In the past days and weeks, both the impact of COVID-19 as a pandemic and the threat it poses to the UK has unravelled. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the virus across the globe.

In times of crisis and heightened uncertainty it is understandable to feel anxious, as communities around the world are struggling with Coronavirus, we must remember to look after ourselves, keep each other safe and come to together in helping our local services to ensure the safety of our community at large.

During this difficult time, we are going through, the Dialogue Society is either cancelling or postponing all its immediate events, and actively looking into hosting these online.

We are taking the COVID-19 seriously and will continue to closely monitor the impact of the global pandemic. All of our teams have been clearly briefed and understand the necessary actions to avoid the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

In line with official reports that the severity of the Coronavirus cases is set to increase many charities are taking their work online; we will be inquiring with our associate VOICES organisations as well as other international fellow organisations, to provide both assistance and also learn from their experiences too, in the hope of further improving our practice.

We are taking the following precautions and actions:

• We will turn our seminars, roundtable discussions and courses into an online format where possible. We will keep our stakeholders up to date with developments regarding this.
• Throughout the pandemic period we will engage in online conferences. In which we will get in touch with speakers and participants in formats mirroring our usual roundtable and panel discussion events.
• Our Ramadan community iftar dinners will be altered; following the format of a “friendship meal” with our partners, set for a later date.
• The Dialogue Society is also planning to distribute packages to elderly and vulnerable people (including soap, toilet paper, hygiene gel) and engage in active community service in partnerships with local councils, throughout this pandemic period.
• We are encouraging our volunteers, throughout the UK, to get involved with their local councils’ and aid associations’ efforts.
• We are considering preparing food packages during Ramadan and, after talking with local food distributors, arranging the distribution the packages to those most at need by using their databases.

Further updates on our forthcoming events will follow.

#Ends

For press enquiries please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Note to Editors

The Dialogue Society was established in London in 1999 by British Muslims of Turkish background who were inspired by the teachings and example of Fethullah Gülen. It aims to promote dialogue and advance social cohesion by connecting communities through discussion forums, courses, capacity building publications and outreach. The Dialogue Society is not a religious or ethnic organisation but rather aims to facilitate dialogue on a whole range of social issues, regardless of any particular faith or religion. It stands for democracy, human rights, the non-instrumentalisation of religion in politics, equality and freedom of speech. For more information, see: www.dialoguesociety.org.