THE TIMES 24/6/2011

 RELIGION UNITED US IN A COMMON GOAL

"Human trafficking is a crime against humanity, that we all, regardless of religion, have a duty to fight..

Forty five university students of different faiths and beliefs from across the UK recently graduated from Undergraduate ParliaMentors (UP) – the Three Faiths Forum’s UN award-winning leadership development programme...

Talia Chain, “I come from a Jewish background. Religion played a major role in my upbringing and continues to do so today. I attended a nondenominational school and my closest friends were from other religious backgrounds, but during university I found that students tended to segregate back into their religious groups. This in turn led to ignorance between groups which bred hostility – sometimes leading to violence.
When I heard about the Undergraduate ParliaMentors programme I realised that this was an excellent opportunity to work with students of other faiths and beliefs and in some way bridge these gaps. I was also attracted by the idea of being mentored by an MP and improving my understanding of how Parliament works as I eventually want to work in government.

Our trio chose to spread awareness of human trafficking as we felt it is a crime against all humanity that we all, regardless of religion, have a duty to fight. The other two members of my trio turned out to be inspirational people and religion, which sometimes seems like a divisive force, united us in a common goal....

[Stephen Twigg's] support for our trio’s project and general enthusiasm, the other fantastic members of my trio and our exhibition, as well as everything the Three Faiths Forum has offered us, made being on Undergraduate ParliaMentors an excellent experience. It helped us achieve far beyond our expectations and created new friendships and possibilities for the future.”

For the full article: The Times