16 November 2016 Herts Development Centre HCC’s Faith Event 16 November 2016 Herts Development Centre

Who organised this event? The event was organised by HCC’s Corporate Equality and Diversity team, in partnership with:

Why this event? The event was organised to mark Inter Faith Week and to:  Celebrate positive inter-faith relations in the county Explore issues of religion and belief as part of our work to promote integration and cohesion Celebrate ways in which faith groups help HCC achieve its Corporate Plan objectives Explore ways of HCC officers working better with Hertfordshire faith groups

Who attended this event? Attended by over 40 people Representatives were from: County and District Councils CCGs, HPFT Police Herts Fire Service Faith communities and Voluntary Sector organisations

Our speakers Daniel Singleton, National Executive Director, FaithAction Importance of working with faith communities, lessons learned and horizon scanning: The UK perspective Introducing Herts Inter Faith Forum and its contribution to HCC achieving its Corporate Plan objectives Importance of working with faith communities, lessons learned and horizon scanning: The UK perspective Introducing Herts Inter Faith Forum and its contribution to HCC achieving its Corporate Plan objectives

Case studies Contributions by faith communities in Hertfordshire

Raising awareness of having Faith in HIV testing and its importance Testing Faith Tobacco Control Jami Raising awareness of tobacco control The Mental Health Service for the Jewish Community Faith Advocates Volunteering

‘Testing Faith’ Raising awareness of having Faith in HIV testing and its importance Public Health commission Herts Aid to provide HIV/Sexual Health information as well as HIV testing high risk groups Black African community are a high risk group, 47% of Hertfordshire residents aged 15+ living with diagnosed HIV were Black Africans Herts Aid identified the need to train local Faith leaders ‘Testing Faith’: A partnership initiative to prove support to those affected and encourage HIV testing in general During National Testing Week, an HIV testing event was held at The Open Heaven Church in Hatfield; where Pastor Elizabeth Kalonga spoke about living with HIV and her personal experience of stigma in the church and how it affected her position in her church RESULT - 41 people undertook the HIV test - 28 (nearly 70%) people had never tested before - participants were able to myth-bust and increase their knowledge about HIV There are new treatment guidelines, published by the British HIV Association (BHIVA), which are in line with the recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Over 8 million smokers in England 1 in 5 still smoke

Mental Health Jami -The Mental Health Service for the Jewish Community launches Head Room JAMI – helps members of the Jewish community who might be affected by mental health issues such as bi-polar affective disorder, schizophrenia, depression and eating disorders JAMI focuses on recovery and gives the resources and necessary support to service users to live as ‘ordinary’ a life as possible JAMI’s autumn 2016 prospectus launched ‘Head Room’ which gives information about events and courses in all aspects of mental health and well-being Courses educate the Jewish community about mental health matters and offer practical seminars for service users living with mental health conditions Here is a selection of what Head Room has to offer: - Introductory course – an 8 week course to help improve and look after mental wellbeing - Mental Health First Aid – designed to give a first aid response to people in distress or crisis - Information seminars –to find out more about a specific mental health topic - Community conversations –discussion based sessions on different topics - A full day conference on family resilience is for the whole community and examine family life and metal wellbeing within a family For more information about Head Room; please go to: www.jamiuk.org/headroom Over 8 million smokers in England 1 in 5 still smoke

‘Volunteering’ The Harpenden Hopper – a community bus service How partnership working between a County Councillor and members of faith communities can make things happen for the community in Harpenden Potential of Community Transport for Harpenden due to the age profile of the population identified in 2011 URBAN TRANSPORT PLAN Discussion between County Cllr Teresa Heritage, Andrew Buchanan, Cllr Rosemary Farmer: what would make difference to local community? Andrew pulled together a like minded group from the local evangelical Christian churches Established a Community Interest Company called ‘Harpenden Community Connect’ As a result: The ‘Harpenden Hopper’ –pilot of 9 community bus service for those with limited coverage from existing bus services hop on/hop off service to Town Centre including 3 doctors surgeries and the Cottage Hospital in Harpenden Over 8 million smokers in England 1 in 5 still smoke

