Lydia Barlow (21 years old) is the Chair of United Faiths and is a Methodist who really has a heart for listening to people and finding out about their stories in an open and respectful way. She has recently finished her undergraduate Theology and Religious Studies degree at York St John University and hopes to become a Methodist minister in the future.
Shazia Shah (24 years old) Is the Vice Chair of United Faiths. She is a Muslim who was born and brought up in Bradford. She graduated from the University of Leeds in 2005 and is currently working for an educational charity based in Leeds. Shazia decided she wanted to be a part of United Faiths as she believes it provides her with an open platform to share her faith and experiences.
Jasdeep Singh Degun (17 years old), Belongs to the Sikh faith in his hometown of Leeds where he has recently completed his GCSEs. He is a very talented musician playing the sitar, the tabla and the piano. Jasdeep has been actively promoting United Faiths through speaking and performing at various interfaith events across the region.
Nora Mayer (24 years old) is the forum Secretary and has just finished her Masters in Medieval Literature. She is going on to do her PhD in Medieval Literature at York University this autumn. She belongs to the Baha’i faith and hopes to learn from other faiths and to share her own beliefs with others.
Xhristien Ward-Farrell (19 years old) is a creative, inspirational, compassionate, forward thinking and intelligent young Christian from Leeds. She believes that through United Faiths she will get the encouragement and opportunity to fulfil her potential and be a role model for her generation and more to come.
Imran Hafeez (25 years old) is a youth development co-ordinator for a local youth partnership in Bradford. He has been previously involved in international programmes in Switzerland and Poland around different religions in the European Union working and coexisting together. He enjoys learning about other faiths and sharing knowledge about his own faith, Islam, as he believes that there is a lot to be learned from different religions and by sharing this we can all work and live together as one community.
Akeel Hussain (25 years old) is a Muslim and is currently working at Bradford College as a Connexions Personal Adviser providing support and pastoral care to college students. He has been actively involved in many interfaith activities and events for young people.
Bhupesh Limbachia (23 year old) is a Hindu studying IT at Thomas Danby College in Leeds. He also works as an administrator at Technorth in Leeds with people who have learning difficulties.
Hannah Shah (21 years old) is a Baha’i from Sheffield, and is currently studying Economics at the University of Leeds. She was a speaker at the Yorkshire and Humber Annual Conference last year and because of that event she decided to become a part of the council.
Kiran Chana (16 years old) has recently finished her GCSEs and is going on to study Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Psychology at A-Level. She comes from a religious Sikh family and has grown up in the multicultural environment of Leeds. She actively utilizes various expressions of performing arts including painting, dance and theatre to perform in school and extra curriculum activities.
Vikas Khoshal is from Huddersfield and is a member of the Hindu Temple where he is involved in organising events for religious festivals. He is extremely interested in using sports as a mode of bringing young people together on social cohesion activities and has had a lot of experience of coaching young people in football and other sports to improve their leadership and communication skills.
Pritesh Tailor is studying ICT at the University of Huddersfield but is also actively involved in the National Hindu Student Forum. Through his university studies he has gained further knowledge and experience in creating websites, designing interactive applications using actionscript. He has also been part of the computer buddies scheme where he has gained experience of working with people of different ages and backgrounds. He decided to be a part of UF because he would like to experience working with people from different backgrounds to gain a better understanding of his community.
Usman Nawaz is a UK Youth Parliament rep from Rochdale who has recently moved to study at Hull University. He was also the Chair of Rochdale Youth council, member of the Sufi Muslim council and has recently been chosen to be part of the national Muslim Advisory group as a part of the PVE agenda. He has taken part in various interfaith activities such as the using Cricket for Christian-Muslim relations and Iman-Rabbi programme that bring young people from both religions to explore different issues affecting both communities.
To get involved with United Faiths contact Ushna Moghal at:
United Faiths, Suite E12, Joseph’s Well, Hanover Walk, Leeds LS3 1AB.
Tel:0113 245 6444
