Faith, Religion and Belief
As part of the EDI annual report 2021-22, the University of Sunderland show how they have supported faith, religion and belief.
The University of Sunderland has worked hard to improve the representation and understanding of faith, belief, and religion.
In 2021-22, we have aimed to continue this growth in equality and inclusion.
During this year, co-ordinating Chaplain Revd Chris Howson continued his part time MSc in Inequalities and Society. Our Newly appointed Catholic Lay Student Chaplain Rebecca Leighton started a weekly football session aimed at International Students working alongside Asylum Seekers. Graeme Jobes continued providing excellent online mindfulness sessions and Imam Yusuf continued to provide a full spectrum of support for our Muslim student community.
As we adjusted to coming out of covid restrictions, some events were still held online such as Holocaust Memorial Day, which was once again recorded on Friday 28 January and put out on YouTube with the help of the University's Media Centre.
We also cautiously returned to as many face-to-face events as possible. The Interfaith Walk of Friendship, for example, only visited 3 buildings, all of which were large and well ventilated.
Read our articles
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“In the midst of hardship, of grief, of illness – hope finds a way”
Reverend Chris Howson, Chaplain to the University of Sunderland and Anglican Priest at Sunderland Minster, gives staff and students his annual Christmas message.
Read more about about the message of hope at Christmas.
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Happy Holi! Students celebrate love, colour and spring
Also known as the 'Festival of Colours', Holi is a popular Hindu festival which celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and there has been a huge explosion of colour at the University of Sunderland's City Campus as students joined the festivities.
Read more about about the celebration of Holi.
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Popular television programme comes to Sunderland
Sunderland will be the backdrop for the world’s longest-running religious television programme - Songs of Praise - when it airs this weekend.
Presenter Claire McCollum interviewed Dr Miguel Gomes Gargamala at St Peter's Church in Monkwearmouth.
Read more about about Songs of Praise coming to Sunderland.
Friendship Evening and Wellbeing Walks
The ‘Friendship Evening’ returned to CitySpace from September 2021 and proved an important chance to rebuild community life on campus post pandemic. It provides a safe environment for students to play communal games and meet with each other. We ramped up our ‘Wellbeing Walks’ with Team Sunderland, as they proved extremely valuable in tackling stress and anxieties post-Covid. We undertook almost 30 walks, supporting almost 200 students.
Films for a Change
The ‘Films for a Change’ series returned in September 2021, until Storm Arwen tore the roof off the University Cinema. We explored themes such as sexual harassment (‘Bombshell’) Climate change (‘Woman at War’) as well as a full programme to go alongside the University's Black History Month (‘Harriet’: ‘Just Mercy’: ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’).
Support for Ukraine
In February 2022, the war in Ukraine posed an extra challenge to the University and the city. The Chaplaincy team coordinated the hosting project in the city and provided a weekly meeting for newly arrived Ukrainians and their host families. We provided English language sessions and family days using the University Sports centre.
Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr
Our students and staff from a Muslim faith will be observed the month of Ramadan (a period of fasting) this year between 2 April – 2 May 2022. This Ramadan enabled students and staff to experience the spirituality of the Holy month without Covid restrictions and enabled them to maximise its opportunities and benefits.
Yusuf Meah, The University Muslim Chaplain, has produced a Ramadan briefing for 2022. This document aims to raise awareness of this important month for the benefit of our staff and students. It covers the following points:
On Monday 23 May we invited Muslims and non-Muslims to join us in celebrating Eid Al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. Held in Cityspace alongside the Students' Union, there was an evening full of activities, games, speeches and delicious food.
Inclusive language
This year the University of Sunderland released inclusive language guidelines to help staff and students understand the impact of the words they use. The guidlines outlines how to use inclusive language to avoid biases, slang or expressions that exclude certain groups based on age, race, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexual orientation.
Within the guidelines it was highlighted that it would be incorrect to assume people whose ethnicity originates from certain countries observe the same religion or any religion. Only refer to people’s religion if it’s relevant to the information we are communicating
Holi celebrations
The Santander project fund has enabled the Students' Union to continue to grow their offer of events, activities and support for students with protected characteristics. This year, they focused on increasing support for our International students by giving them spaces to celebrate holidays, come together and feel connected with others from their faith and culture while at University.
As part of their events hosted, they put on a Holi celebration. This event aimed to bring together our Hindu student population to celebrate the festival that marks the start of Spring, and is famous for colourful parties, music and dance.
Interfaith week
As part of the national Interfaith week, our City Campus Prayer Centre was open to staff and students to have a look around and engage with our users regarding their faith.
On the Friday and Saturday, people were able to go in for a coffee, talk to people about what the Prayer Centre does, and feel welcome to return to celebrate their faith.
The week also included an online look at different faith’s relationship to Climate Change, which coincided with the Glasgow Cop Summit. Members of the Chaplaincy team also visited several local schools during the week.
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Contact us
We welcome feedback on Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Social Responsibility.
Please contact our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, justine.gillespie@sunderland.ac.uk or,
the Student Union LGBTQ+ Officer at yoursu@sunderland.ac.uk.