The service, in conjunction with Bradford For Everyone and the Bradford Hate Crime Alliance, will take place at 7:30pm on Monday 16th October 2023 and will focus on religiously motivated hate, and will celebrate our city’s long and meaningful history of interfaith relationships
Bradford Cathedral – in conjunction with Bradford For Everyone and the Bradford Hate Crime Alliance – will be hosting a Service of Hope and Remembrance during this year’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week.
The service will take place on Monday 16th October at 7:30pm, and will begin with a welcome from the Revd Canon Ned Lunn of Bradford Cathedral and the Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Revd Dr Toby Howarth, and will include contributions from schools, live music and a keynote address from the West Yorkshire Police.
There will also be a short piece with members of the Bradford Hate Crime Alliance, and a discussion, with prayers and reflections, on the faith response to hate crime.
At the end of the service each faith community will come together to light a single candle which will burn throughout the week as a sign and symbol of our continuing commitment to stand with, and to seek the flourishing of, one another.
Doors for this event will open at 7:15pm ahead of a 7:30pm start, and will be followed by free refreshments (tea / coffee / juice / biscuits) at around 8:30pm.
The service falls during National Hate Crime Awareness Week, which takes place this year from the 14th to the 21st October, and is focused on ‘religiously motivated hate’.
The Revd Ned Lunn, Canon for Intercultural Mission and the Arts at Bradford Cathedral, says:
“We are proud to be hosting an interfaith service at Bradford Cathedral to, again, celebrate our city’s long and meaningful history of interfaith relationships.
“We are working with Bradford Council and Bradford Hate Crime Alliance to begin the week by standing alongside people of other faiths and sharing, from our different faith traditions, how we are called to honour and respect people across religious divides.”
Cllr Abdul Jabar, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, said:
“This will be a special way to start Hate Crime Awareness Week in the Bradford district bringing together people of all faiths to stand together and reflect on our work to reduce hate crime and make the district a place where everyone feels safe.”
The Rt Revd Dr Toby Haworth, Bishop of Bradford, says:
“I look forward to welcoming everyone to Bradford Cathedral to this important service to mark the start of National Hate Crime Awareness Week.
“This service will be an important opportunity for our different faith communities to come together and to reflect on some of the difficult challenges we collectively face, such as hate crime. We know that we are stronger together, when we ‘Spread Love Not Hate’.”
For more information – and to book your free place – please visit service-hope-remembrance.eventbrite.co.uk or you can contact the Cathedral via phone or e-mail.
You can find out more about National Hate Crime Awareness Week at stophateuk.org/national-hate-crime-awareness-week.
You can help support this event, and wider conversations during National Hate Crime Awareness Week, by using #SpreadLoveNotHate, following @BfdForEveryone, @BHCA_UK, @BfdCathedral and @BradfordMDC on Twitter, or searching for ‘Bradford For Everyone’, ‘The Bradford Hate Crime Alliance BHCA’, or ‘Bradford Cathedral’ on Facebook.
ENDS