Islamophobia Awareness Month

During November’s Islamophobia Awareness Month, Bury Council and its partners have re-affirmed their commitment to tackling racism, hate crime and Islamophobia.

Organisations working with communities can apply for grants of up to £1,000 from Bury VCFA to tackle the issues and develop training for frontline staff about issues of hate crime.

November marks the tenth Islamophobia Awareness Month, which was established to raise awareness of Islamophobia, encourage better reporting of incidents and challenge stereotypes.

In 2020 Bury Council unanimously adopted the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia. The definition states that Islamophobia is ‘rooted in racism’ and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. The month highlights the importance of reporting Islamophobic hate crimes to authorities, so that accurate data is collected and policy changes enacted accordingly.

Support is available locally for people to report hate crime, with information on reporting centres across the borough including community settings and places of worship: see www.bury.gov.uk/hatecrime

The council is working with its partners, including Greater Manchester Police, to further develop hate crime awareness training, including specifically featuring Islamic related hate crime awareness, for front line staff across public services and community leads.

In addition, funding is currently available for local voluntary and community organisations to apply for up to £1,000 to invest in activities to prevent and tackle hate crimes and showcase these during the Greater Manchester Hate Crime week taking place in February 2023. For further information and to apply,visit www.buryvcfa.org.uk/grants- the deadline for applications is Monday 14 November.

Councillor Richard Gold, cabinet member for communities and finance, said: “Bury is proud of its rich heritage which is built on being home to people of different cultures and faith. Our Let’s Do It strategy and approach has inclusion at its heart and recognises our strength in Bury is the cohesiveness of our communities which we strive to not just sustain but strengthen.”

The theme for Islamophobia Awareness Month this year is tackling denial, recognising that denial attempts to shut down conversations about recognising and challenging of Islamophobia. Bury’s Community Cohesion sub-group of the Community Safety Partnership and Bury Faith Forum are both meeting during the month. They will include a focus on such conversations and to reflect on the positive impact of Muslim life in Bury, such as our many community groups and Muslim community leaders – indeed in May of this year Councillor Shaheena Haroon became the first female Muslim Mayor of Bury, and in Greater Manchester.

During mid-November it is also national Interfaith Week during which the Bury Faith Forum meets, bringing representatives together from across different religions in the borough to foster co-operation and promote cohesiveness. As part of this a session is being run with local schools where pupils will be able to experience a showcase of different faiths to raise awareness and understanding.