A new community engagement project – with a special focus on interfaith dialogue and greater community cohesion – is being launched across Bath & North East Somerset with the aim of bringing a diverse range of groups and faith traditions together.
Run by the B&NES Faith Foundation, the initiative will see a variety of events and activities being organised across the district over the next 12 months.
The project has been made possible thanks to a £1,000 grant from Selwood Housing – a housing association and registered charity that provides social housing for people living across the southwest of England. The organisation provides funding to initiatives that tackle isolation and seek to bring people together.
Cllr Karen Walker, former Chairwoman of Bath & North East Somerset Council, welcomed the funding. She said:
“I know that the Faith Foundation and the wider community are incredibly grateful to Selwood Housing for their funding. It means the community is in a position to organise a whole year’s worth of interfaith events and initiatives – all with the central aim of building bridges amongst our local authority’s multiple faith traditions.
The new interfaith project hopes to reflect the growing diversity of our population here in Bath and North East Somerset.”
Selwood Housing’s Stronger Communities Fund is a grant scheme aimed at improving the lives of their customers and the communities where they live.
Their grant funding can be used to cover the whole cost of a project, or as a contribution towards a larger cost.
More details about how residents and faith groups can get involved will be released next month.
In the meantime, anyone interested can email the Bath & North East Somerset Faith Foundation at info@bathnesfaithfoundation.
The Bath and North East Faith Foundation was established several years ago to:
• Support, encourage, and strengthen the work of faith groups across the district.
• Act as a conduit between faith groups and public bodies in ensuring they have a voice and have representation on issues that matter to them.
• Carry out research into socio-religious trends in Bath, Somerset and the wider area.
• Run community engagement projects with faith (and non-faith) groups
• Organise events that promote social inclusion, learning and understanding
