Supporting places of worship to reopen safely

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has offered guidance to faith leaders as they prepare to reopen places of worship for individual prayer from Saturday, 13 June.

The government made the decision to allow places of worship to reopen for private prayer only following discussions with representatives of major faiths through the Places of Worship Taskforce, which the Council has contributed to.

The government recognises the spiritual and mental health benefits for people being able to pray in their place of worship.

Guidance has been issued to faith leaders to ensure the limited reopening of places of worship can be done safely and in line with social distancing guidelines.

This recommends the thorough cleaning of shared spaces, facilities for hand cleaning on entry and exit, and asking worshippers to bring their own items such as a prayer mat or religious text, instead of sharing or using communal ones.

Sayyed Osman, Director of Adult Services & Prevention, said:

Through the Lancashire Resilience Forum we are working with the faith sector to support places of worship to reopen for individual prayer in the safest way possible. We know that this will be welcome news for communities across the borough.

We would like to thank all faith communities in Blackburn with Darwen for following public health advice during these unprecedented times.

All of our faith communities have shown incredible patience, resilience and extraordinary generosity to others in the borough over the course of the pandemic. We are committed to supporting them in being able to fully participate in prayer in the safest manner possible. The Council is here to support all its faith communities by offering advice and guidance.

We know that the recent announcement will mean different things to different faiths. It may not go as far as some faiths would like, and we know that further consultation is taking place with the national faith task force.

Our priority is public health and keeping people safe. This invisible disease has not gone away, and we would urge all our communities to stay alert. We advise that individuals speak to their faith leaders, and understand what this new guidance means to them within their faith setting.

More information on the reopening of places of worship is available on the Gov.UK website.