Message from Deacon Sally

9th August 2024

 

Dear Friends,

In these troubling times I thought I would share an extract of a message that I received on Wednesday as a member of Islington's Faith Forum.

It's from Victoria Lawson who is the Chief Executive of Islington Council. She writes:

'I wanted to provide you with immediate reassurance that there is no police intelligence that there is any disorder or far-right activity planned in Islington.

We are meeting daily with our local police and our Civil Protection team are stepping up patrols around community locations and our own frontline services.

Please know that even if you can’t see some of this work, our teams are out there providing reassurance.

It’s also important that if you experience or receive information about hate crime or far-right activity, you report it to police or partners, so that we can coordinate a response with our local police, or seek advice by contacting the council’s team at hate.crime@islington.gov.uk'.

I also attended a zoom meeting hosted by the leader of Camden Council on Thursday afternoon. A superintendent from the Metropolitan police was among the speakers. As with Islington, we were assured that there is no police intelligence to suggest that any disorder or far-right activity is planned in Camden.

I do hope that this will go some way to reassuring you all and that you will take heart from the fact that the far-right activity planned for last Wednesday night was largely quashed by brave members of our communities coming out to stand against hatred and evil. This just goes to bear out John 1:5 - The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

Even so, if you do have any concerns and would like to talk to someone, or if you know of anyone in need of some extra support at the current time, please do not hesitate to notify our Church Stewards.

Yours, in Christ,

Deacon Sally