Rauf Bashir | Social Development, Community Cohesion and Public Engagement | Ngage4Change

Social development isn't a policy paper. It's the network in the room. It's the person on the ground, in the community.

For over 25 years, I've worked across the field of social development - embedding this specialism agenda across education, art, community and faith sector organisations and statutory bodies. Anchored at a grassroots level and carrying that work up into local, regional and national policy. I founded Ngage4Change Ltd to carry that practice beyond a single organisation and beyond the UK.

25+

years across community cohesion
and social development

levels worked simultaneously - grassroots,
council and central government

building toward an invested, multi-generational society for
people and place

Impact at a Glance

Independently evaluated, not self-reported

£20.40

social value returned per £1 invested (SROI)

2,733

unique adults engaged in one 12-month period

8,670

total engagements across programmes

1,020

young people reached via PSLN and youth citizenship

6,400+

attendees, 2025 Pendle Festival of Culture

99%

of participants report becoming more socially connected

Independently evaluated in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), JJB Consulting and The Evaluator, using a framework in place since 2018.

Financial Scale, 2016-2026

A decade of secured funding, reinvested in the community

£2.0m+

raised and invested in grassroots community projects, 2016-2026

£1.6m

channelled through Building Bridges Pendle, FY2016-FY2025

distinct funding sources - National Lottery, central, regional and local government and trust funds

99%

of income reinvested directly into community activity

organisations anchoring delivery - Building Bridges Pendle and Victoria Park Pavilion CIC

years of statutory accounts underpinning these figures

Compiled from Building Bridges Pendle's statutory accounts (FY2016-FY2025) and 2025/26 project budget and Victoria Park Pavilion CIC's accounts (2019-2024).

Rauf Bashir speaking at the Building Bridges Network event

About Rauf

A well-organised and reliable practitioner with extensive experience of working with people and groups from a wide range of backgrounds, with a sustained focus on community development based on foundations of relationships, collaboration and partnerships.

Across that time Rauf has built a considerable portfolio of community initiatives carrying local, regional and national recognition, and has contributed directly to regional and national policy on Cohesion, Interfaith and Resilience (Prevent) agendas. As Executive Manager of Building Bridges Network, he has led on the day-to-day running of the organisation - staff, volunteers and office management, finances and budgetary control, fundraising and grant applications and reporting to a Board of Directors - while working with agencies to promote community partnerships and social action across Pendle and wider Lancashire. He also brings considerable experience in bid writing, with successful bids secured over many years from local authorities, regional bodies, central Government and a range of trust funds.

Earlier in his career this included designing and delivering informal education programmes for young people across the Pendle education district and other parts of Lancashire, providing personal support to help young learners realise their potential and engaging directly with local issues such as anti-social behaviour and crime.

Rauf's youth work grounding - as a Youth and Community Worker with Lancashire Youth and Community Service - has shaped a long-standing specialism in producing bespoke, curriculum-linked education programmes. Working with schools and colleges across Key Stages 2 to 5, he has designed schemes of learning mapped to the National Curriculum, QCA criteria and Ofsted's community cohesion guidance, extending pupils' learning both within the existing school curriculum and through further, out-of-school provision in mosque and community settings. These programmes are built to move pupils from personal reflection to civic understanding and ultimately, to leadership - creating structured social experiences and real opportunities for young people to practise dialogue, teamwork and decision-making, helping them build confidence as active, engaged members of their community and contemporary society.

What runs through all of it - from designing systemic Prevent and integration strategy at national level, to sitting on interfaith and civic boards, to being a trusted, approachable presence for young people and newcomers alike - is a significant, sustained commitment to grassroots community work, in both a professional and a personal capacity. Rauf works comfortably at every level, from community halls to Whitehall meeting rooms, combining a strong work ethic with clear vision, leadership and the ability to motivate a team to get things done.

Core Strengths

Strategic Leadership

Partnership and Stakeholder Engagement

Grassroots Community and Youth Development

Education Programming and Curriculum Design

Bid Writing and Fundraising

Governance and Financial Oversight

Visioning and Empowerment

Creative and Cultural Engagement

About the Company

Ngage4Change Ltd is Rauf's UK-registered consultancy - the vehicle through which his practice is delivered commercially, in the UK and internationally.

It exists to carry proven grassroots practice beyond any single organisation: taking what works at grassroots level in Pendle and packaging it as a repeatable methodology and good practice - Build, Nurture, Sustain - that purpose-driven organisations, local authorities and national government bodies can commission directly.

Ngage4Change Ltd is the contracting entity for all consultancy, programme design and advisory work - for local authorities, national government bodies and purpose-driven organisations alike.

In practical terms, we help organisations:

Build trusted local relationships
Strengthen community cohesion
Design engagement programmes
Adopt creative and innovative approaches
Provide skilled cultural navigation of programme implementation
Develop partnership networks
Respond to community tensions
Create evidence-backed social value

Build · Nurture · Sustain

Ngage4Change Ltd

UK-registered consultancy

Company No. 16206694 · England and Wales

Approach

Build. Nurture. Sustain.

Three phases, one discipline - moving a community to a self-sustaining network that no longer needs its founder in the room.

01 - Grassroots

Build

Establishing the relationships, forums and structures a community needs - often starting from one-person. Mapping stakeholders, community profiling, convening first meetings and getting people who don't naturally sit together into the same room.

02 - Council and Region

Nurture

Turning grassroots trust into council-level strategy and statutory agency partnership - the ongoing work of maintaining relationships between residents, communities and local government.

03 - National and Policy

Sustain

Handing over ownership and embedding what works into strategy that outlives a single programme - from local governance through to national frameworks and statutory delivery.

Building toward a vision of collective communities? Want to invest in a multi-generational society for people and place? - Let's talk.

Enquire →

[email protected]

Phone

+44 (0)7834 118905

linkedin.com/in/ngage4change

System-Level Impact

One practice, three levels of government

Grassroots programmes in Pendle have repeatedly become the evidence base for council strategy - and in several cases, for UK national policy. This is what "mobilisation that influences agency policy" looks like in practice.

Level One

Grassroots Communities

Where trust is built first - with residents, faith communities, schools and volunteers.

Building Bridges Network - Founder and Lead Convenor

The organisation behind this body of work. Founded in 1999 as a small grassroots project, later constituted as Building Bridges Pendle and now operating as Building Bridges Network. Rauf founded and has led it throughout - from door-to-door outreach to becoming the first organisation outside London visited by the UK Government's Commission for Integration and Cohesion, in October 2006. Independently evaluated over a recent 12-month period: 2,733 adults and 1,020 young people engaged, 8,670 total engagements and £20.40 of social value returned per £1 invested.

