We are very excited to be able to share a little more with you about The Feast, through our brand new Promotional Video.  Coming out later today!

Special thanks to Near Neighbours and Aaron from Migongo Films and The Progress Film Company.  Our hope is that this resource will inspire many others to get involved with The Feast and our dream to see young people of different faiths and cultures getting on as friends.

Please enjoy, tell your friends and get in touch if it has prompted you to learn more or support us in some way.

Check out the events page for the brochure and more details.

The Feast is growing fast.  As a result we have found that we need to  change our status from an unincorporated charity to an incorporated charity and company limited by guarantee.  What on earth does that mean?

Well for most day to day things not a lot.  Although we have had to register as ‘The Feast Youth Project’ we shall continue to work under the name ‘The Feast’ and will carry on doing the important work we always have done.  The difference is it provides greater security for our dedicated, volunteer trustees and enables us to expand and look at new areas of work such as trading (ie selling The Feast branded goodies) or developing social enterprise projects. If you like details you will notice that we have a new charity number and company number (see down the bottom left corner of our website), but you won’t see many other changes.

The main thing is that this enables us to carry on with our commitment to work with Christian and Muslim young people providing a wide range of high quality opportunities for them to explore faith, create friendships and change lives.

As for our new developments, we look forward to sharing these with you over coming weeks.  So keep in touch!

And the best bit – you can see it! On Saturday 28th April the sketch will be performed as part of the Art 4 Action family day at the MAC, Canon Hill Park. It’s absolutely free to attend, there are activities to suit all ages, and the sketch will be performed twice – once at 11:30, and once at 12:30. We’d love to have you come and show your support for these talented young actors, and to get you involved in Faiths Acts who we’ve been privileged to work with this year.

See you there!

Special thanks to Near Neighbours for backing OSBD on this amazing concept, and we look forward to sharing their creations with you soon!

Check out this video below to hear from some of our young people, about what they did, the new skills they learnt and how they found discussing faith and light:

Check back over the next few days to see their final pieces!

And the climax of Steve and Immy’s year in Birmingham is about to arrive!  Next week the MAC hosts Art 4 Action, a city wide competition inspired by faith communities acting together against Malaria.  This exhibition, in the week of World Malaria Day, celebrates the achievements of all involved.  Their hope is that it serves to remind us all that together we can make a real diference, whilst also raising vital funds for the Faiths Act malaria eradication programme in Sierra Leone.

All the works in this exhibition are from the Faiths Act Birmingham Art 4 Action campaign and competition. Art 4 Action saw over 2,500 people across the city, some as young as 3, learn about how faith communities can unite to be a positive force 4 good, whilst uniting to tackle the global problem of malaria. 400 budding artists entered work inspired by their faith and social justice. The multi-faith judging panel, which included The Feast’s Tim Fawssett, chose some of the most artistic and inspiring pieces to be exhibited.

We would really encourage everyone to visit the MAC next week and show your support for Art 4 Action.

For added information:

Faiths Act is a global social action programme, it ís an opportunity for anyone in the world to act upon the shared values of their faith tradition and be a part of the solution to global problems.  Faiths Act is a programme of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which aims to promote respect and understanding about the world’s major religions and show how faith is a powerful force for good in the modern world.

Faith is vitally important to millions of people worldwide. It underpins systems of thought and of behaviour. Faith is central to many of the world’s great movements for change or reform, including many charities. The values of respect, justice and compassion that our great religions share has never been more relevant or important to bring people together to build a better world.

Neither Nahim or Natasha are leaders on the overseas exchange, but what was amazing was to see our “family” come together and help each other, all for a shared goal.  When I paused for a moment to observe the gathering it struck me how incredible it was – two Christians and two Muslims, who represented the UK but also 6 other countries (India, Kenya, Pakistan, Barbados, Somarlia and Netherlands), and who were laughing, brainstorming, compromising and encouraging each other.

This was a group of individuals who came from wildly diverse communities, who came together comfortable and energised to live and share their faith, forming vibrant new friendships and now wanting to impact the wider world with their good news of what they had discovered.

What The Feast does is a little different  - not like normal youth work or normal interfaith dialogue, but some sort of a combination.  We enjoy sharing it with people, but the very best part is seeing the outcomes when it all comes together.  After seeing this gathering I came up with a simple little equation to celebrate what we have:

exploring faith + creating friendships + changed lives = a world i want to live in

I want to live in a world were people of all colours, languages, cultures and faiths get on and enrich life for those around them.  I want to live in a world where I am free and able to love my God and share him with all I meet, and to do this knowing that those I meet have the same opportunities.  I want to live in a world free of prejudice and fear and hate.  And I want to live in a world defined by grace and compassion and love.

And maybe, just maybe, The Feast is playing a part in building this sort of world.

Well at The Feast we like variety, and so recently a group of Christian and Muslim young people had a chance to learn the foundations and skills of breakdance.  It was lots of fun, as you can see from their battle in the video below.

Through the afternoon discussions were also held about how we express our faith and religion to others.  Some of the comments at the end were:

“I was challenged from the questions, but it has changed the way I think about different religions.”

“I really enjoyed being able to express my religion with others.”

Well done to the team at the Edward Road Baptist youth centre, and to all who participated.  Keep up the practicing and hope to see you on the floor next time!  :)

Download our flier here

Thriving, not surviving, in diverse communities

The UK has an amazing mix of faiths and cultures, and while we may co-exist side by side, many of us do not enjoy real friendships with people who are different to us.  Our young people grapple with this at school, on their streets and much more so when they head off to university or work.  But it does not need to be such a struggle!!

• Are you interested in helping young people live well in a diverse world?
• How can they build friendships with peers of other faiths?
• How can they live and share their faith with respect and integrity?

The Feast is pleased to bring you a day aimed at Christian and Muslim youth and faith leaders, to show you how and inspire you to get involved.

Training will be lead by Dr Andrew Smith, founder of The Feast, formally of the Scripture Union and the Christian Muslim Forum, and now Bishop’s Director of Interfaith Relations for the Diocese of Birmingham.  Sessions will also be run by The Feast’s amazing team of youth workers.

DETAILS:

If you have  please contact Tim Fawssett on tim@thefeast.org.uk.

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