another.

The programme began with Faith Inclusion Training for Newham Council staff.

Over the course of the session, 21 council officers explored methodologies to engage more meaningfully with the borough’s religiously diverse communities. They left with practical tools and a renewed sense of responsibility.

By the end of the training, every participant had committed to adopting faith-inclusive practices in their work, with reflection focused not just on recognising difference, but on actively including and celebrating it.

The next stage turned to local faith leaders, who took part in Capacity Building Training focused on youth engagement in faith spaces. Through hands-on exercises and discussion, 14 attendees from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim backgrounds shared experiences, ideas and reflected on the power of working with young people. The sessions opened up fresh thinking about how faith spaces can become locations for younger generations to feel genuinely involved, heard and valued – and lead.

The project came to a close in celebratory fashion on Tuesday 24th March with an intergenerational celebration event: Faith Stories Across the Generations. The celebration, which featured food, dialogue and a lot of laughter, was held at the ELBWO Centre in Forest Gate.

The event brought together 34 diverse attendees, including young people from the People, Power Places Youth Advisory Board, council staff, faith leaders, and Cllr Charlene McLean, Cabinet Member for Resident Engagement & Resident Experience.

At the heart of the event was an intergenerational Human Library, where guests listened to personal stories of faith, life and belonging in Newham.

It was a chance to hear directly from one another across differences of age, background and experience, before continuing those conversations over food and networking.

The impact was inspiring: 95% of attendees reported the event had successfully brought together diverse members of the community, while 80% said they had made new connections for future collaboration.

Reflecting on the project, Sophie Mitchell, Senior Programmes Coordinator at the Faith & Belief Forum, said: “Working in Newham over the past few months has been a really rewarding experience. We’ve had the chance to learn from the borough’s incredible diversity and create spaces where people could come together in new ways. It’s been encouraging to see relationships grow, and we’re excited to see how this work develops going forward.”

What Faith and Belief Connect has shown is that when people are given the chance to meet, listen and build together, stronger communities follow.

With partnerships and relationships strengthened, F&BF and Newham Council are confident that this groundwork will lead to future initiatives that celebrate diversity, nurture dialogue, and build a more cohesive Newham.