A celebration of Inter Faith Week in Cheltenham

For 2022's theme, Sharing our Spiritual Homes, various Cheltenham faith groups will open their doors to welcome visitors between Monday 14 and Friday 18 November. Our hope is that this will help us to deepen our understanding of different faiths and to reflect on our own beliefs.

There will be visits to Gas Green Baptist Church, St. Gregory’s Roman Catholic Church, the Hindu Community Centre, the Kadampa Buddhist Centre, the local Bahai community, the Lower High Street Mosque and Cheltenham Orthodox Jewish Community.

The events throughout the week will culminate in a gathering at the Cheltenham Hindu Centre on Monday 21 November for those who have taken part to share experiences and to share a free vegetarian curry together.

The week’s events have been jointly organised by the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham Inter Faith and Cheltenham Borough Council.

Cllr Flo Clucas, cabinet member for communities and safety, said: “We are delighted to support this fantastic opportunity for people of different beliefs to come together once more, to learn more about each other and to increase understanding. Everyone is welcome to join and take part.”

Revd Simon Witcombe, the Senior Chaplain at the University of Gloucestershire, encouraged people to take part in this year’s events. ‘This is a wonderful opportunity for us to visit each other’s places of worship and faith communities, and learn a little more about our different beliefs. We’re delighted that the Hindu Community Centre have offered to host our final evening, when we will reflect on our visits and share a delicious vegetarian curry together.’

All are welcome, tickets are free and pre-registration on Eventbrite is necessary to book each visit. When you visit the Eventbrite listing you will be given more information about the different opportunities during the week, and about the final gathering, and the opportunity to register for each one. You are welcome to come to as many as you would like (some of the venues do have a capacity limit).  To attend, please register online at Eventbrite. All events are free of charge.

For more details, contact Corey McIntyre on 01242 264170 or at [email protected].

Notes:

National Inter Faith Week aims to:

• Strengthen good inter faith relations at all levels
• Increase 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
• Increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs.