One Town, One Community Cohesion Day: Rotherham

Faith Matters co-ordinated the launch of Rotherham Council’s ‘One Town, One Community’ event with the aim of developing good interfaith relationships and preventing the spread of violent and extremist messages. It also supported the launch of the theme of 'One Town and One Community' on St George's Day so that all communities could feel proud of the day and play a role in supporting it.

St George's Day is a day for all communities and a chance to overcome barriers and divisions and to reach out to others and to get to know them. The One Town, One Community programme was therefore about building a sense of shared values within the local areas and about respecting the beauty and strength of diverse communities under the banner of 'One Town, One Community.'

Survivors of Rwanda, Bosnia and the Holocaust hosted workshops about how communities can prevent the spread of violent and extremist messages. Their powerful voices were added to by a young people's panel who talked about the importance of faith to them and the inspiration that it gives them to undertake social action projects.

Sadiq Khan MP, (then the Minister for Community Cohesion), launched the event with a speech about the significance of St George’s Day to all communities.