Time For Engagement - St George’s Pioneering Partnerships This Ramadan

21st April by Jo Hastie

On 28th March this year, St George’s Hospital Charity held its first Tooting Interfaith Iftar, welcoming guests from of all faiths across the borough. As the month of Ramadan comes to an end, we talk to Chloe Roberts – Community and Events Fundraising Manager at the charity and Molly Simpson – Senior Public Fundraising Manager – about the event and how it came about.

Over the last couple of years the AAW Group has had the pleasure of working with Chloe, Molly and the team at St George’s Hospital Charity to launch a capital appeal to raise funds for children’s services at the hospital.

The Tooting Interfaith Iftar was part of the Time For Change Appeal which aims to raise £5 million by 2024 to transform children’s services and facilities at the hospital.

One of the key aims of the Time for Change Appeal was to engage with all constituencies and faith groups who are part of the broader community that surrounds St George’s Hospital.

Tooting is a very diverse area and, as Molly states, “we knew we needed to engage the community with the appeal through something that was relevant and would speak to local people”. With a large population of Muslim’s within Tooting the team began to explore ideas around Ramadan - Islam’s holy month, a time of fasting, reflection and prayer – and also for giving.

“We knew we needed to engage the community with the appeal through something that was relevant and would speak to local people”.

After a spot of volunteering at the humanitarian charity Islamic Relief, the team decided they wanted to do something around sharing stories and gratitude with food being identified as a powerful way to bring communities together. And so the idea of the Tooting Interfaith Iftar was born!  Iftar is the fast-breaking evening meal served during Ramadan, as the sun is setting.

Realising they needed local partners who could help, St George’s approached the Tooting-based Naz Legacy Foundation which supports young people from minority communities and disadvantaged backgrounds in education. After an approach from St George’s, they were delighted to join in plans to hold a Tooting lIftar, something they had never done locally before.

“Looking back” Molly states “I don’t know how we could have done without the support of Naz Legacy, We are both white and British, and although we could learn as much as possible,  there are so many different elements that we wouldn’t have known about. Naz Legacy Foundation’s expertise, understanding and input was invaluable.”

With this particular event, there were various elements the team had to take into consideration that differed to normal dinners they have organised. Timings had to be thought about very carefully; there was no flexibility if anything overran, with sunset at 7.31 setting a strict deadline to work around. The venue had to be very specific, offering prayer spaces, no alcohol to be served and ensuring all vegetarian food. It was also important the team had a range of speakers from different faiths and backgrounds, as well as an Imam to lead the call to prayer. Tickets were offered on a complimentary basis as the team wanted the event to be accessible to everyone, but there were opportunities to donate at various points.

The speeches throughout the evening told a story of both community and faith. Some of the speakers also had a personal connection to St Georges, highlighting the impact the hospital has on its local community. The evening also included a speech from a local Imam from Balham and Tooting Mosque who reflected on what charity and Ramadan means to people of Muslim faith, before carrying out the call to prayer.

Ensuring the event was sponsored was key and the team were delighted when Islamic Relief UK offered their support. For Chloe, “One of the main things that we were proud of is that three very different charities came together to put on the Tooting Interfaith Iftar. To have Islamic Relief’s stamp on the event was a massive win and the collaboration between the three organisations was definitely the highlight for me.”

“One of the main things that we were proud of is that three very different charities came together to put on the Tooting Interfaith Iftar.”

Chloe goes on “What we had learned from our volunteering is that it is important to the Muslim community to give donations over Ramadan but it’s as equally important that those donations go towards something that directly impacts other Muslims. Knowing this, we really wanted to show that St George’s Hospital is really helping your community – we open our doors to everyone, your children will be born here and if they are ill, they are going to be treated here. And I think our speakers did a really good job of getting that across”.

The event was relatively informal with the team wanting guests to feel like they were in a home setting, having a casual chat with their neighbour. Each table was hosted by a St George’s staff facilitator and guests enjoyed discussions with prompts around topics such as what Tooting, community and religion meant to people, what faith means if you aren’t religious, and whether people had a connection to St George’s Hospital. Molly notes that “It was lovely to look around the room and see different people engaging. On one table you saw a Christian Priest, Staff from St George’s Hospital and a local Muslim family all having a discussion together. For us, that was exactly what we had set out to achieve.”

The event culminated with a performance from a spoken word artist - Kaira Brown. “We wanted the idea of sharing stories throughout the evening, to come together at the end with one final story” states Chloe “Kaira took snippets of conversation and weaved them into a prepared piece about Tooting and our story, bringing those conversations to life and it was just amazing to listen to. You could literally hear a pin drop in the room. It was a great way to round off the evening.”

“Our spoken-word artist took snippets of conversation from the night and weaved them into a prepared piece about Tooting and our story, bringing those conversations to life and it was just amazing to listen to. You could literally hear a pin drop in the room.”

Feedback from those who attended the event has been very positive and the team have been delighted with the level of engagement. As Molly adds, “We had quickly worked out that this wasn’t going to be a massive fundraiser for us, but we had other objectives in mind. For people who didn’t know about St George’s Hospital Charity, we wanted them to leave knowing who we are.” The event raised £5,000 including sponsorship but introduced St George’s to a whole new audience. As Molly goes on “I would say at least 80% of the room didn’t know us before the event. Bringing the Iftar to the community and having our name associated with it was a huge deal for us as an organisation.” An additional bonus was Muslim staff at the hospital thanking the team for engaging in this way.

Molly, Chloe and the team are very much hopeful that this event will happen again. As a final reflection they add, “Hopefully the Tooting Interfaith Iftar becomes an annual event that people look forward to in their calendar.”

AAW would like to wish a joyous eid to all those celebrating.