Gurdwara Aid joined the Faiths United roundtable meeting with Lord Greenhalgh on 9th June 2020, to speak about issues affecting the faith communities after the announcement to reopen places of worship from 15th June 2020.
Also present were, Daniel Singleton, a member of the places of worship taskforce and Colin Bloom, the Faith Engagement Adviser from MHCLG.
Lord Greenhalgh has indicated that further guidance is to be issued, and there are discussions underway in relation to congregational worship possibly for implementation on or after 4th July. Further announcements and guidance would be issued.
Gurdwara Aid did raise the question of opening of Langar for Gurdwaras to the Minister, who responded by firstly recognising its importance to the Sikh community, and especially recognising the good work of langar being distributed to the vulnerable in the community. Lord Greenhalgh would be willing to work with us to come up with a tailored approach for this.
Lord Greenhalgh further went on to say that they will discuss with each of the faith communities to create guidance that can be tailored to the specifics of each faith community.
Further guidance and announcements would be issued this week and going forward.