Ahead of the UK’s largest faith-led day of social action, Mitzvah Day, community members from various faith groups gathered for an interfaith gardening project under the theme “Stronger Together.”
The event, held at the walled rose garden in Canons Park, saw participation from Stanmore & Canons Park Synagogue, Mosaic Liberal Synagogue, Kenton Swaminarayan Hindu Temple, St William of York Roman Catholic Church, Harrow Interfaith, Friends of Canons Park, and others.
Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, joined the event, saying, “Mitzvah Day is brilliant because it brings the whole community together to do things they may not usually be doing. Today, we had a whole group of volunteers, from many different backgrounds, unite to make this garden look beautiful.”
Approximately 40 volunteers of all ages worked on tasks like weeding, raking, sweeping, and tidying up overgrown flower beds to prepare for winter. The event fostered connections between volunteers from different backgrounds, building friendships and strengthening community ties.
Reflecting on the day’s theme, Rabbi Rachel Benjamin of Mosaic Liberal Synagogue said, “This project is a microcosm of what we would like to see happening in the world – people from different communities coming together for good and worthy purposes, to talk to each other and to realise that we all share a common humanity and can do so much more when we stand together.”
Corinne Linskell, Project Co-ordinator from Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue, added, “This interfaith gardening project was a special way to kick off our Mitzvah Day activities. With so many faith groups working together on behalf of the local community, we were much ‘Stronger Together,’ achieving what we could not do on our own. This is such a rewarding, positive and enriching initiative to be part of.”
The day was appreciated by the Friends of Canons Park, with Chair Sharon Graham describing it as “incredibly special and much appreciated.”
Lisa Harris of St William of York RC Church shared, “One of the greatest Commandments is to love one another. We show this in doing little or even big things together. As this wonderful Interfaith Mitzvah Day project has shown, we are all ‘Stronger Together.’”
Mitzvah Day is scheduled for Sunday, 24 November 2024. To register or learn more, visit www.mitzvahday.org.uk.
Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
He launched Harrow Online in 2010 as a Facebook page sharing local news and information. Since then, it has grown into a trusted source for breaking news, crime, council decisions, planning, transport, business and community stories across the borough.
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