Were you offered a White Rose for Peace?

Last Wednesday in the middle of Interfaith week last Wednesday pupils from Madni Muslim Girls School joined the Team Rector, Rev Caroline Greenwood and others in Dewsbury Foundry Street. This coincided with World Kindness Day. Each rose had two messages of peace, one from the Bible and the other from the Muslim tradition. They were offered & given away cheerfully & respectfully to those bustling through the town in the midst of their days.

In Batley outside Tesco where 250 roses were given out in just 45 minutes, people were very appreciative. They were surprised and pleased at the fact the roses are free with no obligation to donate to any cause. People talked about it being a positive thing to see faith groups doing. The staff were particularly pleased to see the team for the seventh year missing out just once during the Covid pandemic in 2020.

In Mirfield at the Humanity First foodbank & in Ravensthorpe Garden Street Community Centre at the Hope Café Muslims & Christians came together to prepare the roses. In Heckmondwike roses were prepared by a group of ladies originally from Pakistan and given out to visitors to the Rosewood Palliative Care Centre. Birstall joined in too!

Members of North Kirklees Interfaith were also invited into Pioneer College on two days to ask students on the ESOL [English for speakers of other languages] course to share what communication barriers they had experienced locally.

Finally last Saturday at an open meeting at Whitley Community Centre we spent the day working out how better to nurture respect and be friends with those from different backgrounds. We hope that the week has helped us & others with one of our key aims to improve relations and understanding between people of all faiths and none in North Kirklees.

David Currie

Chair of North Kirklees Interfaith