On Monday, July 29th Metropolitan Jerome co-hosted with Cllr Alexandra Phillips, MEP and Mayor of Brighton & Hove, a luncheon at Brighton Town Hall in the Mayor’s Parlour for clergy and representatives of the city’s Faith communities. The lunch was to introduce the “Standing Together” project, sponsored by the City Council as part of the “Combatting Faith Hate Partnership” to address the significant rise in Faith Hate related crime and incidents in recent years.

The aim of “Standing Together” is to enable leaders of Faith communities to meet regularly and forge relationships to address the rise in Faith Hate crime locally. Creating a forum where the Police, City Council and other partners can approach, contact, inform and collaborate with Faith leaders in tackling Faith Hate crime and incidents, as well as sensitive subjects like the Prevent counter-extremism or County Lines counter-drug strategies.

It is hoped that the “Standing Together” forum will enable Faith leaders to tackle issues or problems of ignorance or hate that might arise even within or between their own communities as well as from external agencies. And contribute to the development of reporting systems, and encourage communities to use those systems in reporting Faith Hate crimes and incidents.

Metropolitan Jerome as Chair of the Faith Council said the signing last November of the “Faith Covenant” was a significant step toward building trust and cooperation between people of Faith and the City Council. The Mayor was keen particularly to impress that everyone in the Faith community feel appreciated for all they do for the City at large, appreciating the value of their contribution to the civic life and wider community. The Mayor also expressed appreciation that Faith communities often reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the City and that the Council are keen that such communities are enabled to grow and share the richness of that diversity within the City.