Faiths Act

The Leicester Interfaith Youth Hub is a breath of fresh air! Located within the St Philip's Interfaith Centre, young people come there with remarkable enthusiasm and passion, a real desire to ‘do things’.

Charlotte and I visited the centre and met with the executive committee, made up of young people, to see first-hand their remarkable fundraising feats and the wonderful way in which they come together in an extremely diverse and multicultural city to promote cohesion and common action.

Being in their company took me back to my younger days (not that I’m old now), when I used to chair the local Youth Council in my hometown of Rochdale. I was reminded of how determined the vast majority of young people are to make a real positive difference in their communities. This was evident at the youth hub where young people were planning their year ahead filled with interesting themed events from Halloween to Eid, fun sporting activities for World Malaria Day and innovative ways to mark National Interfaith Week.

This was a group of young people who saw beyond their religious and cultural differences, who were all integrated in their communities and who enjoyed the idea of planning events together, and indeed washing cars together! They raised £750 for Malaria No More UK through a charity car wash last July.

This was the first group that Charlotte and I went to meet. We left them feeling extremely impressed and excited about the prospect of meeting like-minded groups as we progress with our work throughout the country.

Usman Nawaz, Faiths Act Fellow