A wide range of representatives from Brent Council, and Brent Multi-Faith Forum were brought together to mark the fourth anniversary of Brent’s accession to the Faith Covenant. This gathering was not only a celebration of all the Covenant has allowed us to achieve, but also an opportunity for the Council and BMFF to renew commitments to the central tenets of the Covenant. It was in this spirit of active  and vigilant maintenance that our attendees put forth their vision for the further promotion of prosperity, co-operation, and greater civic representation for Brent’s faith communities. 

While traffic threatened the initial plans for the meeting, our attendees demonstrated a flexibility and resilience that was characteristic of the response of faith groups to crises over the past two years, with Cllr Neil Nerva and BMFF vice chairs Rabbi Dr Frank Dabba Smith and Mr Kirit Wadia providing excellent extempore speeches, touching on the significance of both faith groups in crises and of faith to Brent in particular. 

Unsurprisingly, one of the central themes of the night was the importance of faith groups in the response to Covid-19 - both in provision of material and spiritual aid - and how through the pandemic, faith groups had come to be invaluable partners of local statutory bodies. This was highlighted by Daniel Singleton, the National Executive Director of Faith Action, who stressed that just as a dog isn’t just for Christmas, the close relationships formed between the Council and local faith groups during the height of the pandemic can not be allowed to wither and must be actively maintained by both sides.