THE Bishop of Bradford has praised a charity which brings together children from different faiths, races and economic backgrounds to show them they have more in common then they might think.

The Schools Linking Network, based at Culture Fusion in Thornton Road, dates back to 2001, but in recent years has seen its work spread to schools across the country.

And next month there will be an event discussing the future work of the group.

When a school becomes involved in the network, their pupils meet and interact with other pupils from other areas of the diverse district, all with the aim of ending prejudice and inequality while the children are still young.

In the past year alone, 6,500 children in the district have been involved, and the group's work has been used by 19 local authorities nationally. In the past two years they have trained 310 school leaders.

Rachel Kidd, principal of Dixons Allerton Academy, which is one of the schools that has been involved in the partnership, said it had helped "strengthen dialogue, student voice, community participation and human rights in the day to day life of the academy".

On January 20, the Right Reverend Toby Howarth, the Bishop of Bradford will speak at an event being held to promote the charity and ask for input on its future strategies.

The event will also be attended by Trevor Pears of the Pears Foundation, one of the main supporters of the charity.

Dr Howarth, who began his role as Bishop earlier this year, said: "This is an amazing group and what they do is just an amazing piece of work.

"I think the best thing about it is that it all comes from teachers themselves, not a bunch of perceived do gooders coming from outside and not knowing how things work in schools.

I think it is a great idea to bring pupils from different backgrounds together. These children are asked deep questions about their differences. Like 'who am I' and 'what's my own identity' before they ask 'who are we' and 'how do we work together?'

"It asks what sort of community we really want. It is really quite deep work.

"It is often when children move from primary to secondary school that their differences show. In primary schools children are friends with everyone, but when they go to secondary schools is when they sometimes separate themselves by race or religion.

"This is a project that was born in Bradford, and is now being exported to different areas around the country. I want to show that Bradford is coming up with solutions to some problems in society, not just for the city but for the whole country."

The event runs at Heaton Mount at the Bradford University School of Management in Keighley Road, Frizinghall, from noon to 2pm.

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