Pavilion Community Hub and Café - Trustee

Pendle's only community hub, café and garden of its kind, in Victoria Park, Nelson - built entirely by volunteers around the "Essence of Pendle" themes and run for six years without core revenue funding. As Trustee, Rauf sits on the board steering its conversion from Community Interest Company to Charity Incorporated Organisation. Its Life Skills Café - a weekly drop-in offering budgeting, health and confidence-building support - launched with Citizens Advice, Christians Against Poverty and Pendle Primary Care Network as founding partners, attended by the Mayor of Pendle, as part of the council's Crisis and Resilience Fund.

PSLN - Pendle Schools Linking Network

The district's largest schools network, established in 2014 as the local arm of The Linking Network, the national body pioneering schools-linking for integration and connection in England. Connects Pendle's children through curriculum-linked encounters on identity and belonging. That national model was recommended by the Casey Review (2016) and evaluated by Oxford University for the Department for Education (2023) and IFF Research for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (2022) - one of the district's clearest lines from grassroots practice to national policy.

Pendle Cultural Education Partnership

One of 140+ local Cultural Education Partnerships set up across England by Arts Council England and the Department for Education. Administered by Building Bridges Pendle and funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, it connects schools, artists and community partners to widen access to the arts. Recent projects include Textile Banners for Pendle Peace Walks (2025) with artist Chris Alton; the long-running Pendle Schools Festival (since 1960); Song of the Earth, 300 Year 5 pupils' large-scale paintings; and the annual WinterBloom light parade (500+ participants).

Talking Society

Building Bridges' dialogue "Social Movement", helping people engage across cultural lines and challenge hate through four formats: Talkaoke (open public discussion), Talking Lounge (single-theme conversations), Walk and Talk and Digital Talk. Its clearest recent expression is an 8-month youth-led violence-prevention programme for 15-18 year olds, exploring hate crime, misinformation and identity, then training in interviewing and podcast production - delivered with Nelson and Colne College and BBC broadcaster Liz Robertson and linked nationally through Belong and Hope Not Hate.

↑ becomes council strategy and statutory partnership

Level Two

Local and Regional / Council Level

Where grassroots relationships convert into council strategy, funding decisions and statutory partnership.

"Our Shared Futures" - Regional Systems Leadership Strategy

A strategic shift from local delivery to regional systems leadership, responding to Local Government Reorganisation and rising social polarisation - positioning Building Bridges Network as an embedded partner within new authority governance. Tested directly during the summer 2024 unrest, when Building Bridges coordinated a multi-agency community response across Pendle while statutory buildings were closed. Underpinned by £82,600 from the Clothworkers Foundation to purchase the organisation's own premises at 20 Scotland Road, Nelson.

CCAN - Community Cohesion Action Network

Pendle's borough-wide cohesion network, jointly established with Pendle Council, bringing together 34+ groups, schools, faith organisations and public services, anchored by the Pendle Pledge. Its rapid-response wing, the Rapid Reaction Forum (27 organisations), convenes at short notice for urgent cohesion matters. CCAN is now a named delivery mechanism in Pendle Council's Community Cohesion Strategy 2025-2028, tasked with coordinating the council's response to incidents.

Voice Pennine Group - founding role and Chairman

An independent, Muslim-led regional forum spanning Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, tackling extremism and Islamophobia. Launched 4 April 2007 at Burnley Football Club, backed by all three local authorities and Lancashire Constabulary. As Chairman, Rauf delivered the launch address setting out Voice's approach - engaging young Muslims directly and using arts and culture to build understanding. Voice went on to secure funding for a cross-borough Development Officer post via the Government's Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Study - with the University of Central Lancashire

Commissioned UCLan research into vaccine hesitancy across Pendle's diverse communities, funded via Pendle Council's "Community Champions" programme (2021). Building Bridges recruited participants and provided Arabic and Latvian translation across seven focus groups spanning Pakistani, Syrian, Eastern European and white British residents. The study's recommendations - flexible scheduling around Ramadan and Eid, locally-trusted messengers and avoiding scapegoating of minority communities - directly informed the local and regional public health response.

Pennine Lancashire
Linear Park –
Super Slow Way

Community engagement through the Super Slow Way partnership fed directly into the evidence base for a major feasibility study on a 23-mile green regeneration corridor along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, commissioned by Arts Council England, the Canal and River Trust and Lancashire County Council (June 2021). The resulting Linear Park Pilot recorded 21,696 engagements against a target of 11,800, with the Pendle Festival of Culture alone reaching 3,370. The "Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope" banquet at Brierfield Mill - see The Circle and the Square, Level Three - was cited as a national case study.

↑ becomes national policy and statutory delivery

Level Three

Central Government and National Policy

Where local practice has been written into national frameworks and delivered under statutory government programmes.

"Responding to the Threat of Divisive Ideologies: Have We Learnt the Lessons?" - Community Cohesion Conference

Brought statutory, voluntary, faith and grassroots organisations together to confront polarising narratives head-on. Keynotes from Lord Wajid Khan, Minister for Faith, Communities and Resettlement; Simon Jones of the Government's Cohesion Unit; Jill Rutter of Belong; and Misbah Malik of Hope Not Hate. Directly launched CCAN (34 organisations) and the Rapid Reaction Forum (27 organisations), feeding straight into local integration and Prevent-related policy.

"The Circle and the Square" - Whitworth Art Gallery, Sydney Biennale and SFMOMA

A film installation by artist Suzanne Lacy, created over a three-year residency with Pendle residents ("Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope") with Super Slow Way, In-Situ and Building Bridges. Local residents were co-authors of the work, not subjects - and the Brierfield Mill banquet was later cited as a case study in the Linear Park feasibility study. Premiered at Brierfield Mill (2017), acquired by the Whitworth Art Gallery and shown at the Sydney Biennale (2018) and San Francisco MoMA (2019) - taking Pendle-rooted practice onto major contemporary art stages. Also featured on BBC North West news.

Channel Intervention Officer and Mentor - Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace

Delivered one-to-one Channel Intervention sessions, 2013-2015, as a Home Office-approved mentor for the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, working with individuals referred as at risk of radicalisation. Vetted by the Home Office's Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism under Prevent Objective 3 - Supporting Vulnerable Individuals - including a formal Statement of Individual Values (May 2012). Attended OSCT's national training symposium for Channel practitioners (Oxford, March 2013) and various consultations to support development of the National strategy.

