Buddhist Council of Wales working for Buddhists in Wales

The following events were attended by a Buddhist Council of Wales representative:

8th March – ‘Inspirational Women’ an interfaith event for International Women’s Day, organised by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Nor’dzin Pamo (BCW Chair) was one of the speakers.
15th March – Interfaith Council for Wales event at the Cardiff Reform Synagogue
16th March – Interfaith Council for Wales meeting. Lin Ashby spoke about the Charities Commission (see below for more details of this meeting).
28th March – ‘Has Wales Become a Godless Society?’ – Gorwel Debate (please see Nor’dzin’s personal blog for more details of this event) 
30th March – BCW bi-annual meeting (see separate post for details) 
3rd April – Faith Communities Forum meeting, with the First Minister and other AMs (see below for more details of this meeting).

Events to which a representative of the Buddhist Council of Wales were invited, but no representative was available to attend:

7th March – The Muslim Council of Wales conference with partners in Wales exploring a community based response to violent extremism.
Race Equality First – Youth Against Violent Extremism Project  – 4 visits to churches and mosques

Forthcoming events for which the Buddhist Council of Wales does not have an available representative:
July 20th 2017 – Peace Mala Inter-faith Liturgy for World Peace at Llandaf Cathedral, Cardiff.
July 31st 2017 – The Welsh National Service of Remembrance to mark the Centenary of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) in Langemark, Belgium at 16:00 (local time)
Could someone from one of our Member Organisations attend this? Please contact the Buddhist Council of Wales at buddhistcouncilwales(at)gmail.com if you can help.

Interfaith Council for Wales meeting 16th March
Lin Ashby is the lead on faith-based charities for the Charities Commission. Many of Lin Ashby’s comments may be relevant to Buddhist groups and organisations:

• if you have a constitution you are probably acting like a charity
• even if you are not a charity, but work in that way, you need to observe the principles laid down by the Charities Commission
• Trustees should reflect the organisation’s remit and be diverse (gender, age, able/disabled, etcetera)
• buck stops with the Trustees – they are in charge
• the Governing Document of an organisation should include how to deal with a conflict of interest, and with disagreement, and include length of time in post for officers
• a Code of Conduct is good to have

She will be offering free workshops for organisations. The BCW will let you know when these are arranged.

The TSPC (Third Sector Partnership Council) has proved its value and been successful in a couple of its faith-based campaigns:

• Local Government wished to end Communities First. The TSPC succeeded in convincing government of the importance of Communities First and the problems that would arise if it was ceased to exist for those benefiting from its work. The government has changed its policy with regard to Communities First.
• Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim communities have religious requirements with regard to burial arrangements. Health and Social Care are now addressing these issues.

Faith Commuities Forum meeting 3rd April

• Syrian refugees
• Community Cohesion
• Valleys Task Force
• Budget Engagement

Buddhist Council of Wales working for Buddhists in Wales

Welcome to the first Buddhist Council of Wales newsletter. Here we will give you an idea of the work that the Buddhist Council of Wales (BCW) undertakes to represent Buddhists in Wales.
With eleven member organisations, membership is healthy, but the BCW urgently needs more Full Members - organisations willing to send a representative to its twice-yearly meetings and to represent the BCW at events. Currently the Chair of the BCW, Nor’dzin Pamo, often accompanied by her husband, attends as many events as possible, but is not able to attend them all.
Things are usually pretty quiet over the summer, but as soon as autumn started to hint its arrival, requests for Buddhist representation started to flow in.
Events attended by BCW representatives on behalf of Buddhists in Wales:

• October 7th - Cardiff and the Vale Health Board Spiritual Care Group 
• October 17th - Muslim Council of Wales Annual Interfaith Dinner
• October 19th - Interfaith Network UK National Meeting

The Cardiff and Vale Health Board Spiritual Care Group aim to support the spiritual and religious needs of staff and patients. The Group is led by the Chaplaincy Department of the University Hospital Wales. The BCW involvement in this group means that we aim to respond to any requests from Buddhists, such as the need for a funeral or a blessing. The BCW also checks that the Buddhist section of the ward plan meets the needs of Buddhist patients.
Nor’dzin Pamo presented at one of the workshops of the National Meeting of the Interfaith Network UK, in Peterborough. The theme of the meeting was ‘Cohesive Communities’, and Nor’dzin presented in the workshop looking at ‘Diversity and Commonality’. The notes for her talk will be posted separately.

Invitations received by the BCW but not attended:

• September 14th - Royal Naval Reserves, HMS CAMBRIA, Barry, South Wales - Employer Engagement Event - ‘...we would be delighted if members of the Buddhist Council for Wales were able to attend... The event aims to highlight the work of Reservists and develop closer links between the military, civilian and religious organisations and employers.  ’
• October 6th - Science Café event - invitation from The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Monica Walsh and the Lord Mayors Charity Cancer Research Wales
• invitation for a representative at the Cardiff SACRE - could you help with this?

Other work by the BCW on behalf of Buddhists in Wales:

• responded to the draft report from Gill Vaisey, Religious Education Consultant, on ‘Guidance on Managing the Right of Withdrawal from Religious Education’ - the least of festivals that parents may withdraw their children from school to attend will be posted separately. The BCW has ensured that Buddhist festivals are included in this list.

Looking ahead, there are a number of interfaith events for interfaith week, plus various meetings and events. If you would like to help with the work of the BCW, please get in touch by email: buddhistcouncilwales@gmail.com.