Having Faith in Lewisham

Traditionally the Council have only needed this if there is a direct effect on a service (ie the use or misuse of a building). In the past the Council has funded and promoted Race Equality Action Lewisham as an independent mediation service. There are currently plans to re-constitute REAL and a proposal is going to the next Mayor & Cabinet Meeting (19/01/2011) to allow for this. As already stated, Lewisham is characterised by a high degree of demographic transience and social atomisation and traditional bonds of neighbourhood or ethnic and national identity are not as strong as might usually be encountered elsewhere. This might well explain why religion seems to have emerged as the strongest form of social bonding and identification for many Lewisham residents. This may in turn explain why the local authority has accorded a level of prominence to religion that might be considered unusual in many other parts of Europe. Traditionally in Britain, as well as elsewhere, local government has sought to maintain a clear line of distinction and a distance between itself and religion. Secularism is the norm, extending in France for example to a severely policed laïcité.