THE Bishop of Blackburn Julian Henderson has welcomed the town’s involvement in a £50million Government project to integrate communities.

He has pledged that Cathedral and clergy will take a full part in the initiative.

On Wednesday Communities Secretary Sajid Javid launched the plan to be piloted by five local authorities with large ethnic minority populations.

Blackburn with Darwen was one of those selected after volunteering to take part and will receive some of the £50million.

A key element is that schools whose pupils come from a single ethnic or religious heritage should mix and form ‘lasting relationships’ with children from other backgrounds and schools.

The Integrated Communities Strategy also requires schools to teach ‘British values’ and sets out proposals to boost English language skills and encourage women from minority communities to find jobs

Mr Javid’s announcement follows the BBC Panorama documentary White Fright: Divided Britain in January, which claimed Blackburn was even more divided than when it filmed in the town in 2007.

The Bishop, the Rt Rev Julian Henderson, said: “The long-term plan of action set out by Mr Javid, which features local integration plans for five local authorities including Blackburn with Darwen, is to be welcomed.

“In response to the Panorama programme, I suggested they portrayed an inaccurate interpretation of the situation in Blackburn.

“Yes, there are challenges in the town, but Blackburn is not unique in that regard and has many examples of good integration.

“The Church is involved in many initiatives where people from different backgrounds live, work, play and associate together - from our ‘presence and engagement’ churches in the town to the active Anglican/Muslim Forum as well as the Inter-Faith Forum.

“Our Cathedral meanwhile has a long history of effective community cohesion work alongside the local council which has attracted national attention.

“I hope that as part of their work in preparing a local integration plan the council will want to work with the Cathedral and the Diocese of Blackburn to ensure the voice of faith is heard and that the government funds will indeed make a difference at all levels of community life in Blackburn.

“The recent Anglican-Muslim forum meeting in Blackburn identified areas of shared and joint working.”

Blackburn with Darwen borough already has a schools-linking programme, bringing together classes from demographically diverse schools as part the council’s own Social Integration Strategy 2017/2018.

The other four local authorities chosen to pilot the scheme are Bradford, Peterborough, Bradford, Walsall and Waltham Forest in London.