"Islam and Citizenship Education" (ICE) Project - national partner

Building Bridges was a named partner organisation on the published ICE curriculum resource, "Developing a Citizenship Curriculum through an Islamic Perspective" (Key Stage 2 and 3) - jointly funded by the DCSF and DCLG with the School Development Support Agency, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Association of Muslim Schools UK. Trialled 44 lessons across 30 madrasahs in 6 regions, with lessons on cohesion and racism based on IHNA teaching material developed in Pendle. Rauf held a national advisory role, 2008-2010.

Networks and Partnerships

Twelve initiatives, one convenor, spanning 11 to 25 years

Organisations, networks and campaigns across Pendle, convened by Rauf Bashir - each built, nurtured and sustained
through the same three-phase practice, ranging from newer campaigns to work spanning a quarter of a century.

Community Cohesion Action Network

Pendle's borough-wide partnership network, bringing together 35+ organisations.

Building Bridges Network

The organisation convening this work - 25+ years of community cohesion practice.

Pendle Schools Linking Network

The largest Primary and Secondary schools network in the district.

Pendle Cultural Education Partnership

One of 140+ national partnerships connecting schools, artists and community.

Pavilion Community Hub and Café

Community hub, café and gardens in Victoria Park, Nelson.

Life Skills Café

Weekly drop-in offering budgeting, health and confidence-building support.

Community Cohesion Action Network

Pendle's borough-wide partnership network, bringing together 35+ organisations.

Building Bridges Network

The organisation convening this work - 25+ years of community cohesion practice.

Pendle Schools Linking Network

The largest Primary and Secondary schools network in the district.

Pendle Cultural Education Partnership

One of 140+ national partnerships connecting schools, artists and community.

Pavilion Community Hub and Café

Community hub, café and gardens in Victoria Park, Nelson.

Life Skills Café

Weekly drop-in offering budgeting, health and confidence-building support.

This Is Nelson - People's Assembly

Deliberative community forums shaping Nelson's regeneration.

The Talking Society

Proactive dialogue campaign, including a youth-led podcast programme.

Good Neighbours

Big Lottery-funded programme behind resident-led neighbourhood groups.

Pendle PeaceWalks and Festival of Culture

Annual peace walk and cultural festival - 6,400+ attendees in 2025.

Families Making Friends

Cross-cultural activity for families, leading to their own follow-up projects.

Project 10,000

Community-owned sustainability model - £1/month membership for a permanent future.

This Is Nelson - People's Assembly

Deliberative community forums shaping Nelson's regeneration.

The Talking Society

Proactive dialogue campaign, including a youth-led podcast programme.

Good Neighbours

Big Lottery-funded programme behind resident-led neighbourhood groups.

Pendle PeaceWalks and Festival of Culture

Annual peace walk and cultural festival - 6,400+ attendees in 2025.

Families Making Friends

Cross-cultural activity for families, leading to their own follow-up projects.

Project 10,000

Community-owned sustainability model - £1/month membership for a permanent future.

Partners, Funders and Delivery Bodies

Recognised and delivered alongside

Board and Committee Experience

Governance across three tiers, for over 25 years

Strategic and governance roles spanning grassroots charities, school and town-level boards and national advisory bodies - reflecting a consistent pattern of moving from delivery into policy formation and implementation oversight.

Pride in Place

Management Committee Member

Sat on the committee overseeing this UK Government regeneration fund as it's administered through Pendle Borough Council under a 10-year (2025-2035) plan. Shaped how £20 million in national capital funding - including toward Building Bridges Network's own premises and the Talking Lounge project - translates into lived community benefit at neighbourhood level.

Nelson Town Deal Board

Management Committee Member and Community Representative

Lead voice for communities and cohesion on this government-funded programme. The 'This Is Nelson' programme is the only revenue-based initiative of its kind, using creative approaches to empower grassroots communities' role in the town's redevelopment and longer-term partnerships.

Pavilion Community Hub and Café

Director

Governance oversight for Pendle's only community hub, café and gardens set up uniquely as a charity rather than a business - built substantially by a team of 35 active volunteers, with no paid officers for the past seven years. Created a bespoke outdoor community facility with gardens, edible plants, fruit trees and the only maze in any of the borough's parks, for use by the wider community.

Lomeshaye Primary School

Deputy Chair of Governors

Governance role at a Nelson junior school rated "Good" by Ofsted and ranked among the top-performing primary schools in the Pendle area. Brought cohesion and inclusion expertise directly into school-level strategy in an area with a large British Asian heritage community. Lomeshaye’s academic performance is well above both local and national averages, with around 80% of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, placing the school among the top-performing primaries in Lancashire.

Nelson Ghausia Trust

Management Committee Member

Governance role with Nelson's largest mosque and madrassah trusts. Served a substantial local Sunni congregation in the town of Nelson and neighbouring areas. Contributed directly to the Trust's structure and governance and to its work on education, young people and women's engagement.

Free Spiritual Centre

Lead Member / Treasurer

Founded and financially stewarded this registered charity (Charity Commission no. 1151120) since 2001, advanced public education in Sufism and spirituality and promoted cohesion through interfaith meetings, festivals and shared projects. Hosted regular gatherings on spirituality, cross-faith dialogue and education and led professional development workshops at conferences and in schools.

Pendle Forum of Faiths

Convenor

Convened Pendle's only faith-leader forum for nearly 15 years, including joint Christian-Muslim commemorative events such as a shared Remembrance Day service and march to the cenotaph alongside Mawlid celebrations. Delivered sustained engagement between Pendle's Christian and Muslim faith communities, including the Church and Mosque Twinning programme, later adopted as a national model by the Christian Muslim Forum.

Pendle Food Alliance

Founding Convenor

Established June 2020 in partnership with Pendle Council's statutory COVID-19 "Community Hub" response, brought 12 foodbank initiatives across the borough into a single coordinated alliance - with an agreed referral, sourcing, storage and distribution system and a formal emergency-response mechanism agreed jointly with Pendle Borough Council and Lancashire Emergency Planning. Extended reach specifically to underserved groups including rural communities, Syrian refugees, asylum seekers and Eastern and Asian European residents and trained member organisations into independent ownership after 12 months.

Pendle Task Force

Member

Set up during the pandemic response for cross-agency coordination on emerging community issues, with a particular focus on frontline engagement around COVID-19 safety messaging and community compliance.

The Inter Faith Network for the UK

Member Organisation

Held membership within the UK's principal national interfaith grouping, connecting Pendle-level interfaith practice to the national dialogue infrastructure.

