Annual review 2006 - The Prince of Wales

RAISING ISSUES
CONTINUED
During his day in Cumbria, The Prince also visited Appleby to open a new
community health facility, and Tebay to open a meat-cutting plant built and
run by a farmers’ co-operative. The plant allows farmers to sell their meat
directly to customers – and receive a better price than from the supermarkets.
His Royal Highness described the project as a “real beacon of hope” for
farmers struggling to keep afl oat.
The Prince is keen to support the traditional infrastructure of rural life,
and in November 2005 he opened a new livestock market in Cirencester,
Gloucestershire, to show his backing for a venture crucial to the local
agricultural economy. The project was supported by many local farmers
and the Government’s Rural Enterprise Scheme. After being given a tour
of the market and helping sell some livestock in the auction, The Prince
thanked the farmers for their work. He told them: “If it was not for you,
the British countryside would not look the way it does and the people that
enjoy it would not still fi nd it like it is.”
Faiths and ethnic communities
Encouraging tolerance in Britain of other faiths and communities has long
been a feature of The Prince’s work. His Royal Highness made two signifi cant
and well-received speeches on inter-faith relations during his overseas tour
in Spring 2006 (see pages 5 and 15), and an essay by The Prince entitled
“Religion – The Ties That Bind” was published in June 2006 by the
University of Maryland as part of its series on the “Alliance of Civilizations”.
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
The Prince at the new livestock
market in Cirencester.
The Prince of Wales shares a joke
with the President of Mali, Amadou
Toumani Toure (right) and Dr
Ahmed Mohamed Ali, President of
the Islamic Development Bank (left).
The Prince and The Duchess also conducted a wide range of engagements
in 2005-06 which promoted harmony between religious and ethnic groups.
In January 2006, His Royal Highness visited Yorkshire to launch the Festival
of Muslim Cultures, an event to promote better understanding of Islam
throughout the UK. The nationwide festival, which will travel around the
country in 2006 and 2007, began with The Prince opening the ‘Palace and
Mosque’ exhibition at the Millennium Galleries in Sheffi eld.
In March 2006, His Royal Highness visited Bedfordshire to see community
projects designed to bring together different cultures, such as the Queen’s
Park Inter-faith Initiative in Bedford which unites the local Christian, Muslim,
and Sikh communities in integration and regeneration projects. Among the
faith leaders involved in the initiative was the Reverend Jay MacLeod, vicar
of All Saints Church, who said of The Prince: “He really understands in a
way that sometimes government does not, about how faith communities
can be a force for good and bring communities together.”
A week later The Prince was joined by The Duchess in a visit to one
of Britain’s biggest Sikh temples, the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha
in Hounslow, west London, to mark Commonwealth Day and the
festival of Hola Mohalla. Their Royal Highnesses met temple elders
and volunteers, and chatted with a party of primary schoolchildren from
Newbury in Berkshire who were at the temple on a school visit to learn
about the Sikh faith.
40 | ANNUAL REVIEW 2006