As the only Muslim appointed to work for a Church of England Cathedral, Anjum Anwar’s work to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue in Lancashire is genuinely groundbreaking and provides her with a unique perspective.
Anjum’s work has also recently involved working alongside Canon Chris Chivers, chair of trustees for the United Society (Us) and communities in Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to develop a framework and resources that examine interreligious living. Identifying resources which help foster better relations between different faiths, ethnicities and self identified groups and considering whether there are distinct ways to live with and ease the tension in these complex and many layered arenas.
Prior to her role with the Church of England, she was awarded an MBE for her work in the community including the project she spearheaded between Lancaster Council of Mosques and Lancashire County Council’s LEA called Understanding Islam, a post 9/11 project.
A confident, engaging and challenging speaker, Anjum is regularly invited to speak and deliver workshops by local authorities, the police, educational institutes and faith based organisations like the Christian Muslim Forum, for whom she is a trustee.
Anjum is a presenter of a programme on the Ummah TV channel on issues that concern the Muslim Communities and how international events impact local communities, and also travels internationally to present her work on peace building and community cohesion including visits to South Africa, Oman, Austria, Pakistan and Jerusalem.