United Religions Initiative

Director

Governance role within a global grassroots interfaith network operating through local "Cooperation Circles" across more than 100 countries - Pendle-level interfaith practice connected to an international peer network.

Schools Development Support Agency

National Advisory Board Member

National-level advisory role, 2008-2010, with the organisation that developed and coordinated the Islam and Citizenship Education (ICE) Project nationally - jointly funded by the DCSF and DCLG, trialling 44 lessons across 30 madrasahs in 6 regions of England, with IHNA material among its source content.

Lancashire SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education)

Committee Member

County-level statutory role, 2008-2011, on the body established under the Education Reform Act 1988 to advise Lancashire County Council on religious education and collective worship in its community schools - including the county's Agreed Syllabus for RE, teacher training provision and requests from schools for collective worship not of a broadly Christian character. Brought grassroots faith-community and cohesion expertise directly into how RE was taught, monitored and reviewed across Lancashire.

Sufi Muslim Council

Director

National governance role, 2008-2010, with an organisation launched in 2006 to give voice to Britain's Sufi Muslim community and promote a moderate, non-political interpretation of Islam in the national conversation on integration.

Voice Pennine Group

Chairman and Founding Member

Set up to tackle extremism and Islamophobia across East Lancashire, in partnership with Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Borough Councils and Lancashire Constabulary - established as an independent, community-led response ahead of the government's own Preventing Violent Extremism agenda. The first organisation to bring the Sufi Muslim Council, the Muslim Council of Britain, the Quilliam Foundation and the DCLG onto a shared platform to discuss Prevent, at a conference titled "Challenging Extremism, Root Causes, Solutions and the Way Forward." Subsequently featured as a full case study in national government coverage of the Prevent strategy.

Lancashire Emergency Planning Strategic Group

Committee Member

County-level resilience and emergency planning coordination, brought community cohesion expertise into civil contingency planning to be inclusive of marginalised communities across the County.

Burnley and Pendle Faith Centre Strategic Group

Steering Group Member

Steering group that provided strategic direction for the Burnley and Pendle Faith Centre, a multi-faith religious education and citizenship initiative delivered across secondary schools and colleges in both boroughs - including partnership work with the Prince's School of Traditional Arts and Lancashire's Youth SACRE programme on interfaith and intrafaith understanding.

Lancashire Forum of Faiths

Executive Committee Member

County-wide interfaith body in existence since 1999, gaining charitable status in 2007 (Charity Commission no. 1118803) and membership of the UK Interfaith Network. Its objects are to advance public understanding between Lancashire's faith communities and to bring voluntary organisations and statutory authorities together in common cause - extended Pendle-level cohesion practice to a county-wide platform.

Marsden Heights Community College

Community Governor

School governance role representing the wider community at this Brierfield secondary school, 2005-2007 - prior to its 2020 conversion to an academy under United Learning.

Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Community, Voluntary and Faith Sector Service

Director

Regional infrastructure body supporting the voluntary and faith sector across three boroughs. A member-led charity providing funding and grant support, social prescribing and community transport to the sector across Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale. Rauf served as a Director for two years.

Pendle Forum of Mosques

Founding Member

The first intra-Muslim governance forum set up in East Lancashire, established in 2007, that brought mosque leadership together on shared community governance issues - proactive leadership, youth and training programmes, interfaith links and women's engagement with mosque life - through structured, regular dialogue rather than each mosque working in isolation.

Pendle Muslim Governors Network

Founding Member and Interim Administrator

Established April 2019 as the first Muslim-led network supporting Muslim professionals into School Governor roles across Pendle, sharing best practice and building capacity among a growing base of school governors. Coordinated constructive, structured engagement between faith leaders, school governors and Pendle schools on curriculum development matters - worked through the Pendle Mosques Forum to keep parents informed and involved rather than left outside the process.

Pendle Partnership

Member, Local Strategic Partnership

Sat as a named member of Pendle's Local Strategic Partnership, representing Building Bridges Pendle alongside the Partnership's own Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary, Lancashire County Council, Burnley Pendle and Rossendale CVS, Nelson and Colne College and other senior local bodies - helped shape Pendle's borough-wide Community Cohesion Action Plan.

Recognition and Achievements

Where grassroots practice became national reference points

A record of moments where local delivery was formally recognised, referenced, or adopted as a model at regional and national level.

2026

Buckingham Palace Garden Party - invited by command of His Majesty The King to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, via The Lord Chamberlain, Tuesday 12 May 2026.

2025

Named delivery partner, Pendle Borough Council - recognised directly as a key delivery partnership in the council's current approach to community cohesion, aligned with the county's wider integration priorities and tasked through CCAN with coordinating the council's response to national and local incidents.

2022

Named delivery partner, Super Slow Way Linear Park Pilot - recognised by Lancashire County Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council as a formal delivery partner engaged in knowledge transfer activity. The pilot recorded 21,696 total engagements against a target of 11,800, with the Pendle Festival of Culture alone recording 3,370 beneficiaries.

2021

Evidence base, Pennine Lancashire Linear Park - community engagement delivered through the Super Slow Way partnership directly informed the planning evidence for a 23-mile green regeneration corridor across four boroughs, commissioned by Arts Council England, the Canal and River Trust, Creative Lancashire and Lancashire County Council. The "Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope" community banquet at Brierfield Mill was used as one of the initiative's own illustrative examples. June 2021.

2020

Mentor, UNIDEE International Art Residency, Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto - invited, alongside In-Situ co-director Paul Hartley, as a mentor on Cittadellarte's UNIDEE 2020 residency in Biella, Italy - a 10-week international programme for 40 emerging artists exploring embedded and socially engaged practice in a post-pandemic world. Delivered a session on Building Bridges Pendle's community cohesion work to residents drawn from over 20 countries, alongside fellow mentors from institutions including Bergen Kunsthall, the Van Abbemuseum and the University of Gothenburg. 3-7 October 2020.

2019

Pendle Cultural Strategy - cohesion embedded as a named strategic priority, forming the basis from which the Pendle Cultural Education Partnership was later developed.

2017

"The Circle and the Square" - Whitworth Art Gallery, Sydney Biennale and SFMOMA - a major film installation by internationally recognised artist Suzanne Lacy, created over a three-year residency with Pendle residents ("Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope") in partnership with Super Slow Way, In-Situ and Building Bridges, working with US musicologist Professor Ron Pen and anthropologist Dr Massimiliano Mollona. Rauf is named directly as a project collaborator on Suzanne Lacy's own official website and a short feature was broadcast on BBC North West's regional news. Premiered at Brierfield Mill in 2017, acquired by the Whitworth Art Gallery (University of Manchester) for its permanent collection and subsequently shown at the Sydney Biennale (2018) and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2019). Read the full published interview, Super Slow Way.

