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As part of the EDI annual report 2022-23, the University of Sunderland shows how they have supported faith, religion and belief.
As part of our Interfaith Week celebrations at the University of Sunderland, Justine Gillespie held a roundtable discussion with our Chaplain, Chris Howson, our Sikh Chaplain, Gurpreet Singh, and our Buddhist Chaplain, Graeme Jobes.
In this roundtable they discussed the importance of celebrating different faiths and religions, as well as highlighting the work done by our Interfaith Chaplaincy.
This year, we celebrated Diwali by raising awareness of the Hindu religious festival. A Diwali dance was performed by Munesh Khamuani, a lecturer in Histology and Anatomy, and his wife Rajkumari Khamuani who studies at the University, currently in Year 2 on the BSc Biomedical Science course.
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The Malaysian and Islamic Society collaborated to arrange a belated Eid Celebration with over 70 people in attendance. The event consisted of fantastic food, desserts, prayers and quizzes.
Over 150 people joined us at the SU to celebrate an evening of food and prayer to mark the beginning of Ramadan.
To mark the start of Diwali, students were able to come along and paint a pot and learn about the celebrations.
We continued to build on the success of our ‘Wellbeing Walks’ with Team Sunderland and we undertook almost 30 walks, supporting almost 200 students. We took people to Alnmouth, Hadrian’s Wall, Roseberry Topping, as well as more local woods and denes. These experiences help people of different cultures, faiths and backgrounds get to know each other amid the beauty of the North East. They help improve the sense of ‘belonging’ to the University and the region.
The SU, EDI team and the Islamic society came together to create an event where they could challenge harmful stereotypes and share knowledge and experiences that could create a safe and welcoming space for Muslims in our community.
The exhibit was hosted in Wearside View, which allowed both staff and students across our campuses to come and educate themselves about Islamaphobia and ask any questions they may have.
Another important event for the Chaplaincy and Wellbeing team, the Friendship Evening proved to be a vital event for international students to develop new interests and form new friendships. Post-pandemic has influenced student behaviour and these evenings have helped rebuild that sense of community and friendship on campus. They provided a safe space to meet others outside of their courses to have fun and relax. For many, having an informal space to improve their English is important.
The ever-popular Interfaith Walk of Friendship doubled in size, with nearly 100 participants walking between the local Gurdwara, a mosque, and the newly refurbished United Reformed Church. Interfaith week (November 2022) included an online Zoom event where different faiths shared their favourite festival. Members of the Chaplaincy team also visited several local schools during the week.
We've partnered with the University of Glasgow in a three-year project with the aim to reach out to women in Muslim communities with information that can help them make informed choices about cancer screenings.
Figures show that cancer screenings amongst women in Muslim communities are low. This brilliant scheme will receive funding of £337,485 from Cancer Research UK.
We were really proud of our efforts for Ramadan with it being one of the busiest years yet with lots of international students on campus! There was a real sense of togetherness and community between staff and students. To ensure everyone was on board and aware, we sent out a pre-Ramadan briefing via internal comms so that all of our staff knew how to properly support their Muslim peers and some dos and don'ts to ensure respect.
The Holocaust Memorial Day was a huge success as it returned to Sunderland Minster after two years hosted online due to the pandemic. This emotional service was opened by Redby Academy students singing and went onto the main speaker of the night, Jeanette Marx. Jeanette was a Holocaust survivor, and she captivated the audience as she recounted the experiences her and her mother faced.
The Chaplaincy team continues to provide a range of activities for those who have fled the war in Ukraine and co-ordinated the hosting project in the city, provided a weekly meeting for newly arrived Ukrainians and their host families. We also worked with University teachers to improve our English language sessions and enjoyed several family days using the University Sports centre.
We welcome feedback on equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Please contact our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team, inclusion@sunderland.ac.uk or the Students' Union at yoursu@sunderland.ac.uk.