Diversity in the UK

I really should proof read before posting! The second sentence above should read: In order to experience cultural and religious diversity our family have, for many years, offered homestay accommodation or lodgings to people from other countries.

When we moved from East London a few years back to the far SW of England my 8 year old came home from school after a few days and said, 'guess what mum, everyone in my class is a christian' and was amazed that no-one had ever visited a Sikh temple for a wedding!

Even now in our little village there is very little cultural diversity and children who have lived here all their lives may often never have met a non-white person - unless it's in a restaurant!

I also live in the SW and my children attended the local Church of England Junior school. The school arranged visits to the local synagogue and was visited by the Imam from the mosque in the nearest city. The school also taught about other major world religions and about diverse cultures. All of this teaching took place within an ethos of caring and acceptance, but was underpinned by Christian values. Interestingly, when my eldest son was at the school he was the only practising Christian for three of his four years there. As the only Junior school in the town there is no requirement for parents to have any particular faith, but in recent years more children and parents are showing an interest in Christianity and there is now higher church attendance amongst pupils.

Grannyactivist said:

The school arranged visits to the local synagogue and was visited by the Imam from the mosque in the nearest city. The school also taught about other major world religions and about diverse cultures. All of this teaching took place within an ethos of caring and acceptance, but was underpinned by Christian values.

Here in Australia my son, a high school teacher, does something very similar, and has taken the pupils to synagogues, mosques, Greek orthodox churches and other religious places. He teaches at a catholic school. Such schools are very different now, and catholicism is not pushed very much at all. However, priests and nuns visit year 12 once a year to see if any of them have a 'vocation'. The kids are very honest and open these days, and always say that they are not willing to accept a life without sex. He has never known, in 7 years of teaching, any of his graduates go on to a religious life.

Australia is the second most multicultural country in the world after Israel, and we have people of different cultures all around us. My DIL-to-be is Cantonese, for example. After 31 years here, if I find myself in a white monocultural place I feel uneasy. I was once invited to an Assembly of God church for their Christmas pageant, and could not understand why the whole place felt strange (apart from the religiosity, which was always going to be alien to me). Then I realised that everyone was white anglo-celtic.

I just love the diversity in London (and other cities). I teach a very mixed group of students, not just culturally but in many other ways. I am just so pleased that my children and grandchildren have not felt it necessary to conform to limited expectations. Everyone I know is so individual.
In his excellent book "So you think you know about Britain" Danny Dorling states (on page 120) "The immigrants that have most disrupted formerly stable communities in Britain have been the English themselves, buying retirement or holiday homes in places they like to visit, but where they choose not to belong" Is this why so many country towns & villages feel so sterile? Perhaps they would benefit from an input of diversity

That is interesting, Optimist, about the holiday homes. I have always felt it is awful that country people cannot afford a local home, but townies with cash can buy them as second homes. I don't know the answer of course, as money trumps everything these days. Well, I suppose it always did.

As for me, I wish I could live in Star Trek land. In Star Trek sociology, money doesn't exist - people live near work, work at what they are good at, and merit counts, not acquisitions. Also, Star Trek was a diversity forerunner, with a black woman, a Japanese man, and an alien as Bridge Officers - in the 1960s! Creating something like that was immensely brave of Gene Roddenberry, considering what it was like in the southern states of the USA.

Ilike it!

In the past year we've had an Italian, a young couple from India and a homeless alcoholic man living with us. We are regularly visited by a man who has mental health problems and I was birth partner to a local Chinese couple when they had their first baby. Vive la difference!

I have two daughters from my first marriage, whom both have children Christian upbringing and the grandchildren too. I have lots of friends of different cultures and religions too.

Seven years ago I re-married and now have another daughter she is Chinese and is now studying her gcse's at school. She was adopted from China as a baby of 20 months.(The Dying Room girls - from china as many of you may recall) We are in contact with other families who have adopted Chinese girls and celebrate Chinese customs and new year's celebrations.

I was guardian to a boy from Taiwan who was studying in the UK. When he was fifteen he explained he felt sad that he couldn't celebrate Chinese New Year; so we rounded up all the Asian people (plus a few others) in our town who would normally have celebrated Chinese New Year at home and we put on a themed party for them. We had a little factory going in my dining room, making paper hangings with Chinese script and other decorations and the kitchen was abuzz with people cooking traditional Chinese food. (First time I ever ate 'Coca-Cola' chicken!) Great fun!