Tobacco Control Raising awareness of tobacco control and Health Improvement Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the UK 79,100 people per year are killed in the UK due to smoking Hertfordshire has approximately 159,000 smokers – according to the 2014 statistics In 2013-14, the NHS spent £55 million in providing smoking related services in Hertfordshire Religion can influence attitudes towards tobacco use. E.g. chewing tobacco is embedded in many aspects o f South Asian cultures with symbolic implications at religious or cultural ceremonies. Some BME people possess relatively poor knowledge about cigarette smoking and disease and to be less likely to cite smoking as a health risk than the UK population as a whole Rushma Patel, Business Manager, Tobacco Control, Hertfordshire raised awareness of the role that tobacco control plays in Health Improvement amongst the Faith communities in October 2015. Rushma shared her experience of how she involved some religious leaders in Newham and enlisted their help in raising awareness of the ham caused by tobacco HIFF members cascade information through local networks For more information about Hertfordshire Stop Smoking Service including recent campaigns and initiatives such as - Love your Bump, Wise up to Roll-Ups, Smokefree Homes and Cars, Smokefree school toolkit, please visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/stopsmoking Over 8 million smokers in England 1 in 5 still smoke

Faith Advocates Supporting Fire & Rescue to raise awareness of fire safety HFRS, in partnership with Hertfordshire Equality Council set up a County Community Advocacy Group to support its equality and diversity work Volunteer representatives from diverse communities give advice about lifestyles, cultural issues and religious aspects which may have an impact on how the Fire Services engages with particular communities The Community Advocates represent the demographics and represent Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism who assist the service. For example: Sikh Activity Programme –reaching out to hard to reach members of the community due to language barriers The Sikh Activity Programme was initiated by the Fire Service in the north of the county to increase awareness of fire safety among the Sikh community. Fire officers deliver fire safety messages and home fire safety check through their volunteer community advocates who act as interpreters when needed and help firefighters understand Sikh culture Side by Side - promotes community safety and cohesion in Watford and Three Rivers, which are the most diverse districts in the county with a quarter of residents coming from black and ethnic minority backgrounds For more information; please email harjit.singh@hertfordshire.gov.uk Over 8 million smokers in England 1 in 5 still smoke

Workshops

How can faith communities contribute even more in Hertfordshire? Workshop themes: What are the barriers? What are the solutions? What is your role?

Group 1 Get each IFG lead to write to their district/borough CEX, asking to be invited to the District and Borough strategic partnership – even if they are turned down at least they have asked – and if they are invited they will then get to hear about most strategic plans/projects for their D/B Disseminate HIFF website more – add community directory link to it – so that all Herts Faith groups can use it as an interactive resource and all keep up to date with what each other is doing/keep each other linked up with each project

Group 2 In order to tackle the barriers face due to not knowing what is happening in Faith Communities and lack of understanding about our Faith service users were discussed by this group. The group proposed a number of solutions including; a base line survey of districts and their inter faith groups awareness raising sessions for the Councils, and also education and awareness through different avenues

Group 3 This group discussed that there was possible denial of the overlay between culture and religion and there was not enough understanding of ‘faith connections’ amongst some professionals including nurses, doctors, social workers . Also, faith communities are not forthcoming with information and are almost insular as they might not feel confident to talk to other faiths and the authorities about the problems their community might be facing. Possible solutions: It was suggested that creating a safe environment in which all faith groups can come together without the fear of being misunderstood. Take small steps in bringing people together by dispelling myths and raising the level of conversation at Strategic level. It was also suggested if the Government were to take lead on this issue by appointing a Minister for Faiths as well as having a designated co-ordinator for faiths in Hertfordshire. Services to reassure their staff that it should be okay to make mistakes but they should make an effort in engaging with their service users

Event Feedback Overall - 89% Excellent/Very Good and 11% Good

A selection of what the participants said: An excellent summary of the work that is taking place. Constructive and informative More time required! Should happen more often. Organisation feedback/spot to promote work they are doing should be incorporated Need to organise more sessions like these to raise greater awareness amongst service providers(HCC) and community at large Thank you for this session – so informative Great event – v. useful Please invite us (FaithAction) to future events like this! A useful opportunity to network, gain more awareness of different groups and their work Thank you, this has definitely given me some ideas on how to forward, with barriers that I have encountered. I’m so glad I came. Thank you Faith groups/activities are a relatively untapped resource. They need to be involved far more particularly in supporting the ageing population More of the same to be cascaded to all levels Data by Reynold very useful. Very helpful event. Needs to be shared within HCC teams and other agencies Would be helpful to explore crucial role faith communities have in terms of safeguarding and overcoming suspicion of children’s services (personal theme in my role) How do we cascade our thoughts down Well done to Charu and Martha for organising this and putting faith on agenda. Well attended and good discussions Thank you Charu and Martha

