People of all religions are being encouraged to come together this week to find ways of improving Kent's communities and reducing intolerance.

Inter Faith Week is an annual event organised by the Inter Faith Network, who claim Brexit is responsible for a surge in hate crime over the past three years.

Listen to a special inter faith episode of the KM Community Podcast

The charity believes getting local religious communities to challenge people's understanding of faith could help reduce violence and abusive behaviour towards religious people and minorities.

Three people from Medway joined the KM Community Podcast to discuss the difficulties and successes with inter faith - Safeer Khan, Imam of Nasir Mosque in Gillingham, Saju Muthalay, Vicar of St. Marks Church in Gillingham, and Dalia Halpern-Matthews representing Chatham Memorial Synagogue.

Mrs Halpern-Matthews said: "We are all actually the same people, and there are so many similarities in what we believe, even though there are many differences as well.

"So I think it's really important that we all understand that and we work together and we help other people understand that we're not actually enemies, we're friends."

Mrs Halpern-Matthews described the help offered by the Muslim community after the Memorial Synagogue was attacked with damage to gravestones and excrement smeared on the door.

She said: "We had three different Muslim communities here in Medway who reached out to us, and Safeer's community even went so far as to ask, 'if you need some physical help in the cemetery,' you know.

"It was just an extraordinary thing."

Mr Muthalay organised a hate crime awareness event at St Mark's Church in October, which had a programme of talks to encourage communities to work together.

He said: "I got 30 different people saying how remarkable the whole evening was, but particularly us as interfaith leaders praying together was for some people, the highlight of the evening"

"We're not actually enemies, we're friends" - Dalia Halpern-Matthews

Mr Khan attended the hate crime event and saw it as a success, but believes there is a long way to go in the task of bringing people closer together.

He said: "Today we are facing challenges that require us to think outside the box and maybe look at a different interpretation and look at the truth of what is right and what is wrong.

"That's a big challenge for me, personally, and and when it comes to politicians and media, it makes it more difficult when that kind of [abusive] rhetoric is being used, because that makes your task even harder."

The three leaders agreed the countries' politicians have a responsibility to reduce their use of aggressive speech.

Mrs Halpern-Matthews said: "Our politicians we should be able to respect and look up to, to not be using provocative rhetoric and unacceptable language, and they should also embody that whole aspect of respect and empathy."

Although Mrs Halpern-Matthews and Mr Khan agreed that we are moving towards a more modern version of integrated faith, Mr Muthalay says it is about looking at the past.

The vicar said: "Modernising and bringing into modernity is old school, from my perspective I think it is going back to the roots.

"Therefore the challenge for faith communities in general, but particularly for my perspective, is to what does it mean for us to live this rooted life now with all its authenticity, and depth and meaning."

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