Border Force Director and Home Office staff visit ICC
Thursday 2 June 2016.
A joint stakeholders visit to The Islamic Cutural Centre was organised which included senior members of the UK Border Force, the Office of Security & Counter Terrorism and the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program. The visit was to establish and strengthen ties beween all the organisations and to discuss community issues within the United Kingdom.
The visitors included:
BORDER FORCE
- Julie Gillis : Director of Border Systems and Services. SCS Border Systems and Service Portfolio and Border Force Faith Champion
- Munira Toussaint: Faith Champion Support
- Auton Aaron: Border Force Heathrow People Champion
- Naveed Ahmed: Border Force Heathrow Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Adviser
- Lonergan John: Border Force South Region Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Adviser
- Gary Marshall: Border Force
Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme
- Hannah Gregory: Head of Partnership Team
- Karen Bardaoui
- Gideon Winward
OSCT
- Patrick Gorman
- Wasim Akhtar
Some of the feedback received from the visit:
"I would like to convey my thanks to Dr. Ahmad Al-Dubayan and Mr Ayaz Zuberi for the warmth, patience and hospitality that they afforded our group when we visited the Islamic Cultural Centre. As an equality and inclusion advisor and a Roman Catholic, I found the visit very interesting and informative. For me it was quite a profound experience in relation to being able to observe mid-day prayers and to see the diverse audience that attended in the midst of their working day. I was very impressed by the efforts that the centre and its leadership put into working with the local community, the wider government and international community and in particular, the diverse ethnic communities in Britain who identify as Muslims. I came away with a broader appreciation for Islam and its rich tapestry of beliefs, customs and insights into what it is to be alive as a human and person of faith in these very changeable times"
"I just wanted to thank you and the Islamic Culture Centre for organising the visit to Regent's Park Mosque. It was an excellent afternoon and gave us the chance to gain a better understanding about Islam and the work the ICC is involved in, within the local community, in-country and internationally. Please convey my and Julie's thanks to Dr. Ahmad Al-Dubayan and his colleague who kindly gave up their time to host our visit and show us around and provided an excellent insight around the work of the ICC".
"We found the visit extremely useful and look forward to working with the mosque in the future on Syrian resettlement"
"I have to confess I had no idea the depth and breadth of the work the mosque and centre are involved in. It was both enlightening and reassuring,"