2011

Buckingham Palace Garden Party - invited, with Ms Anwar Begum, by command of Her Majesty The Queen to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, via The Lord Chamberlain, Tuesday 12 July 2011.

2010

Social Inclusion Award - recognised for "an outstanding contribution to social cohesion in Pendle." December 2010.

2010

National volunteering award - supported volunteers to win a national award for "distinguished contribution to environmental good practice and/or the community/charity." November 2010.

2009

Invited by HM Ambassador to Syria, international conference "Messages of Peace in Islam" - invited by Simon Collis, Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic, to attend a major UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office-sponsored conference in Damascus, bringing together some 300 Muslim leaders and scholars from Syria, the UK and the wider Islamic world to share understandings of Islamic theology and non-violence and to help strengthen the theological understanding of British Muslims vulnerable to radicalisation. Held under the patronage of Syria's Minister of Awqaf, 31 May - 2 June 2009.

2009

Pioneer, Mosque-Church Twinning model - Building Bridges Pendle's own "Faith Communities Project," launched for One World Week in 2005, paired Christ Church (Catholic and Methodist) with the Central Ghausia Mosque and Nelson United Reformed Church with the Muhammadi Mosque - producing a formal pledge signed by faith leaders on both sides and a programme of shared events. Featured as the lead national example in the Christian Muslim Forum's work on Mosque-Church Twinning, launched during the UK's first-ever Inter Faith Week, November 2009 and adopted as the direct model for the Forum's own national twinning programme.

2009

Joint contributor, Pendle District Prevent Strategy Consultation - a joint response from Building Bridges Pendle and Pendle Borough Council to four consultation meetings held with people from a range of backgrounds, feeding into the FCO's CONTEST 2 and Prevent strategy work. September 2009.

2008

Grassroots contributor, national Prevent strategy coverage - work featured in the Government's national progress coverage of its Prevent strategy, including being credited as photographer for the cover image and a further photograph - visual documentation drawn directly from the Voice Pennine Group frontline work he chaired, which the same coverage featured as a national example of agencies and communities working together. July 2008.

2008

National recognition, Voice Pennine Group - featured prominently in the same national government coverage, quoted as Chairman on how Voice forum brought the Muslim community and key agencies together to tackle a shared concern.

2008

National good-practice recognition - the citizenship debating education programme designed by Rauf Bashir was featured nationally as an example of good practice for schools contributing to the prevention of violent extremism. October 2008.

2008

Interfaith recognition, Local Government Association - work featured nationally as an example of good practice in local authority engagement with faith groups and interfaith organisations. December 2008.

2008

"Idiots' Guide to Understanding Extremism" - youth-produced resource highlighted nationally as an example of good practice in preventing violent extremism. July 2008.

2008

National model for mosque citizenship education - led production of "IHNA," a QCA-based citizenship education programme for mosques and madrassahs, promoted nationally by the DCSF and DCLG as a model for national-level engagement. June 2008.

2009

Named official partner, national "Islam and Citizenship Education" (ICE) Project - Building Bridges is credited as one of a small number of official partner organisations on the national ICE citizenship curriculum for Key Stage 2 and 3, alongside the School Development Support Agency, Communities and Local Government, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Association of Muslim Schools UK. Specific Key Stage 2 and 3 lessons - covering conflict resolution, community cohesion, active citizenship and dealing with racism - were directly based on or adapted from IHNA teaching material developed in Pendle.

2008

Directly quoted, national inter faith framework - Building Bridges Pendle's consultation response is quoted by name in the Government's national inter faith framework, on the need for sustained, long-term inter faith and social action work. July 2008.

2007

Citizenship Education review - led a review of Citizenship Education programmes to align with Ofsted guidelines on promoting community cohesion; the work was highlighted nationally as an example of good practice in the field. December 2007.

2006

First visit outside London - Commission for Integration and Cohesion - on the strength of its grassroots engagement, Building Bridges Pendle was the first organisation outside London to be visited by the UK Government's Commission for Integration and Cohesion, whose recommendations went on to shape national cohesion policy. October 2006.

A Buckingham Palace Keepsake

Two Garden Party Invitations, Fifteen Years Apart

Commanded by Her Majesty in 2011 and by His Majesty in 2026 - the Lord Chamberlain's invitations to the Bashir family, alongside a photograph from the grounds.

2011 Buckingham Palace Garden Party invitation for Mr. Mohammed Rauf Bashir and Ms Anwar Begum — 12th July 2011

Commanded by Her Majesty The Queen

Queen Elizabeth II greeting guests in wheelchairs on the lawn at a Buckingham Palace garden party — On the Palace Lawn

Her Majesty greeting guests at the garden party

2026 Buckingham Palace Garden Party invitation for Mr. Mohammed Bashir — 12th May 2026

Commanded by His Majesty The King

References

Voices from across three decades of practice

A cross-section of the partners, funders and collaborators - from local delivery through to national and international level - being approached to speak to this record first-hand.

Claire Bennett

Chair, Nelson Pride in Place and CEO, Positive Action in the Community

Reference confirmed and received, 24 August 2026

Claire has known Rauf professionally for over 20 years through shared work in the charitable and voluntary sector, including a range of sector-representative roles on boards, partnerships and forums. Until recently Rauf was a member of the Pride in Place Board for Nelson, which Claire chairs, where his contribution helped embed a genuinely community-driven approach to decision-making and the distribution of funding.

“Good judgement, diplomacy, collaboration and the confidence to challenge established thinking.”- Claire Bennett

First page of Claire Bennett's reference letter

Download reference (PDF)

Dean Langton

Chief Executive, Pendle Borough Council

Reference confirmed and received, 2 September 2026

Dean provided this reference in his capacity as Chief Executive of Pendle Borough Council, speaking to Rauf's leadership of Building Bridges and its role in promoting community cohesion and positive relationships across Nelson - bringing people together, encouraging dialogue and supporting initiatives that strengthen trust, respect and understanding across the town's diverse communities.

