![]() Qaiser: It is very important, because I may have been living in my little comfort zone as a Muslim, and someone else who is, for example, a Catholic may have been living in his comfort zone, and there was no real interaction as such. Why do you think people coming together from different faiths is important? We also had a policy of rotating the meeting venues so that we could all visit each other. We had different people taking on different roles in the meeting, and we’d try to keep to a time frame, which meant we rarely ran over. At the start we’d go round the group and say something about how we were doing, and then we’d check in with each other at the end. Pete: We used Citizens UK’s structure for running our meetings which was very useful, because it helped us bond as a group and stay focused. ![]() With so many organisations involved, how did you ensure that everyone worked well together? The Catholic church in particular have an enormous congregation, so we had no difficulty at all in raising the amount needed for Community Sponsorship. Each of the faith groups made an appeal to their own congregations. Being from several different groups meant we had a much broader scope in terms of supporters. Pete: Fundraising was really very straightforward. With her push and her energy, we became the first multi-faith group to invite a family to the UK. Qaiser: Ruth was really instrumental in getting everyone on board – she was the one who kept everybody together. Not only would it spread the responsibility and the work, it would also help foster good relations across the borough. Pete: There was one particular person – Ruth - who had been very involved in interfaith activities in the borough, and an interfaith Community Sponsorship group was really her vision. After that, how did your different faith groups come together? You first met at an open meeting about supporting refugees, which was led by Citizens UK. Community Sponsorship was a chance to feel active and involved. Pete: For me it was a response to some of the feelings of helplessness, of not being able to see a way of assisting refugees other than by donating or lobbying our government ministers. I felt we needed to show that this is not the case. ![]() She was supportive of immigrants and when she was killed, I think it sent a really bad signal to the outside world that Britain that is not a welcoming place. Qaiser: I personally was really affected by Jo Cox's murder. Thomas of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church Thanks for chatting to us today Pete and Qaiser! Can you tell us what inspired you both to get involved in Community Sponsorship? *South Woodford Mosque, Wanstead Quakers, Ilford Methodist Church, Balfour Road Mosque, Ilford Salvation Army and St.
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