Since January, women from different faiths have come together to create a banner tapestry celebrating Leeds’ heritage.
Organised by Concord, the Leeds multi faith group, the textile project has enabled women to share skills, stories, food and friendship. The tapestry will help mark Concord’s 40th anniversary in 2016.
Jenny Paton-Williams says, “We wanted to provide an alternative to talk-based Interfaith meetings, as doing things together involves natural sharing of knowledge and backgrounds.
“The wall-hanging will be the focal point of a Concord exhibition at Leeds City Museum from June 2016. It features a Leeds skyline of faith buildings and a patchwork of inter-cultural patterns, and it can be used for talks in schools and community groups in the future.
“The participants are mainly from the North Leeds Christian and Jewish congregations but sometimes we meet with Muslim women from the Asha Centre in Beeston. We also have a regular Pagan member and several ladies who are not connected to one particular faith.
“We’ve had 16 workshops so far and our work is always colourful. We’ve also made a large peace 
tablecloth for use in Concord meetings – it had its first outing last October at the Annual Peace Service at the Civic Hall. We’ve also participated in Bradford Touchstone's art project "Women Weaving Wisdom" and created a hooky-rug.
“We’ve experimented with different textile techniques such as tie-dye and lino-block printing as well as more traditional embroidery. We have guidance from Community textile artist, Musarat Reza, and the women bring a range of experience, from members of the Embroiders Guild to those simply willing to have a go.”
The group currently meet at the Quaker Meeting House in Roundhay, and are funded by Church Urban Fund's Near Neighbours initiative.
Contact Jenny Paton-Williams: jpatonwilliams@gmail.com
More about Concord
Concord exists to promote peace by fostering friendship, trust, tolerance, understanding and co-operation among members of the faith communities in multi-cultural Leeds. By becoming a member you will help us in our aims.
For more information e-mail: chair@concord-leeds.org.uk or call 077 867 98929.
The next event is:
Monday August 24 Leeds - City of Sanctuary 7.30pm
Matthew Neil will explain what City of Sanctuary is all about and how we can help.
Quaker Meeting House, Woodhouse Lane LS2 9DX