“A strong commitment to community engagement, partnership working and promoting understanding between different groups - approached with professionalism, sensitivity and integrity.”- Dean Langton

First page of Dean Langton's reference letter

Download reference (PDF)

Laurie Peake MBE

Director, Super Slow Way

Reference confirmed and received, 19 August 2026

Laurie has worked with Rauf since 2016 through Super Slow Way's arts and culture programme in Pendle, drawing on his local lived experience and strategic view of the social and cultural landscape - including his involvement at the Free Spiritual Centre and his professional role at Building Bridges, as well as the Circle and Square project's growth to national and international reach.

“Rauf is an incredibly dependable and trustworthy colleague, whose personal skills and abilities are invaluable in community driven cultural projects.”- Laurie Peake MBE

First page of Laurie Peake MBE's reference letter

Download reference (PDF)

Simon Jones

Assistant Director, Community Cohesion Unit, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Reference confirmed and received, 20 August 2026

Simon knows Rauf through the Building Bridges Network and wider engagement on community cohesion - including colleagues in the Community Cohesion Unit, the Building Bridges conference in Pendle on responding to divisive ideologies and follow-up conversations on integration challenges and the sustainability of local organisations.

“Thoughtful, committed and genuinely motivated by improving outcomes for the communities he works with.”- Simon Jones

First page of Simon Jones's reference letter

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Nicole Delamere

Executive Headteacher, Lomeshaye Junior School

Reference confirmed and received, 13 September 2026

Nicole worked with Rauf through his role as a governor at Lomeshaye Junior School, where he provided thoughtful challenge and support on school improvement, curriculum development and long-term planning - bringing his community cohesion background directly into school-level strategy.

“He builds positive relationships with ease and leads through collaboration rather than authority.”- Nicole Delamere

Cover of reference letter from Nicole Delamere

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Meg Henry and
Linda Cowie

Co-CEOs, The Linking Network

Reference confirmed and received, 10 September 2026

Meg and Linda have worked closely with Rauf since 2015, partnering with Building Bridges Pendle on the Pendle Schools Linking Programme. They speak to his thoughtful, inclusive leadership, his detailed understanding of context, and the remarkable local partnerships his team has built - work that has drawn the attention of the UK government and grown from a handful of schools into a substantial programme reaching primary and secondary pupils and families across the district.

“It has been a privilege to partner with Rauf... his determination to work in partnership with the community to build social cohesion is unwavering.”- Meg Henry & Linda Cowie

First page of Meg Henry and Linda Cowie's reference letter

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Dr John Lockhart

Director, Freire Institute, University of Lancashire

Reference confirmed and received, 7 September 2026

John has known Rauf for a number of years through his involvement with Building Bridges, collaborating with him on a range of issues and becoming familiar with his wider contribution to the communities he served. In 2021 the two also co-produced a report examining COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy, giving John further insight into Rauf's approach to complex and sensitive community issues - including his enthusiasm for building connections between community organisations and higher education, and for creating opportunities for students and student volunteers.

“I have no hesitation in recommending Rauf.”- Dr John Lockhart

First page of Dr John Lockhart's reference letter

Download reference (PDF)

Michael Powell

Programme and Partnerships, In-Situ

Reference confirmed and received, 24 August 2026

Michael has worked alongside Rauf for almost five years as a member of In-Situ and has been inspired and impressed by his kindness, curiosity, sincerity, creative leadership and determination to make things happen within and across Pendle - from Pendle Festival of Culture and the Community Cohesion Action Network to the ongoing development of People’s Assemblies in Nelson.

“Brilliant at bringing people together across difference.”- Michael Powell

First page of Michael Powell's reference letter

Download reference (PDF)

Policy and Strategic Contribution

Where this work has shaped policy

Government-published documents and council strategies where Rauf’s work fed into national or local policy, strategy or practice. Building Bridges Pendle - named throughout the documents below - is the organisation Rauf founded in 1999 and has led ever since; every reference to it is a reference to work he personally built and directed. Ngage4Change now carries that same practice forward.

Current strategy 2025-2028

Pendle Community Cohesion Strategy

Pendle Borough Council

“Build on key cohesion partnerships, such as the Community Cohesion Action Network, including Building Bridges, to sustain positive action in the community.”- Our Principles, Partnerships

Building Bridges and the Community Cohesion Action Network are named as active delivery partners in the council’s current strategy - extending this arc from 2005 through to 2028.

View the full strategy →

Local 2021

Building Bridges: Let’s Do It for Pendle - Investigating Vaccine Hesitancy in Pendle

University of Central Lancashire, commissioned via Pendle Borough Council’s Community Champions programme (MHCLG funding)

“Local communications, surveys of local needs and local campaigning worked better and instilled more trust.”- Summary, Chapter 4

Rauf’s organisation, Building Bridges Pendle, provided the initial framework and objectives for this research. Then moved into the community collaboration and recruited participants / translators across Pendle’s Pakistani, Syrian, Eastern European and white British residents. The study’s recommendations - flexible vaccination scheduling around Ramadan and Eid, locally-trusted messengers over celebrity campaigns and avoiding the scapegoating of minority communities - fed directly into the local public health response.

Read the full report (PDF)

Local 2019

Arts, Culture and Creativity in Pendle 2020-2030 - "From a Fist Full of Mist..."

Kirsty Rose Parker, The Evaluator - commissioned by Pendle Borough Council and Arts Council England

“Building Bridges, Pendle describes cohesion as our bread and butter really.”- Place Making and Cohesion, p.35

Rauf was one of five named Core Partners who co-authored this ten-year borough-wide strategy, alongside Paul Hartley (In-Situ), Kathy Titterton (Pendle Leisure Trust), Gill Dickson (Pendle Borough Council) and Laurie Peake (Super Slow Way). The strategy’s Place Making and Cohesion chapter names Building Bridges Pendle as the borough’s ideal lead partner for delivering long-term, arts-led cohesion work, citing the 2016 Community Cohesion Action Network (established with Pendle Borough Council) and the Building Bridges Peace Walks along the canal as evidence. Rauf is quoted directly on the intergenerational barriers facing the Asian community’s engagement with the arts.

Cover of Arts, Culture and Creativity in Pendle 2020-2030 strategy

Read the full strategy (PDF)

National 2009

Developing a Citizenship Curriculum through an Islamic Perspective (Key Stage 2)

Islam and Citizenship Education (ICE) Project - funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Communities and Local Government

“We are particularly grateful to the IHNA Education, Building Bridges Pendle, who kindly allowed us to use and adapt some of their truly pioneering materials.”- Introduction, Page 1 of 2

The citizenship materials Rauf developed at Building Bridges Pendle were used as a foundation for this national curriculum resource, developed with Sunni and Shi’a scholars and trialled across 30 madrasahs in six regions of England.

