Press Release

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SOUTHWARK CHRISTIAN & MUSLIM LEADERS MEET

Tuesday 8 July 2003

Southwark Christian and Muslim Leaders met again on July 8th at the Old Kent Road Mosque to share common concerns. Issues discussed included neighbourhood regeneration, drugs and crime rates and the importance of faith communities involvement in addressing these issues.

The Faith leaders are calling on the DfES to foot the £2m bill for the departure of W S Atkins from running Southwark Education, as they were responsible for the arrangement, rather than the Borough's children having to bear the cost.

Further plans were also laid for the Multi-Faith forum on September 3rd to which representatives of all faith communities in Southwark are invited.

Ends

BACKGROUND

Following the September 11 attack in New York, Christian and Muslim leaders in the Borough of Southwark have met every six months to exchange views and experiences and build understanding between their communities.

Those present at today's meeting were:

Christian leaders: The Archdeacon of Southwark, the Ven Douglas Bartles-Smith (Church of England); Rev David Haslam (Methodist); Rev Simon Thomas (ICTHUS); Catherine Smith (Salvation Army); Rev David Wade (Black-majority Churches); Rev Gareth Wilde (Baptist).
Muslim leaders: Prof. Dawud Noibi, Mr Hussein Malik, and Mr Iftikhar Ahmed (all of Southwark Muslim Forum).

For further information contact: 

Diocesan Communications Officer
Tel: 020-7939 9400
Mobile: 07831-694021
Fax: 020-7939 9468