Members of clergy from the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales came out on top in the tug of war contest against local imams at Let’s Unite, a family event celebrating local diversity, in Dewsbury on Saturday.
The clergy were also pitched against the imams in a football tournament, also on Savile Town Playing Fields, which unfortunately didn’t go quite so well.
Crew members from The One Show spent the day at the event and the piece featured on the BBC show on the 11th August.
Revd Mark Umpleby, Associate Priest in Batley, Purlwell and Hanging Heaton, says, “The clip from last night’s BBC One Show speaks for itself.
“It was great to be involved in this community event for people in Dewsbury and Batley and beyond despite the aches and pain afterwards!”
The Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Revd Tony Robinson, said, “It was a great football tournament for all ages in Savile Town, Dewsbury, with people from all different communities and ages taking part.
“I’m afraid the priest team didn’t do as well as expected. There is certainly room for improvement.
“However we triumphed gloriously in the tug of war against the imams.”
Left to right on the photograph, the priest’s team was made up of Adam O'Neill (Whitechapel, Cleckheaton), Chris Brough (St John's, Cleckheaton), Revd Mark Umpleby (Associate Priest at St Thomas Church, Batley), the Rt Revd Tony Robinson (Area Bishop of Wakefield), Revd Brunel James (Incumbent, Cleckheaton), and Revd Robb Sutherland (Vicar of Mixenden and Illingworth).
Revd Robb Sutherland mentioned, "We live in such a wonderfully diverse part of the country and this event was fantastic!
“It was a great opportunity to meet some of the other community leaders and make new friends. I hope we will continue to work and play together in the future.
“We just need to work on improving our pass rate for next year.
“We have proved in the tug of war that we have got the strength to push them off the ball and onto the back foot.”
Let’s Unite was organised by Kumon Y’All, the community cohesion group, who used their annual sporting fun day to build bridges between different communities in Dewsbury and Batley.
The event opened with two children’s football tournaments, one for under 13’s and one for under 15’s, followed by a tournament with teams made up priests and imams, West Yorkshire Police, teachers from Thornhill Academy and Westborough High School, staff from Kirklees Council as well as local residents from Savile Town, Overthorpe (Thornhill) and Batley.
Coinciding with Let’s Unite, Just West Yorkshire, the civil liberties and racial justice campaign group, also transformed Wakefield Cathedral steps into a party on Saturday, hosting a wide range of activities and music to also celebrate the Wakefield’s diversity.
This event overlapped with a visit to Wakefield by the far right group National Front.
To find out more, please visit http://www.kumonyall.co.uk/ or http://www.justwestyorkshire.org.uk/