Strengthening our partnership with city’s faith communities

Council Leader Bella Sankey and Councillor Leslie Pumm, Cabinet Member for Communities, Equality and Human Rights, met representatives of local faiths to re-sign the Brighton & Hove Faith Covenant, pledging to deepen mutual understanding and continue working together to support residents and address issues in the city.

The signing took place at a celebratory gathering on Monday 11 November in Brighton Town Hall and was supported by moving speeches on the importance of community cohesion, sense of belonging and inclusion, collaboration and friendship in a world fractured by division.

The event coincided with Inter Faith Week, marking the week after Remembrance Sunday, to encourage people of all faiths and none to come together and consider how best to create a just, peaceful, inclusive and harmonious world.

The Brighton & Hove Faith Covenant was originally signed in 2018, when it was launched in partnership by multi-faith charity, Brighton & Hove Faith in Action and the council.

The Brighton & Hove Faith Covenant

The Brighton & Hove Faith Covenant is an agreement that provides a set of principles to guide partnership working between faith communities and the council to ensure an open, collaborative and respectful relationship.

It also sets out practical commitments by which the faith communities and the city council should abide, designed to create a constructive partnership with the common goal of helping more people and communities in the city flourish and meet their full potential. 

The covenant recognises faith communities as a key component of civic society, their voice, participation and solutions considered an important contribution to local decision making.

By pledging to the covenant, faith communities reaffirm their commitment to continue the work they do alone or in partnership with the council to support diverse communities in the city, seeking opportunities to bring people together and serve the community.

A joyful occasion

Council Leader Bella Sankey said: “Coming together with the leaders and representatives of the city’s communities of faith was a joyful occasion. It is also a powerful signal to those that seek to divide, that hate and division will not win.

“I am very grateful to our faith groups, who do wonderful work to actively support our residents, build connections between people, provide welcome to newcomers and champion those who need it the most.

“The Brighton & Hove Faith Covenant is an important document symbolising our commitment to greater understanding of each other and our continued collaboration and friendship.”