When Was the Last Time You Used The Space?

We noted the change in the name of the Mayor’s favoured faith body, Newham Muslim Forum, noting that it was now to be known as Faith Space London. 

This seemed a little unusual to us, given the particular support of some individuals connected to the Newham People’s Alliance Facebook page with the NMF, we submitted an FOI to understand the connection that this new organisation had with the council.

We were also puzzled as to why an overtly Muslim organisation would suddenly change its name, to suggest that it was now an interfaith organisation.

The trustees of the CIO are recorded as,

The Charitable Objects have become:

charitable objects

1. The promotion of religious harmony for the benefit of the public by: 

(a) educating the public in different religious beliefs including an awareness of their distinctive features and their common ground to promote good relations between persons of different faiths; 

(b) promoting knowledge and mutual understanding and respect of the beliefs and practices of different religious faiths. 

2. to further such charitable purposes (charitable under the law of England and Wales) as the trustees see fit from time to time.

These are laudable aims, but as we noted previously, the work of the NMF seemed to be focussed entirely on the Muslim community. Our FOI request revealed that the (modest) funding that the group has received from the council has been largely targeted at Muslims. There is nothing wrong with that and indeed, it may be laudable.

So again, we had to wonder, why did they change their name and objects. Readers might be aware that Westfield in Stratford have a dedicated space for religious reflection. The pictures below come from NMF Facebook posts at the launch of the space.

The police and at least one local councillor attended the event.

At a later event, the sign saying “welcome everyone” 

is followed by this one, seemingly a reference to an organisation that no longer exists.

This seems to be the pattern. The launch was attended by Christian pastors, a Jewish councillor and representatives of the establishment. What we were unable to find was the presence of any Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians etc, etc.

The room is unadorned, that is to say rather spartan. There is a distinct lack of anything that suggests that the iconography or statuary of other faiths would be welcome.

We hesitate in the following, not least because of the inevitable response, but it does seem that there has been something of a takeover of both the space and the name. The question is, why?