Cover of Developing a Citizenship Curriculum through an Islamic Perspective

Read the full document (PDF)

National 2009

Developing a Citizenship Curriculum through an Islamic Perspective (Key Stage 3)

Islam and Citizenship Education (ICE) Project - funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Communities and Local Government

The companion volume to the Key Stage 2 resource, covering six lessons - Rights and Responsibilities, Islam and the Environment, Law and Order, Understanding Democracy, Informed Decisions and Responsible Actions, and Good Muslim, Good Citizen - each pairing Islamic guidance with citizenship learning objectives. Building Bridges Pendle was named as an official partner organisation on the ICE curriculum for both Key Stages, alongside the School Development Support Agency, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Association of Muslim Schools UK.

Cover of Developing a Citizenship Curriculum through an Islamic Perspective, Key Stage 3

Read the full document (PDF)

National 2009

Pendle District Consultation: FCO Meeting on Contest 2 Strategy and the Prevent Agenda

Building Bridges Pendle, in partnership with Pendle Borough Council, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

“Rauf Bashir and Angela Ansell”- report authorship, title page

Co-authored by Rauf, reporting back to the FCO on consultation sessions Building Bridges Pendle ran across the district - Imams and mosque committees, stakeholders, young people and a community seminar - feeding local voices directly into national Contest 2 and Prevent strategy.

Cover of FCO Pendle District Consultation

Read the full report (PDF)

National 2008

Learning Together to be Safe

Department for Children, Schools and Families

“Rauf Bashir from ‘Building Bridges Pendle’ chaired the event. His organisation links people together from different races, religions and cultural backgrounds.”- p.30, Burnley schools debate case study

A Burnley schools extremism-prevention debate, chaired by Rauf, cited as national good practice for schools.

Read the full document (PDF)

National 2008

Face to Face and Side by Side

Department for Communities and Local Government

“If inter faith dialogue and social action is going to impact upon community cohesion, it needs to be sustained. Developing such initiatives is a marathon and not a sprint.”- Building Bridges Pendle consultation response, p.32

The consultation response Rauf submitted through Building Bridges Pendle is quoted as evidence in the national interfaith framework.

Read the full document (PDF)

National 2008

Preventing Violent Extremism: Next Steps for Communities

Department for Communities and Local Government

“Voice has demonstrated how members of the Muslim community and key agencies are committed to working together to tackle an issue of mutual concern.”- Rauf Bashir, quoted as Chairman, p.20 case study

Cover photograph and page 13 photograph both credited to Rauf Bashir, Building Bridges Pendle.

Cover of Preventing Violent Extremism: Next Steps for Communities

Read the full document (PDF)

National 2008

‘Face to Face’ and ‘Heart to Heart’: People of Faith in Dialogue

Inter Faith Network for the UK - 2008 National Meeting

“…the Council of Christians and Jews, Three Faiths Forum, Minorities of Europe and Building Bridges in Pendle, are working to support this kind of engagement.”- Dr Harriet Crabtree, Director, Inter Faith Network for the UK, p.6

Building Bridges Pendle - the organisation Rauf founded and led - named alongside the UK’s leading national inter faith bodies - the Council of Christians and Jews, Three Faiths Forum and Minorities of Europe - as an organisation supporting educational engagement with young people, in the Network’s own account of the national landscape.

Cover of Face to Face and Heart to Heart: People of Faith in Dialogue

Read the full document (PDF)

National 2007

“Face-to-Face and Side-by-Side”: A Framework for Inter Faith Dialogue and Social Action - Consultation

Department for Communities and Local Government (deposited paper DEP2007-0367)

“Building Bridges Pendle has developed an innovative approach to promoting Integration and Cohesion through Inter Faith Education.”- Case Study 2, p.22

The consultation stage of the framework that DCLG published in final form the following year (see the 2008 “Face to Face and Side by Side” card below) - the primary and secondary schools inter faith programme Rauf built at Building Bridges Pendle is named and described in full as Case Study 2.

Cover of Face-to-Face and Side-by-Side (Consultation)

Read the full consultation document (PDF)

National 2006

Faith, Identity and Belonging: Educating for Shared Citizenship

Inter Faith Network for the UK, in association with the Citizenship Foundation

“The Building Bridges project has had a major impact on the Year 6 curriculum. The aim of this is to promote a greater understanding of people and their beliefs.”- Ofsted inspection comment, quoted in Rauf’s presentation, p.27

Rauf delivered one of two closing keynote presentations at this national seminar - “Reflections from classroom and community” (pp.24-27) - describing Building Bridges Pendle’s three schools programmes to seventy invited delegates from Religious Education, Citizenship Education and faith communities.

Cover of Faith, Identity and Belonging: Educating for Shared Citizenship

Read the full document (PDF)

Local 2005

Pendle Faith Conference: “My Faith in our Society”

East Lancs Together and Building Bridges Pendle

“…significant in building better understanding amongst people of different faiths and backgrounds.”- Introduction

Rauf attended as a delegate representing Building Bridges Pendle, one of the two organisations behind the conference, and is listed among the participants.

Read the full report (PDF)

Local 2005

Pendle Muslim Youth Consultation

Steering Committee report, following the 7/7 bombings

“Rauf Bashir - Building Bridges, Pendle”- Appendix 2, Steering Committee list

Named on the steering committee for a consultation with Gordon Prentice MP and Pendle Borough Council following the 7/7 bombings - Building Bridges Pendle is also thanked separately, alongside East Lancashire Together and Pendle Borough Council, for its support and financial assistance. The starting point of the arc below.

Cover of Pendle Muslim Youth Consultation

Read the full report (PDF)

Personal Reflection

Beyond the professional record

A short, personal note on the interests, hobbies and charitable commitments that sit alongside three decades of professional community work.

Hiking and Mountaineering

The mountains are where the working week gets left behind. Rauf has spent years chasing summits across the UK before taking that same instinct for a long, hard day out onto the glaciers of the Karakoram.

Rauf has hiked extensively across the UK, having completed all of the highest peaks - including multiple ascents of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis - over many years of walking and scrambling in Wales, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands. His longest single day trek covers a distance of 37 miles.

That same appetite for a long day in the hills carried Rauf to Northern Pakistan in August 2023, where he became one of the first people from Pendle to complete the trek to K2 Basecamp - a 160km route across glacier, rock, snow and ice through five of the world's fourteen 8,000m peaks, returning via the 5,600m Gondogoro La pass.

