Date: 25th December 2019
Where: Rumi Mosque, London

Dialogue Society organised a Festive Meal on Christmas Day in partnership with Rumi Mosque.

Through bringing together diverse communities and all those who were alone on Christmas Day, we were fortunate to share the festive spirit of joy and peace. Our main objective of the event was to tackle the issue of loneliness and ensure that no one in the local community felt left-out during the festive period, especially in a city which is ranked one of the loneliest in the world.

By enjoining this cause with a diverse ethnic and religious community of Enfield, the event was an opportunity to enhance community cohesion on the local level. An event as such organised by the local mosque opened doors of interaction and dialogue from both the Christian, Muslim and other community groups who attended.

"A commonly expressed surprise in the community"

Feeding off from this theme, there was a speech by our North London volunteer Bawan titled “What brings us together” highlighted the importance of knowing and loving our neighbours … a theme which seeped through our foods which reflected both the cultural diversity of our attendees and their warmth. The event was also attended by a local attendee of the Mosque Police officer ____ who expressed his thanks and the significance of the event for local community relations.

The Dialogue Society would like to offer a special shout out and thank you to our volunteers on the day - without you, the event wouldn’t have been such a success. Most notably our volunteer cooks and Martine from Mind UK who volunteered throughout the afternoon, showing that the intercultural and cohesion element of dialogue can extend into the kitchen too! And, finally, to our youth volunteers who led the event from the very start, engaging with the local imam Adam, planning out the food, games and decorations!

From the Dialogue Society, we wish you all a Happy New Year!