T2577 PEACEPLUS Interfaith & Belief Project

The Interfaith and Belief Project will build, improve and sustain relationships between and within communities of different faiths and beliefs by addressing issues of trust, prejudice, intolerance and building mutual respect and a shared commitment to the common good. The objective of the project is to deliver an interfaith and belief collaboration project through a 3 year Education and Awareness element, an 18 month Unity and Peace – Welcoming Programme element and a 3 year celebrating faith festivals across the city with a view to increase knowledge and awareness about different faiths and beliefs across Belfast.

The project will engage 870 direct participants in cross community, interfaith joined up collaboration, with a wider 2,900 members engaged in capacity building, café culture events, training, learning, sharing and creation of awareness through the programme including projects which reach those most disadvantaged in the City. The allocated budget for this project is £304,564 (excluding VAT) over 3 years from February 2025 – December 2027.

Stream 1: Education and Awareness (3year programme) This project element aims to increase knowledge and awareness about different faiths &, beliefs across Belfast and as a result improve relations between people of different religions and nonreligious backgrounds and build trust and respect through the development of educational materials. Stream 2: Unity and Peace Welcoming Programme (18month programme) This project element aims to increase awareness of the physical, human and community assets within different interfaith and belief organisations across Belfast, with a view to seeing how these can best be utilised within Belfast’s vision of a shared society and in helping to achieve the outcomes within the Belfast Agenda.

Stream 3 Celebrating Faith Festivals in the City (3year programme) This project element aims to celebrate and showcase the diversity of faiths & beliefs across Belfast through a range of different events and activities with a view to building Belfast’s vision of a shared society and city, that respects all and challenges prejudice, hatred, and discrimination. The project will be delivered city wide across communities of faith and belief groups, large and small, depending on their locations/multiple locations, will come together at various sites to showcase and share opportunities for engagement with others within their facilities resulting in wider community impacts and engagements. The project forms parts of the Belfast PEACEPLUS Local Community Action Plan, which is supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).