“What is really amazing is the diversity of the projects and the people - the sheer passion they put into everything. It shows how important their neighbourhoods are.”

Wahida Shaffi talks of an initiative that is bringing together people in religiously and ethnically diverse communities across the Bradford district.

“There is incredible work taking place, with people bringing different skills, sharing skills and supporting each other.”

Wahida is West Yorkshire coordinator with Near Neighbours, a country-wide initiative that aims to bring people together from different cultural backgrounds to forge relationships of trust.

Through collaborating on initiatives that improve local communities, people are encouraged to meet and get to know each other.

The programme awards grants to support a wide range of grassroots community projects including youth development, women’s support, community gardening, help for refugees and asylum seekers and disability support.

“It is about befriending people, supporting them and generally being neighbourly,“says Wahida.

The initiative is helping to bring people together in a country not known for its neighbourliness. A recent report by the Office for National Statistics revealed Britain as one of the loneliest countries in Europe, with people feeling less connection to their neighbours than citizens in most other countries.

Near Neighbours attempts to remedy this - and it is working. Funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government and run by the charitable organisation the Church Urban Fund, it is uniting neighbourhoods across faiths and cultures.

Rifat Shah is among those to benefit from the initiative. She set up a project based in a sheltered housing complex in Manningham, where she lives, with the aim of tackling loneliness and isolation.

She planned musical entertainment events to bring her diverse neighbours together. “The older generation are often alone and without anyone to talk to,” she says. “We need to accept each other and enjoy each other’s culture.”

She is proud to have introduced the first such scheme to her housing complex. “It is the first creative project we have had that everyone has enjoyed.” Its success could pave the way to similar initiatives at other complexes .

The funding has also helped Pastor Ben Ayesu, whose Thank You Bradford Project focuses on refugee and asylum seeker communities who want to contribute to their locality through initiatives such as clean ups and English classes.

Women working on a new project at Touchstone Methodist Centre have also benefited. Of different faiths, they come together to make beautiful rugs while being encouraged to have conversations around wisdom, remember wise women who have influenced their lives and reflect upon wisdom they have shared..

Interfaith development officer Reverend Jenny Ramsden says the project - Weaving Women’s Wisdom - centres around conversation through creativity and fits in with the ethos of Near Neighbours.

“It is about not being fearful of your neighbour. ‘Love your neighbour is central to all faiths,” says Jenny. “We have had Christians who have never met a Muslim sharing stories.”

Nageena Khan, co-ordinator for Get2Gether which sets up events, workshops and training for people of all cultures and faiths in Bradford Moor, Barkerend and Bowling, says their successful bid for funding has helped them to hold markets trading skills between cultures.

Adds Wahida: “Like the other projects, this is unique. It is new and dynamic. It is about empowering individuals .”

Nationally, the programme has awarded 651 grants over three years, totalling £2.1million. Bradford district has received 114 totally £360,000. Amounts awarded range from the minimum £250 to £5,000.

Grants can also help projects work towards a sustainable future.

Wahida praises the many volunteers who help. “If it was not for them this would not be possible.”

Other projects that have benefitted include Fuse Arts, which aims to support emerging artists in carrying out groundbreaking projects - promoting the arts as a tool for building and enriching communities.

Located in the north of Bradford city centre to maximise its social and regenerative potential, the project addresses issues surrounding socioeconomic inequality and fragmentation, including a lack of awareness and antipathy towards others’ ethnic, cultural and religious identities.

Associate artistic director Christopher Hladowski, says: “There has been considerable interest in Fuse’s activities from the South Asian community, yet it is apparent that more investment is needed. “A positive cultural space for developing links between the Pakistani-Muslim community and other communities in the area, encouraging participation and building relationships of trust between different groups is a key aspect of this.”

Adds Wahida: “I think, more and more, people are wanting to get to know their neighbours. It is not going to be a quick fix, but something that evolves.”

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