On Thursday 8 August, representatives of the institutions of Tyne and Wear Citizens based in North Tyneside were warmly welcomed by members of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Whitley Bay. This included the Parish Priest and a parishioner of St Cuthbert’s & St Joseph’s, North Shields as well as the chaplain of St Thomas More School.
The visit was a small sign of support and solidarity to those who are feeling threatened and vulnerable after the civil unrest that has taken place during recent days.
Our hosts explained that though worship took place at the centre, it was not just a Mosque but as an Islamic Cultural Centre, it was seeking to be a ‘community hub’, which it could offer access to the wider local community of such services as a gym, computers and a space for study.
Our hosts explained how recent events had been unnerving, though living in North Tyneside they felt accepted and safe, compared to other Muslim brothers and sisters in other parts of the North East.
Our visit with small gifts of flowers, sweets and cards, along with our message of support and solidarity was much appreciated. It made them aware that those expressing such hatred are a small minority and that members of civic society want them to know that they are accepted and welcomed into our community.
There was one interesting anecdote just before the visit to took place. Soon after our delegation arrived in different cars, the group, which the photo below shows was predominantly white middle-aged men(!), were very quickly followed by a police van with two officers. They just wanted to make sure we were not going to cause any trouble! It was good to know that the police were being very attentive and responsive to any possible trouble. Once they saw that we were only ‘armed’ with sweets and flowers and two of these white middle-aged men were clergy, they thankfully quickly appreciated that the users of the centre were not facing any immediate threat. No arrests were made!
Fr Chris Hughes
