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16 / 01 / 24
The Faith & Belief Forum (F&BF), the largest interfaith charity in the UK, will lead a new major initiative to repair the harm done by faith-based hate in the UK after being awarded almost £500,000 by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.
A partnership between F&BF, the Restorative Justice (RJ) charity Why me?, and Interfaith Glasgow will use this funding to bring RJ principles and practice together with interfaith dialogue experience, forging new approaches to resolving faith-based community conflicts in Solihull and Glasgow.
Over the next three years, this innovative project will be informed by a national advisory group comprised of leaders in the interfaith, RJ and social cohesion sectors. Learning from 12 specific cases, this funding will enable the partnership to create a network of RJ practitioners within the interfaith sector who will promote the wider use of RJ in faith-based hate contexts.
The project aims to repair the harm done to individuals and communities as a result of faith-based hate, providing an innovative solution to a growing problem, that is currently dominated by securitised responses.
Phil Champain, Director of The Faith & Belief Forum, said: “Thanks to the National Lottery, this funding will enable us and our partners to scale up our efforts to find lasting solutions to the concerning rise of Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of faith-based hate in our communities at a time when conflict in the Middle East is exacerbating polarisation here in the UK.”
Dr Rose Drew, CEO of Interfaith Glasgow, said: “This project presents a really exciting opportunity to explore new ways of addressing the harm caused to communities by religiously aggravated hate, through powerful restorative methods that have been shown in other contexts to give back agency and rebuild broken relationships. The imperative for this work could not be more urgent.”
Kate Aldous, Strategic Programme Manager at Why me?, said: “Why me? is excited to have this opportunity to bring the power of restorative justice to address interfaith tension and conflict. We will teach community leaders how to use restorative approaches in their communities, ensuring better interfaith relations and more cohesive communities.”
Melissa Eaglesfield, Deputy Director of UK Portfolio at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, and the hard work and dedication of staff and volunteers, this funding will make a significant difference by creating a network of community leaders to tackle faith-based hate across England and Scotland.
“Our ambition is to invest most in places, people and communities experiencing poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination. I’m pleased that our funding is being used to create safe environments where diverse communities can have their voices heard and take a proactive approach to address conflict through restorative action.”
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.
To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk
Contact:
F&BF – Raahim Zafar – raahim.zafar@faithbeliefforum.org
Why me? – Kate Aldous – kate.aldous@why-me.org
Interfaith Glasgow – Dr Magdalen Lambkin – magdalen.lambkin@interfaithglasgow.org
Notes to editors for press release:
About The Faith & Belief Forum
F&BF is the largest interfaith charity in the UK. Our vision is a connected and supportive society where people of different faiths, beliefs and cultures have strong, productive and lasting relations. We believe the future belongs to people of all beliefs, that intolerance has no place in society and that diversity adds value. Our mission is to promote and build meaningful and resilient relationships between people of all faiths and non-religious beliefs, through education, encounter, and social action opportunities. We consider ourselves to be an areligious, apolitical organisation which has inclusivity and integrity at its core. We work to achieve our mission and vision through the following three goals:
Goal 1: To equip more learners with the skills and tools they need to handle and influence relations between different faiths and beliefs.
Goal 2: To generate stronger community-based movement aimed at strengthening faith relations and social cohesion in communities, with youth at the forefront.
Goal 3: To project the voices of those we support and the impact of our partnership with them.
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About The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.
We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.
We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.
As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:
Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute around £500 million a year through 10,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4bn of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £47 billion has been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK – the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.
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