The New Equality Bill was published on 27 April 2009 and is being used to strengthen protection, advance equality and simplify the law. The Equality Bill places a new duty on public bodies. Reference to "Religious and Belief or lack of religious belief" is a broad one. It includes Baha'ism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Rastafarian and Zoroastrianism.
Religions and Beliefs can reinforce appreciation of the importance of respect for everyone’s right to freedom of religion or belief, foster democratic citizenship, promote understanding of societal diversity and, at the same time, enhance social cohesion.
Knowledge about Local Community is essential. To understand their history, literature, art and can be helpful in broadening one’s cultural horizons or in deepening one’s insight into the complexities of past and present.
Faith Training For Your Organisation
* Does your organisation deliver services to people of different faiths?
* Do you work in partnership with religious organisations or diverse workforce?
* Do you want to start an inter-faith project and want some guidance?
* Are there religious tensions in your area of work which you want to reduce?
Awareness of World Religions including their cultural, history, philosophy and political context. Flip through the pages with the click of a mouse and interact, Zoom-in on articles for more detail or view in text-mode. Search through the entire edition of 70 pages in A3 Size. View the eBook in the office, meetings or at home.
For all major Faiths Information in Multi Faith Events Calendar 2010 -2011 eBook
It should be remembered that many religious festivals are based on the lunar or solar calendars, or are on fixed dates which change with the common calendar year.
It is good practice for any organisations to have, or arrange access to, an up-to-date multi-faith event calendar available for planning purposes. Faiths will always be a work in progress, intended to be continually stretched upon with new and updated material.
NHS Missed Appointments. When the outpatients department of an NHS trust examined missed appointments, they found that patients from ethnic minorities were more likely to miss their appointments on certain religious dates.
Religious Festivals and Leave - Show sensitivity to faith communities’ needs during festivals. If you employ a large number of people from a particular faith community you will need to plan ahead (e.g. arranging for cover, setting up a rota system for allocating leave etc.) as many people from that faith community will ask for leave at the same time.
When Organising an Events – Some Guideline
• Make sure it is at a time that all members of the community invited can attend.
• Use local venues with good access via local transport.
• Contact local religious leaders, community, voluntary groups and other contacts.
• If an open event invite all family members.
• Develop good relationships with community centres.
• If invitation only events make sure you invite all the relevant community.
• If lunch is provided make sure it caters for the needs of all the communities attending eg Halal food, Vegetarian etc. Also along side teas and coffees ensure there is water and juice available.
