Sam and Bea ‘air’ their plans.

Sam and Bea are colleagues and now good friends from Building Bridges Burnley. Together, with others, they are working hard in this the tenth year of Bulding Bridges on lots of new schemes especially those for women.

Plans, being made by Building Bridges Burnley, for celebrating the first ten years, are well in hand and will include a Prayer Walk and a Communal Quilting Day. The quilt will be on display for the final day of celebrations on June 24th in St Andrews’ Church. An in depth plan of the week will be released nearer the time.

If you want to  know more about Building Bridges then why not tune into Faz Patel’s Radio Programme on the 8th February 3-4 pm on Pendle Radio 103.1 FM when Sam and Bea will be on the air.

Tenth Anniversary of Burnley Building Bridges

24th June 2012

On that Sunday there will be a special event at St Andrew’s Church and the surrounding area, where the charity was launched. From the 17th of June until that Sunday there will be other special events each day of the week for all ages including displays, debates, competitions and a family fun day.
Details will follow but mark it in your 2012 diary now.
Please let us have your ideas to help us celebrate.

Women together Party

A Christmas party was held at the Women’s Centre, on Wednesday for all the women , both Muslim and Christian who attend the Women’s Group. The women have been meeting every Wednesday since September, for coffee, a chat and a sharing of languages and culture. The party consisted of a sharing of stories about  precious items which everyone brought in. Crackers were pulled and lots of delicious food shared. Everyone is looking forward to meeting again in the New Year.

 

Inter Faith Week 2011

As part of the national Inter Faith Week, fifteen local primary schools took part in an event showcasing their Religious Education work .  The event was organised by Building Bridges Burnley, the Faith Centre and SACRE (Standing Advisory Committee on Religious Education ).

The event began after the children’s work had a been put on displayed  in the Faith Centre.  A group of about 30 teachers and faith leaders met to discuss RE work and how they could support each other in the future.  The event was also attended by Jo Crabtree a teacher from Brunshaw Primary and an Advanced Skills Teacher in Primary Religious Education, Colin Wills retired headteacher and of building Bridges and Lancashire SACRE, Nasrullah Anwar of Building Bridges and Richard Hoyle of the Faith Centre .

The display remained in the Faith Centre for the whole of the Inter Faith Week and local churches and mosques were invited to visit along with an open invitation to any residents of Burnley.  Visitors came throughout the week and were impressed with the wide variety of work on display.

Many schools had covered a variety of religions and in a variety of way. Models of mosques had been built, stars of Bethlehem constructed from lolly sticks covered in wool hanging from prayer beads the children had made.  There were models of David and Goliath, a tapestry from one school then small parcels to represent the gifts from God with children’s writing  on. A favourite one read “Thank you God for all your gifts. I am good at dancing”. Cherry Fold School had a ‘high tech’ display with a Power Point on Judaism.

Perhaps a display  which echoed the feelings of all the visitors was a display on “I have a dream” and one response was “One day we will all know the meaning of peace.”

St Andrew’s Community Feast

St Andrew’s Church, in conjunction with Building Bridges Burnley, held a Community Feast  and Open Day this week. The event was attended by wide sections of the local community with visitors from local mosques and churches as well as neighbours from the surrounding area of Duke Bar.

The church looked stunning with the newly renovated reredos, an ornate carving behind the altar, taking pride of place. The reredos was designed by C. E. Kempe a famous Victorian artist and may be considered  Burnley’s hidden gem. The statues on the rerodos were carved in Oberammergau and the whole carving is covered in gold leaf. Visitors were invited to make their own gold leaf tile whilst they were there and many children were queueing up to try it out, as well as some adults. Other displays in church were from Scouts, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows as well as the Mother’s union. Visitors were also allowed to try on vestments,  Altar chalices and plates were also on display.

Inside the church hall were more displays showing the work of Building Bridges including their work with children “The Bridge” and that  in secondary schools with “Faith Friends”. Workers from The Friendship Centre were also on hand to tell about their work  in the church hall helping any of their neighbours in the area whether it be with a hot meal, a cup of tea and a chat or just friendship.

After all that visitors were invited to the feast itself. Tables were filled with both English and Asian food and a wonderful ‘sweets’ table covered in home made but very professional looking desserts. A delightful ending to a very successful event.

Visit to the Hospice

 Burnley Building Bridges along with members of the Ibrahim Mosque visited  Pendleside Hospice this week. Sandra Fishwick organised the visit and it was attended by 8 members of the Ibrahim Mosque, including the Imam (Iqbal). From BBB  Colin wills, Bea Foster, Sandra Fishwick and Nasrullah Anwar . The group were told of how the hospice runs, the services it provides, fundraising activities and the volunteering opportunities. The mosque gave the hospice a cheque of £100 pounds. The group  were finally given a tour of the facilities.

RE Showcase