37miLongest single-day trek

160kmK2 Basecamp trek

5,600mGondogoro La pass

Rauf hiking in the mountains of North Wales — On the trail beneath Snowdon, North Wales.

Charity and Voluntary Work

Voluntary giving that sits outside the boards and committees listed elsewhere on this site - from a mountain fundraiser for Pakistan's porter community to two decades of sponsoring children's education, amongst many other noble causes.

Porters of North Pakistan

The K2 fundraiser - "Porters of North Pakistan" - ran as a standalone charitable campaign alongside professional life. It combined a JustGiving appeal with a physical clothing and equipment drive (waterproof boots, jackets, trousers, fleeces, sleeping bags, walking poles and headlamps), collected from the trekking and mountaineering community and transported to Askole for distribution to local porters ahead of the trekking season.

~£14kRaised for porter community

120Families fed via food parcels

The trek became the starting point for a fundraising and clothing-collection campaign supporting the Porter community of North Pakistan, who carry loads of up to 20kg over glacier and rock in casual clothing and trainers. The campaign raised just under £14,000 and collected outdoor equipment distributed to the village of Askole and funded food parcels that fed 120 families for several months.

Burnley Express coverage JustGiving campaign

Rauf with the trekking and porter team at K2 Basecamp, Karakoram range, August 2023.

K2 Basecamp fundraiser - Porters of North Pakistan · opens on YouTube

Orphan Sponsorship, Pakistan

Since 2000, Rauf has sponsored the education of orphaned children in Pakistan, supporting four children over the years for an average of five years' schooling each. He is currently sponsoring Rehan Shakeel, aged 12, having begun his sponsorship from the age of 9 and continues to cover his ongoing education.

Concerts, Music and Theatre

A regular at West End theatre and large-scale live music, from classic musicals to orchestral spectacle.

Rauf has attended a wide range of theatre, concerts and orchestral performances over the years, including The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King and Matilda the Musical in the West End, Hans Zimmer's live orchestral shows, an Al Firdaus Ensemble qawwali performance and the Attack on Titan: Symphony from Paradis world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall.

Ticket for Attack on Titan: Symphony from Paradis, Royal Albert Hall — Attack on Titan: Symphony from Paradis - World Premiere, Royal Albert Hall.

Arena view during a live orchestral concert — A recent large-scale live orchestral show.

Outside the Cambridge Theatre, London, for Matilda the Musical — Matilda the Musical, Cambridge Theatre, London.

Travelling

Travel across the Middle East, North Africa and Central and South Asia, often tracing places of historical and cultural significance.

Rauf has travelled to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Pakistan and Italy.

Saudi Arabia Turkey Cyprus Egypt Morocco Syria Iraq Uzbekistan Palestine Pakistan Italy

The turquoise-tiled dome of the Mevlana Museum, Konya, Turkey — The Mevlana Museum, Konya - resting place of Rumi, Turkey.

Blue and white stepped alleyway in the medina, Tangier, Morocco — The medina, Tangier, Morocco.

Recycled-plastic whale sculpture, Canary Wharf, London — Recycled ocean-plastic whale sculpture, Canary Wharf.

In the Room

Twenty-five years, one room at a time.

Selection of photographs, publicity and video documentaries; behind the record.

Photos

Community meeting, reviewing paperwork together

Crowd engaging at a community festival

Interfaith conversation between a vicar and an imam

Guests in conversation at a community dinner event

Zoom call - Pendle Community Cohesion Action Network

Hope and Diversity banner at Pendle street festival

Community circle discussion with police officers

Community members reviewing local heritage photographs

In-Situ podcast conversation with community and civic guests

Vicar and faith leader sharing a conversation

Talking Society session, community roundtable discussion

Reviewing storybooks at a community workshop

Video call linking up with a community open day

Roundtable meeting at the In-Situ art space

Planning session with sticky-note ideas

Team day out in the woods

Community Banquet at Pendle Rise Shopping Centre

Community meeting, reviewing paperwork together

Crowd engaging at a community festival

Interfaith conversation between a vicar and an imam

Guests in conversation at a community dinner event

Zoom call - Pendle Community Cohesion Action Network

Hope and Diversity banner at Pendle street festival

Community circle discussion with police officers

Community members reviewing local heritage photographs

In-Situ podcast conversation with community and civic guests

Vicar and faith leader sharing a conversation

Talking Society session, community roundtable discussion

Reviewing storybooks at a community workshop

Video call linking up with a community open day

Roundtable meeting at the In-Situ art space

Planning session with sticky-note ideas

Team day out in the woods

Community Banquet at Pendle Rise Shopping Centre

Posters

After Dark — Nelson night-time heritage project

Community Banquet — Pendle Rise Shopping Centre legacy

Walk This Way — share your walk, Barnoldswick Library

Come Dine With Us — Friendship Cafe

National Poetry Day at Building Bridges Pendle

Life Skills Cafe — free drop-in sessions

Community Engagement Event — Ghausia Masjid & Madrassah

Pendle Festival of Culture & Peace Walks

Building Stronger Communities in Pendle conference

The Circle and the Square — Suzanne Lacy

Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope — Brierfield Mill banquet

Project 10000 — Building Bridges Network

After Dark — Nelson night-time heritage project

Community Banquet — Pendle Rise Shopping Centre legacy

Walk This Way — share your walk, Barnoldswick Library

Come Dine With Us — Friendship Cafe

National Poetry Day at Building Bridges Pendle

Life Skills Cafe — free drop-in sessions

Community Engagement Event — Ghausia Masjid & Madrassah

Pendle Festival of Culture & Peace Walks

Building Stronger Communities in Pendle conference

The Circle and the Square — Suzanne Lacy

Shapes of Water, Sounds of Hope — Brierfield Mill banquet

Project 10000 — Building Bridges Network

Videos

"Working Out of the Ordinary" - Pendle Hill Landscape Partnership

The Pendle Peace Walks and Pendle Festival of Culture 2021

Future of Pendle 2050

Stories We Tell Nelson

The Circle and the Square

Building Bridges Highlight Video

Pendle Schools Linking Network

BBP Three Peaks Video

In Conversation: Ron Pen and Rauf Bashir

"Working Out of the Ordinary" - Pendle Hill Landscape Partnership

The Pendle Peace Walks and Pendle Festival of Culture 2021

Future of Pendle 2050

Stories We Tell Nelson

The Circle and the Square

Building Bridges Highlight Video

Pendle Schools Linking Network

BBP Three Peaks Video

In Conversation: Ron Pen and Rauf Bashir