Harris Bokhari OBE organised the first ever Interfaith Iftar hosted at the St John’s Wood Synagogue on Wednesday 30th May 2018. Speakers included Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, His Eminence Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Bishop of London and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. The event empowered and raised the aspirations of 150 young people aged 18-30 years old (the average age was 24), representing all 32 boroughs of London, from all faiths and none and provided wonderful opportunity to celebrate faith in the centre of our vibrant and diverse capital. The young people came together to discuss how they best thought they could bring faith and non faith communities together in London for the betterment of all our communities.
Further to the Interfaith Iftar, the Naz Legacy Foundation carried out an impact assessment and asked everyone involved how they found the day. Some of the highlights from the report are below,
– 54% of the young people had never been to an iftar before
– 79% had never been to an interfaith iftar
– 44% had never been to a synagogue.
– 89% strongly agreeing/agreed the iftar was inspiring
– 79% strongly agreed/agreed that they had increased knowledge about other faiths as a direct result of the iftar
– 86% felt positive that the event improved access to people from different faiths
– 94% of the young people felt positive about taking part in more social action projects with people from different faiths in result of the iftar
– 88% felt confident that they would keep in touch with people that they had met at the Iftar.
– Over 50% young people from faiths that they had not met before despite living in multi-cultural London. This resulted in a 21%-point increase in the respondents’ knowledge of other faiths post-Iftar.
– Overall 97% rated the Iftar as Good or Excellent.
Harris is board member for the Prince's Trust Mosaic initiative. He was appointed as Mosaic’s first honorary patron and was awarded the prestigious Beacon Award for Philanthropy Advocate 2013 for raising £1m within 12 months for various charities working in deprived communities in the UK, becoming the youngest and first Muslim to receive this honour. He now serves as a judge for the awards.
Harris is the co-founder of the Naz Legacy Foundation, which aims to enhance educational excellence and positive integration. It was established in memory of his late father, Naz Bokhari OBE, the first Asian/Muslim head teacher in the UK. The Foundation was honoured to be awarded the Big Society Award 2014 by the Prime Minister. Harris is also an ambassador for the British Asian Trust.
Harris’s interfaith work has included organising the first ever engagement event between national community, women and youth leaders from the Jewish and Muslim communities meeting with the new Chief Rabbi in Finchley Kinloss Synagogue. Harris was one of the first Muslims to be invited to the Chief Rabbi’s installation ceremony and was selected to be an Ariane De Rothschild fellow, in partnership with Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and King’s College. Harris also organised the first youth interfaith iftar at Lambeth Palace, which brought together the Archbishop of Canterbury, Chief Rabbi, Mayor of London and over 100 youth leaders from each of London’s boroughs – representing all faiths and none.
Harris was awarded an OBE in Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours List for services for young people and interfaith relations; named as one of 40 people in finance who goes further for good causes by Financial News Extra Mile List; and named as one of London’s most influential figures by the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 list.
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