Tony Blair Faith Foundation

Those who seek to cause religious conflict are small in number but highly motivated, organised and funded. While there are billions of people who are engaged in their own faith tradition, many have not yet learned how to live or work together well with those of different traditions. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation decided to tackle this challenge through organising a year-long Fellowship that brought together young people of different faiths to work toward better interfaith action.

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, in collaboration with The Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), hosted a pioneering work shop for fifteen selected teachers in Montegrotto, Italy last week. The work shop developed the practical implementation of the Foundation’s innovative schools education programme, Face to Faith, which connects students in 19 countries and equips them with dialogue and negotiation skills needed for today’s world. The ground-breaking workshop heard from teachers already involved in the transformative schools programme.

Sana Rahim, a 22 year old Muslim and Clint Fluker, a 26 year old Christian have been working tirelessly since August 2011 at MedShare, in Atlanta, GA, as an interfaith pair for our Fellowship program. They raised over the $22,000 required to ship critical medical supplies half way across the world.

Starting Monday 9th July 2012, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation is hosting an innovative and intensive academic summer course examining  human rights and religious minorities with McGill University. The two week course held at McGill University, in Montreal, Canada brings together Faith and Globalisation Initiative students from our partner universities around the world. Despite the importance of religious freedom within the human rights tradition, the rights of religious minorities have become subject to increasing political and legal struggle in modern societies.

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation is pleased to announce four new judges for Faith Shorts, the Foundation’s global film competition for young people: Reverend Dr Rick Warren, senior Pastor at Saddleback Church, California, Duncan Kenworthy OBE, producer of acclaimed films including Notting Hill and Love Actually, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster and former President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and Nick Jones, founder of the Soho House Group, supporter of filmmakers worldwide. These four esteemed judges are the lates

The purpose of the Building Bridges in Burnley event was to showcase the work of young people from two schools in East Lancashire in building bridges and inspiring others... The second showcase was by The Hollins Technology College from Accrington. A group of young from the school introduced the film and the process they went through to produce it. The film went on to win the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s 2nd Annual Films Shorts Film Award at the BAFTAs.

Photo of courtesy of the Italian Government The Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) and Tony Blair, Patron of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation signed a second Memorandum of Understanding that will see a pilot education programme on engagement between young people of different faiths taken forward throughout more Italian schools. Already active in 19 countries around the world, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Face to Faith programme is a compelling school curriculum that engages students of different faiths in meaningful dialogue across a range of cultures.

After leaving office as Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair set up the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Through global education and community projects, the Foundation aims to build understanding between people of different faiths, cultures and beliefs. How does your faith inspire you? It’s an interesting question, one open to many different interpretations and anecdotes which is precisely the idea behind Faith Shorts, the short film competition run every year by the Foundation.