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Jul
23
Lifetime Service Award for London Bahá’í
Filed Under Baha'i community, Education, People | Leave a Comment
A Bahá’í from Brent, London, has been honoured with a Lifetime Service Award for his work in schools and, in particular, religious education.
Mr Hasan Afnan was presented with the Joe Foster Award at a reception, held at the National Bahá’í Centre. Mr Afnan is the second recipient of the Award. The first recipient, Mrs Sheila Williams from Birmingham, was present to congratulate him.
During almost 50 years in London, Mr Afnan has served on Brent’s Standing Advisory Committee on Religious Education, including serving as its chair. He has also worked with the Bahá’í community of Brent and others on a “World Citizenship” project, involving many hundreds of children each year. A long collaboration with EdExcel has now resulted in a GCSE and a half-course in the Bahá’í Faith and Christianity. This GCSE attracted the first mass entries this summer, significantly raising the profile of the Bahá’í Faith among examination bodies. Candidates – both youth and adult – are now being sought to sit the exam next year.
The Joe Foster Award was instituted by the Bahá’í Religious Education Agency (BREA), in honour of Mr Joe Foster, who pioneered Bahá’í involvement in religious education in the United Kingdom, having joined the SHAP Committee in 1968. Mr Foster also served as a mentor to many Bahá’ís committed to the development and advancement of religious education, demonstrating that Bahá’í involvement in RE and Religious Studies required a focus upon the interests of the whole child, particularly moral and spiritual development.
At the presentation, Mrs Dorothy Foster spoke of her late husband’s service in this sphere and informed the gathering that the United Nations Association in Cumbria now holds an annual Joe Foster Memorial Lecture.
For more information about the BREA, please contact brea@bahai.org.uk.
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