ALTRINCHAM Interfaith Group’s Alf Keeling Memorial Lecture was given by Anjum Anwar, MBE.

She was dialogue development officer at Blackburn Cathedral for many years, building bridges between two diverse communities to promote inter-faith understanding and dialogue.

She began by describing how 9/11 changed many lives and the emotions that she felt when, after that horrific attack, she was refused service in a shop to which she and her family had been going for 30 years - the first time she had ever encountered such treatment.

She felt upset, agitated and angry, especially as this happened in her home town.

Then after the 7/7 attack in the UK, she started to build a relationship with Blackburn Cathedral – Blackburn being “the most divided town on the planet.”

People were initially very apprehensive about a Muslim woman in the cathedral but she realised that you had to have conversations about difficult issues, and questions such as “Why do you fly aeroplanes into our buildings?” have to be answered.

She has created dialogue and outreach into the community by writing about Interfaith, and supporting people in difficult situations such as intermarriage.

She stressed how we must create conversations and get to know each other, rather than being afraid.

Her talk elicited many questions including the status of women in the Koran, Asia Bibi and the blasphemy laws in Pakistan and the importance of learning from history.

Carolyn Jones, the honorary secretary of Altrincham Interfaith Group, said after the talk on November 10: "It was an interesting and lively meeting and the evening closed with drinks and biscuits and a chance for everyone to socialise.

"We are grateful once again to Mr Driscoll and the staff at St Ambrose Preparatory School, Hale Barns, for hosting the meeting in their hall."