PEOPLE from a host of religious faiths came together to talk and find common ground.

The project Faith Links held an inter-faith tea at the Mayor’s Parlour in Bournemouth Town Hall.

Lynda Ford-Horne, chairman of Faith Links, said similar events had been held before in Poole but this was the first in Bournemouth.

“We’re trying to build up our relationships with Bournemouth and we thought this would be a good start. We had a really good time,” she said.

“We had members of the Islamic, Jewish, Sikh, Christian and Buddhist communities, as well as councillors who had an interest in diversity and equal opportunities.

“It’s all to do with dialogue.

“We all sat and ate and then had a very good discussions about how we as Bournemouth council and various communities can work together to try and make things happen in the town.

“We talked about the environment and the ecology and a lot of other matters that cut across faith, such as the fact that so many people are finding things so hard at the moment.”

The faith representatives found a lot of common ground, including their support for food banks in Bournemouth and Poole.

Both Town Halls had recently held collections for food banks, while the Jewish community had supported Bournemouth Foodbank as part of its community action for mitzvah day.

Faith Links aims to provide opportunities for people of different faiths and no faith to come together to form friendships and learn about the diversity of each other’s faiths.

It aims to help people of different beliefs to discuss issues affecting all our lives and find ways of working together.

The group was made welcome in the Mayor’s Parlour by deputy mayor Cllr Chris Rochester in the absence of the mayor, Cllr Phil Stanley-Watts, who is recovering at home after a fall.