Delegate pledges Here is a selection: To try to engage more with Faith Communities, to try to educate on my role and also to explore the role Faith Communities can play in the work I undertake The Be. Still. Project will continue to work with faith communities to raise awareness, educate and strengthen families A very positive initiative. I would like my service to benefit from this contribution Share information from today on HCC website and with HCC colleagues by the end of November 16 Connect Hertfordshire invites a representative from the Inter Faith Forum to be a member of the steering group Contact Inter Faith Groups in Herts to identify needs (learning) and bridge the gap/create new partnerships Perseverance required in inter faith work! Propose the Inter Faith Forum provide a presentation to our Extended Management Board to all our managers I will develop an aware of the resources within Herts I will develop connection with local organisations and HCC I will make links with the inter faith forum More of the same - PROBE/CHALLENGE/ENGAGE Make community more aware of limitations of service providers and work to raise awareness of the needs of the faith communities with the service providers in Hertfordshire Confirm Faith involvement in emergency response Building stronger and clearer relationships between Blue Light Services and Faith Groups Make contact with our local Inter Faith Association and explore how we can work together to benefit community Work to raise awareness of domestic abuse in faith communities I will contact my local inter faith forum and include them in consultation that I am involved in I am going to keep trying to get Broxbourne Muslim Community to get more involved in community services. I am going to keep approaching Churches together to get our Inter Faith group going and I am going to pursue my local CVS to see how we can help   To try to engage more with Faith Communities, to try to educate on my role and also to explore the role Faith Communities can play in the work I undertake   June White – Private Fostering, HCC The Be. Still. Project will continue to work with faith communities to raise awareness, educate and strengthen families Sarah Bashorun (ISW) – Be. Still. Project A very positive initiative. I would like my service to benefit from this contribution Family Safeguarding Share information from today on HCC website and with HCC colleagues by the end of November 16 Matt Pierce – Equality and Diversity, HCC Connect Hertfordshire invites a representative from the Inter Faith Forum to be a member of the steering group Susan Jessop – Connect Hertfordshire Contact Inter Faith Groups in Herts to identify needs (learning) and bridge the gap/create new partnerships Hannah Tiffen - HAFLS Perseverance required in inter faith work! No name given Propose the Inter Faith Forum provide a presentation to our Extended Management Board to all our managers Gordon Glenn – Three Rivers DC I will develop an aware of the resources within Herts I will develop connection with local organisations and HCC I will make links with the inter faith forum Louise Palmer – Jami More of the same - PROBE/CHALLENGE/ENGAGE Remain committed. Diversity is a strength, spread the word Raise awareness of Syrian and other refugees living and settling in Hertfordshire Irene Austin – Herts Welcomes Syrian Refugees Make community more aware of limitations of service providers and work to raise awareness of the needs of the faith communities with the service providers in Hertfordshire Yogesh Joshi – Watford Inter Faith Association To encourage the faith debate to continue Harjit Singh – WIFA, HFRS To continue to raise awareness of faith communities and needs Judith Bruni – WIFA Confirm Faith involvement in emergency response Building stronger and clearer relationships between Blue Light Services and Faith Groups Chris Bigland - HFRS Make contact with our local Inter Faith Association and explore how we can work together to benefit community Alison Thomas – Watford Women’s Centre Work to raise awareness of domestic abuse in faith communities Penny Williams – Domestic Abuse Helpline To make a list of attendees for all I will contact my local inter faith forum and include them in consultation that I am involved in Reuben Ayavoo North Herts District Council Very constructive – like to have more of these events Success stories I am going to keep trying to get Broxbourne Muslim Community to get more involved in community services. I am going to keep approaching Churches together to get our Inter Faith group going and I am going to pursue my local CVS to see how we can help

Useful links: Link to the Community Directory: https://directory.hertfordshire.gov.uk/kb5/hertfordshire/directory/home.page - for details of various community and voluntary organisations in Herts – such as Watford Women’s Centre – and an overview of the services they provide   Link to the Compact: http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/your-council/hcc/partnerwork/hertscompact/ this is a written agreement setting out how statutory agencies and community and voluntary sector organisations in Herts will cooperate and develop positive working relationships. A link to our fostering pages : http://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/healthsoc/childfam/fostadoptsharedcare/newfostering/whocanfoster/

Next Steps Post event communication and publicity Send out relevant information and data to all delegates

What’s next? Do IFG leads want to ask to be part of district and borough LSPs? So they are in the loop of what is happening.  If so, what will they do and when? Does HIFF want a presentation and further awareness raising re the Compact?  How can they spread this info to IFGs? Are HIFF happy to have links on the HIFF website to direct people and faith communities to the Compact and Community Directory?

Equalities@hertfordshire.gov.uk Thank you.