Father Phil Sumner and the drama “One Extreme to the Other” have both been shortlisted for the Fusion Awards 2008.
The awards ceremony, which celebrates the work of unsung heroes who make a difference to their community, takes place at the Premier Suite, Ewood Park, Blackburn on Saturday, May 24.
Father Sumner, from St Patrick’s Church, Union Street West, has been nominated for the Community Cohesion Award.
The 55-year-old was put forward for the accolade for his successful grass roots inter-faith initiatives in Oldham.
He has also spent 25 years in Moss Side, where he used a helpful document from Leicester entitled “Young, Gifted and Equal” as a tool to advocate respect for young people’s ethnic and religious identities.
He said: “When the document came out I was a governor of a secondary school where 30 per cent of pupils were of African descent. They were not achieving as well as their white counterparts so I looked at the document and it was a helpful tool.
“I used the same philosophy in Oldham but I found that this work was already being applied here.”
“One Extreme to the Other”, a ground-breaking play by Mike Harris, has also been nominated.
So far, it has performed to more than 2,500 pupils in Greater Manchester.
Developed by Mossley-based GW Theatre Company in partnership with Oldham Council, it features a Muslim extremist group and a white extremist group and is now being commissioned for performances across the UK.
The Fusion Awards 2008 have been supported by No Limits, Lancashire Constabulary, Blackburn with Darwen Council, Nationwide Vehicle Leasing, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) and Asian Image.
