, 30 May 2017, Tags:
I'm here this evening because I'm a bridge builder.
We might live alone, in family or other collective units. But we are also community members. Not members of one community, but of many over-lapping, intersecting communities, be that a community of shared geography, shared interests, shared culture, or shared beliefs or faith.
The more we connect these communities through hands of friendship and acts of sharing, the more resilient and strong they each become, underpinned by the solid foundations of understanding, respect and love.
Today we come together to share our grief, to share our anger, our despair, that a man, so frightened of life's uncertainties, through an act of unspeakable violence has sought to damage those foundations by the infliction of pain and suffering on so many.
Let's acknowledge that for many those foundations are shaken; an act so difficult to understand in the context of world seemingly increasing in intolerance and hatred.
But let us not be shaken in our resolve to build those bridges and shore up their foundations with a renewed vision of shared hopes, our dreams our optimism for a better future for us all, living our interconnected, intercultural lives, and to challenge those who opportunistically sow seeds of division and hatred.
Let us build bridges.
Philip Leicester, Green Party Loughbough
