About the Week
Inter Faith Week 2023 in England, Northern Ireland and Wales
WHEN?
Inter Faith Week 2024 will take place from Sunday 10 - Sunday 17 November.
Each year, Inter Faith Week begins on Remembrance Sunday, and runs until the following Sunday. It is hoped that the additional Sunday provides the opportunity for other weekend events to take place as well as those linked to Remembrance Sunday. Remembrance Sunday was chosen as a start day to encourage people to remember together the contributions of all faiths and none, and to consider how best to create a just, peaceful, and harmonious world.
Inter Faith Week also ends on Mitzvah Day, an annual day of faith-based social action: https://mitzvahday.org.uk/
WHAT?
Inter Faith Week:
- Highlights the good work done by local faith, inter faith and faith-based groups and organisations
- Draws new people into inter faith learning and cooperation
- Enables greater interaction between people of different backgrounds
- Helps develop integrated and neighbourly communities
- Celebrates diversity and commonality
- Opens new possibilities for partnership
WHY?
Building good relationships and working partnerships between people of different faiths and beliefs is part of the year-round work of many people and organisations across the UK.
Having a special Week provides a focal point, helping to open inter faith activity up to a wider audience so that more and more people are made aware of the importance of this vital work and are able to participate in it.
The three aims of the Week are:
- Strengthening good inter faith relations at all levels
- Increasing awareness of the different and distinct faith communities in the UK, in particular celebrating and building on the contribution which their members make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society
- Increasing understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs
HOW?
Anyone can take part in Inter Faith Week and hold Inter Faith Week events.
WHO?
Inter Faith Week is for everyone. Some of the many kinds of organisations who have participated in previous Weeks include:
- faith communities and their places of worship
- community and voluntary groups
- inter faith bodies
- youth groups
- schools and SACREs
- institutions of further and higher education
- local authorities and other public agencies
- sports organisations
- museums
- businesses and workplaces
- TV and radio stations
- and many others
WHERE?
ENGLAND, WALES, NORTHERN IRELAND
Until 2023, the Week in England was led by the Inter Faith Network for the UK, working with its member bodies. IFN worked in consultation with the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum and the Inter-faith Council for Wales/ Cyngor Rhyngffydd Cymru in relation to the Week in those nations. An informal group of IFN member organisations is taking forward the Week in 2024 and subsequent years
SCOTLAND
Scottish Interfaith Week has been running with great success since 2004 and is led by Interfaith Scotland. Details about the Week this year can be found on the Scottish Interfaith Week website.
MITZVAH DAY
In previous years, Inter Faith Week has ended on Mitzvah Day, an annual day of faith-based social action. This year, Mitzvah Day will take place on 24th November 2024. The theme will be ‘Stronger Together’.
After a year of unparalleled conflict abroad and division at home, Mitzvah Day 2024 will offer a time to heal, connect and focus on what matters in and between communities. On Mitzvah Day, as in the wider Inter Faith Week, communities can defy the forces that tear them apart as they come together to support local charities and build bridges of commonality. Whether this is about tackling food insecurity, bringing joy and delight to a care home, collecting clothes for those in need or cleaning up a local park, people of different faiths will be working side-by-side, building connections, celebrating shared values and ultimately creating a more unified and supportive society. If you are interested in participating, please contact stuart@mitzvahday.org.uk or register online. https://mitzvahday.org.uk/registration-information/ “.