West Midlands: "Wolverhampton Faith Trail and film"

Our Faith Buildings Group picture, Wolverhampton At the beginning of September 2005, eight of Wolverhampton’s faith buildings took part in Heritage Open Days, Britain’s largest voluntary cultural event. Together they formed the Wolverhampton Faith Buildings Trail. Visitors were welcomed into these buildings, offered guided tours and explanations and all left knowing and accepting a little more about different faiths and the heritage of different communities in Wolverhampton.

Children during Heritage Open Days Many people were surprised to learn how similar their faiths were to each other as well as how many incredible buildings there are in the City. We celebrate architectural, cultural and religious heritage for its diversity, but it is the similarities between places and people which give us an important shared heritage.

To complement the Wolverhampton Faith Buildings Trail a film called Our Faith Buildings was produced by English Heritage in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton and nine of the City’s faith buildings. The film explores Wolverhampton’s religious heritage and offers an introduction to how Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and different Christian denominations use their faith buildings.

The stars of the film were children from the different places of worship. This film project demonstrated how people of different faiths can work together to break down barriers, change perceptions and promote unity. The film is being made available as an educational resource to be used within the National Curriculum’s Citizenship and Religious Studies programmes. If you would like a copy please contact Suzanne Carter, Outreach Officer for English Heritage on 0121 6256870 or suzanne.carter@english-heritage.org.uk