Preston Faith Forum Agenda

Meeting Tuesday 21st July 2015 at 6 pm

Committee Room A, Preston Town Hall.

1. Apologies

2. Minutes of last meeting

3.Resolution concerning membership (Annexe A)

4. Treasurer’s report

5. Change to Constitution to open up executive meeting to membership.

6. Presentation Jennifer Carthy on Preston Credit Union

7.Presentation Jenni Barrett of UCLAM on “A Space in Preston For Cultural Coexis-tence”.

8. Presentation from Peter Lumsden on training session provided by him on behalf of PFF to Councillors of Preston City Council.

9.Multi-Faith Calendar progress report

10. Inter Faith rally / walk for tolerance

11. A.O.B.

10. Date of next meeting

ANNEXE A

Purpose to refine amendments to the constitution to open membership more widely on an

individual basis in addition to by way of affiliated organisations of the 9 faith gr

Resolution. The amended Constitution passed at the A.G.M. is to have Clause (i) of Section

E (Membership) altered and additional Clauses (4) and (5) added as follows:

 

Membership

 

(1)  Membership will be open to all individuals and affiliated organisations  be-

longing to one of the nine faith groups recognised by the Inter-Faith Network

for the UK: Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh

and Zoroastrian, interested in furthering the work of the Charity. Membership

of the Charity shall however be open to those individuals and organisations

currently not recognized by the interfaith network but who follow a faith and

are committed to the Multifaith agenda.  Applications from individuals and or-

ganisations must be submitted to the Forum for approval.

 

            Associate membership shall be open for those non national organisations who be-

lieve in and support the objectives of the Forum.

(2)   Every adult (over 18 years of age) individual who is a member of any of the full

members shall have one vote and be eligible to vote in any meeting.

 

(3)  The Forum may unanimously and for good reason terminate the membership of any

organisation: provided that the organisation shall have the right to be heard at a spe-

cial meeting of the Forum.

 

(4)   That a membership charge be made to all Group (Full and Affiliate) Members and

individuals of £20 per annum to groups and £10 per annum to individuals.

 

(5)   That the four officers of the Forum may invite people who share the aims of the Fo-

rum to become Trustees and act as ambassadors for the Forum in their own areas of

expertise.

A Space in Preston for cultural coexistence a proposal for a live student projectJenni Barrett/Programme Leader

Jenni Barrett is the course leader for the Masters Degree in Architecture at our city’s university.She lists her professional interests as :Landscape urbanism & architecture for challenged future environments. Landscape history & theory for architects.Social behaviour and collaborative design; interdisciplinary design ap-proaches; the identity & future of the architectural profession; profes-sional learning in education.

This is how she describes the brief for “The Space”

The brief forms a major project for Year 5 Masters in Architecture students at UCLan.

The project will commence with a briefing in December2015/January 2016 and conclude in early May 2016.

The project will be a ‘live project’ insofar as there is a ‘live client.’ Typically, student briefs emerge from individual tutor research interests. The presence of a live client enables students to consider their academic design process in a professional and ‘real’ context, giving a guided and supportive environment in which to test ideas whilst combining the inter-ests and aspirations of a variety of stakeholders.

The brief will require students to interpret and contextualise ideas of di-versity, territory, community and identity in their ex-

ploration of the city of Preston. Students will be asked to carry out ex-tensive research and precedent studies to establish a formulary

for the reunderstanding of Preston as a multi-communal city. As a

small and relatively new city, Preston offers a vital opportunity for ex-ploring urban visions of cultural co-existence which may be offered as a template to other urban fora. Following their research study, students would be asked to communicate an architectural

position on a proposal for a space for cultural coexistence and interaction in Preston. This may be a socio-political or philosoph-ical, but ultimately spatial, position that either supports, extends, reinter-prets or challenges existing ideas or examples of the multicultural centre. Students will then be required to find a site for their proposal which will be developed as a concept and then resolved to technical detail.

It is proposed that Preston City Council act as the ‘live client’ with Preston Faith Forum representing community stakeholders. No financial

assistance is necessary for project viability. However, a time contri-bution from client and stakeholders is the key sup-port tool. Preston City Council has not yet been approached with the proposal but it is hoped that an initial meeting may be convened in the autumn between the Faith Forum and PCC.

In the first instance, representatives from PCC would be invited to the briefing session to introduce key issues and aspirations to the students.

Representatives from Preston Faith Forum would

then be invited either individually or as a group to dis-cuss their ideas and aspirations too. These sessions will complement aca-demic perspectives which will also be presented to the students.

Once students have completed the project, they will typically present their work at a Final Review which is attended by examiners, guest reviewers from architectural practice and the client. Here, the client would select a winner. It is proposed that, given the importance of the discussion to Pre-ston communities, this Final Review is not held in the university, but mounted as an exhibition in the city centre. Members of the public, stake-holder groups and client team will then be able to collaboratively select a winning scheme. It is hoped that the event and the winning scheme will encourage media interest, both regionally and from the national architec-tural journals.

Training Session at Preston City Council6 July 2015

Following a request from the training and development manager at PCC, Steph Hayes, a session on Faiths and the Preston Faith Forum was facilitated by Peter Lumsden.

Nineteen councillors were present. I had them grouped on tables, and used the following format:a. Quiz (attached)b. Short presentation, very similar to that used at the AGM (attached) c. Open Q and A

The format encouraged discussion between the councillors and with myself.

Q 7 elicited some useful thoughts, and a good deal of consensus:• Lack of tolerance and understanding• Misused by the bad leaders trying to keep or increase their base of power• Nationalism• Ideology

Answers to Q8 were also revealing:• By giving other religions the chance to meet informally and organise inter-denomina-

tional services• By organising trips to others’ places o worship, increases understanding

In the Q and A section the comments included:• Faith and finance event during IFW was excellent• Suggestion of organising an event with a ‘big name’ as attraction• Need to challenge those within our faith communities who don’t want to take part• Many don’t understand their own religion

In the presentation I gave an update on the changes to the constitution, our new team of officers, the fact that individual faiths were organising specific events, and I mentioned that we were actively considering who to invite as trustees.

Overall I was hugely encouraged by the number of councillors present , and their level of in-terest.

PL8.7.15Attachments: quiz, presentation. Also with this email, evaluation from PCC

Preston City Council 6th July 2015

FAITHS and PRESTON FAITH FORUM

1. What are the nine major faiths recognised in the UK?

2. Name the founder of three of the groups from question 1, and give the century in which they lived.

3. In which of the faiths do we find the ‘four noble truths’?

4. Which faith celebrates the festival of Diwali?

5. In which faith do we find the figure of ‘guru’ (messenger of God)

6. Name the five pillars of Islam

7. Given that the major faiths all have a belief in one God, why - histori-cally – has religion been such a source of division between peoples?

8. How might Preston Faith Forum contribute to community cohesion?

Team: