“Firstly a huge thank you for your time today. I have had such positive feedback from my colleagues. They all found it fascinating, learnt a lot about Islam and their only complaint was that we didn’t have enough time! The newsroom has been buzzing since we got back with everyone chatting about what they learnt. I’ve suggested that anyone who didn’t have a chance to ask their question, email it to me and I will forward it on to you. I think it’s been a great start to what I hope will be a good and mutually beneficial relationship between the BMCS, wider Muslim community in Bristol and us here at ITV West Country Tonight.” - Naomi Lloyd, ITV Newsroom



Introduction

Iin 2001, following 9/11, BMCS developed the “Demystifying Islam & Muslims” Cultural Awareness presentation. We have never advertised our presentations yet through word of mouth the demand for our “Demystifying Islam” presentations continues to grow, not only in Bristol but also in more remote parts of the South West where in some instances, the recipients have never met a Muslim in person.

In 2010/11, we delivered a phenomenal 103 highly acclaimed lectures to the public, private and voluntary sector. A combined audience of 3749 different people of all ages and backgrounds have been able to participate in these sessions. These have included visits to schools, colleges, universities, statutory agencies, employment seminars etc and reciprocal visits to mosques

Since our last AGM, our Cultural Awareness programme has continued to evolve and now falls under four different categories. At the core, we still wish to be at the forefront of challenging Islamophobia through education and dialogue.

The four categories of our work are:
1) General Cultural Awareness Work
2) Work with the Education Sector
3) Challenging Islamophobia
4) Multi-Agency Training

Please click a category above to read about each area of work.