The Inter Faith Week event at the Irish Cultural Centre
H&F Council brought together residents of all faiths to celebrate Inter Faith Week at the Irish Cultural Centre.
The recent celebration of diversity in Hammersmith included guest speakers from Egyptian House in White City, Holland Park Synagogue, St Columbas Church in Pont Street and the West London Islamic Cultural Centre in Parsons Green.
“H&F is one of the most diverse places in the country and we will not stand for any form of hate crime in our borough. We must all stand together and raise awareness,” said Cllr Sue Fennimore, Deputy Leader of H&F Council. “People from different faiths working together can secure better futures for all communities.”
Diversity counts
The event featured a lively debate between guest speakers at the Irish Cultural Centre in Blacks Road which included the director of Egyptian House, Mostafa Ragab, Holland Park Synagogue trustee Laurence Julius and associate Church of Scotland minister at St Columbas Church in Pont Street, Andrea Price.
“We need all religions to come together just as we have today,” said Mostafa. “The future starts with our children and the need to stop bringing them up with hatred for the other side. Schools, churches and mosques must work together to bring the wall down between the faiths and eliminate hatred for future generations.”
Recent tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire and the Parsons Green terror attack have brought local faith communities together and demonstrated the amazing community spirit in the borough.
Trustee at Holland Park synagogue Laurence Julius said: “We have an amazing community spirit which I saw first-hand at the Grenfell Tower blaze. Volunteers of all colours, races and faiths worked together with an incredible community spirit. A spirit we need to work on to maintain.”
Fighting hate crime
In October, H&F Council supported the national Hate Crime Awareness week.
An event was held at the Lyric Theatre where two short films were shown and a series of talks from campaigners against hate crime.
Please sign our pledge to show you stand against prejudice and support victims.
While in the summer, the council continued its fight to defeat racism with the Unity Day celebrations in Ravenscourt Park.
You can report hate to the police online or by calling 101. In an emergency, always call 999.
