|TOP|Members of Leeds’ religious communities will join together in the first faith walk around the city with the hope of fostering stronger interfaith relations.

The walk in the Hyde Park area of the city will promote greater respect as participants take in the city’s main places of worship, including the Hindu Temple in Alexandra Road, the All Hallows Church in Regents Terrace, and the Grand Mosque in Woodsley Road.

Participants will be joined by Ann Castle, Deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds, as they learn more about the different faiths first-hand.

Councillor Castle will give a talk at the Hindu Temple ahead of the walk on Saturday morning. Walkers will then join in a Hindu prayer and a talk on Hindu beliefs and practices before heading off to All Hallows and then finally the Grand Mosque for similar talks and presentations.

|QUOTE|"Leeds is a multi-cultural city with many different communities living happily alongside each other," said Councillor Castle in the Yorkshire Post. “This walk will give people an insight into different religions and help them understand and respect other people's beliefs.

"I hope that many local residents will take up this opportunity to learn more about their neighbours and I look forward to meeting them on Saturday."

The walk has been organised by the Leeds Concord Inter Faith Fellowship. The Fellowship’s secretary, Cynthia Dickinson, said: "We hope that the multi-faith walk of friendship will encourage people of different faiths – or none at all – to build bridges of respect and support for different religions while celebrating their distinctive differences.|AD|

"At a time when some would like to cause rifts and create division, we aim to unite with trust and tolerance."

Members of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities in Sheffield also joined together in a walk through the city last weekend in protest to the British National Party which will run in the local elections next month.

The walk was organised by the Yorkshire Faiths Forum under the leadership of the Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Jack Nicholls, in a bid to demonstrate solidarity with other faith communities and take the message of unity to an area of Sheffield being targeted by the BNP for the forthcoming elections.

“We want to spread a message of peace and tolerance in our communities, and reject the one of animosity and division,” said Bishop Nicholls.

“In a divided world we need to be seen as united in our desire for all communities to live in peace and harmony. This is a walk of witness to our hope,” he added.