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Originally formed as a continuation of the East of England Faith Council, the aim of the Forum was to link together Faith Groups across the county, sharing best practices and forming a direct link into Herts County Council.
A programme of quarterly meetings was set up with speakers from many active groups in HCC, including mental health and dementia, Policing and Hate crime, SACRE and Faith visitors to Schools, Warm spaces and the Cost of Living crisis, BAME, Fostering and the care of Carers. We included external speakers; the High Sheriff, the Lord Lieutenancy, and Faith Leaders.
In 2020, a conference - Stronger Together - was given, in the presence of the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff, with presentations from Rt. Revd Richard Atkinson the Bishop of Bedford, Rabbi Alan Garber from Shenley United Synagogue and Imam Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra from the University of Leicester.
This was just before the Covid Lockdown when all efforts turned to maintaining a faith presence without personal contact. The Forum collected experiences and shared across the county.
After the main effects of the Covid virus were settled, we noted a call from FaithAction and the All Party Parliamentary Group to introduce a Faith Covenant between the Faiths and the County Council. There were many meetings to understand how this could be worded and understood by all parties. The exercise resulted in forming a Faith Leaders Council and extending the Quarterly meeting of the Forum to include Faith Leaders as well as Inter Faith Groups. The Covenant was signed by the Leader of Herts Council and 24 Faith leaders on January 16, 2024.
Hertfordshire Inter Faith Forum continues to link Faiths to Faiths and to Hertfordshire County Council for the betterment of Hertfordshire citizens
Hertfordshire Faith Covenant
The Faith Covenant is a joint commitment to a shared set of principles that guide engagement between faith communities and public services.
It aims to promote open, practical modes of working together and to strengthen community cohesion.
•The principles are:
oFaith communities are free to practice their beliefs and religious observances, and to raise their voice in public debate and to be respected, within the framework of UK law.
oPublic services and faith-based social action should respect service users from all backgrounds, without discrimination.
oThe voice, participation and solutions that faith communities bring are important. We intend that the active engagement of Faith Groups with our public services will bring benefit the wider community.
Both faith groups and public services will commit to working together to:
oPro-actively build trust/relationships and aim to remove any mistrust between faith groups and public services
oCreate opportunities to raise awareness and share learning and knowledge between different faith communities, and within the public services
oSeek opportunities to bring people together to serve the community, particularly the most disadvantaged
Both faith groups and public services will use the Faith Covenant as a tool to develop activity around uniting communities to better serve Hertfordshire residents.
Signatories of the Covenant are invited to gather annually to share their achievements with the broader faith community and public services.
Disclaimer: Nothing in the document is intended to be legally binding on either party.
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