Community Cohesion

Today for work i went to a conference at the council house - was not overly enthused it has to be said but this one was about 'Faith in the Community - Building a cohesive community'. I spend so much of my work life talking about community cohesion - what it means, why it can't work, why it needs to address racism, why different groups need to be funded etc etc - so i was not thinking that anything new would come out of today.

I was actually pleasantly surprised! Firstly on a personal level I found some of the discussion quite interesting - interfaith conversations I feel are going to become a more necessary and frequent part to our faith communities. I think there is a lot to learn from other faiths without having to feel threatened by others faith.

Secondly and perhaps most surprisingly, was a presentation about Radio Salaam Shalom. A radio station truly run by Jews and Muslims, discussing real issues that divide and unite them. Peter Brill spoke very passionately about the project but i think the thing that inspired me most, is that when all the time in my work it is about why people don't get on and why people shouldn't be here, it showed that when people genuinely want to have dialogue and find out about others - it works.

Radio Salaam Shalom is an internet radio station click here to read more about it! I would recommend it!