Chair - Leicester Council Of Faiths

The Changing Face of Faith in
Leicester - since the 1970s Paul Winstone
Paul Winstone, Policy Officer in the Leicester
City Council’s Chief Executive’s Office.
In the last thirty years we have seen
in Leicester the re-emergence of the
importance of the religious voice of
conviction and the rise of "Faith
Communities" as a powerful concept
that is recognised by both local and
national Government. It is hard for
us now to estimate the dominant
influence of secularism on the minds
of policy makers in the 1970s.
Under the surface however things were
changing. Between 1968 and 1975 the
ethnic minority community in Leicester
grew from 5% to 25% according to
the Survey of Leicester, carried out in
two volumes by Leicester City Council
and other Authorities in 1982. Leicester
inherited a commercial class from East
Africa that brought their strong Hindu,
Sikh and Muslim beliefs with them. A
massive demand for places of worship
was created as well as curiosity about
the beliefs and festivals of relatively
unknown religions in Britain. New
words appeared that we are now so
familiar with - "Eid","Vaisakhi","Diwali".
The Race Relations industry at this time
was summarised as "samosas, saris and
steel bands", with no mention of faith
at all. Academics spoke of "race" and
"class" as the key terms. It was all so
black and white!
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The real change for policy makers
began in the mid 1980s with the
emerging view that faith
communities could benefit
regeneration in cities, as well as the
growth of interest in Islam, clearly a
religion and not an ethnic group.
Issues such as the "greening" of
places of worship, often unsuitable
Victorian schools and factories,
beautiful on the inside but drab on
the outside, were enthusiastically
embraced. Peace vigils were jointly
held for South Africa and the
former Yugoslavia, with both
Serbian and Bosnian supporters
listening to Hindu music on Spinney
Hill Park.
In the 1980s, Diwali in particular
became a huge event, supported by
the City Council and many non
Hindus. This classic triumph of Good
over Evil resonated with many
Christian people, with its candles
lighting the dark. This led to the
saying: "in Leicester Christmas begins
in October," that is, with Diwali. City
Guru Oza with Head Teacher Steve White at
Rushey Mead School.
Council support for Chanukah and
the Eastern Christmas seemed to
complete the acceptance by the city
of a new multi faith year of rituals. It
is no accident that Christian visibility
on the streets at Easter and Christmas
has also risen, along with vast
processions for Hindu Gurus and Sikh
events in the 1990s.
In this period the Local Authority has
financially supported the Leicester
Council of Faiths, working with it on
a wide range of issues, including
regeneration; with the Muslim Burial
Council on funeral service delivery
and with the Hindu community on a
whole range of issues including
cremation, water death rituals and
park management. Over this period