Wrexham officers set up collaborative forum with community faith leaders

A new community-focused initiative involving North Wales Police officers and faith leaders aims to create a more unified Wrexham.

Plans to bring all the town’s faith leaders together in a forum for discussion with the police are now in place, with a date and venue now confirmed.

The first meeting will take place on 11 February at the Yellow and Blue community hub on Henblas Street.

Members of Wrexham’s mosque, Catholic Church, Church of England, and the Polish community have all been invited to meet with local officers.

Sgt Dave Smith has led on the initiative and hopes it can strengthen cohesion within the town.

He said: “We’ve contacted all the faith leaders in the town centre with the aim of getting them all together for an informal discussion.

“We want this to be a circle of discussion where everyone’s voice is heard. It should help us better understand everyone’s views on life in the town and to address their needs.

“It’s important that we listen to any concerns they might want to raise about what’s happening within their communities.

“The hope is that we can all work together to make Wrexham a better place to live and strengthen those community links.

“This is also about dispelling some of the misconceptions some people might have about the police and the work we do.

“We recognise that beliefs and values can vary a lot between communities and that some people have a mistrust of the police for one reason or another.

“We hope this initiative can open a few doors for us in communities where historically it has been harder for us to reach in terms of our messaging.

“Those we’ve invited are highly-respected faith leaders, whose voices are listened to and respected.

"It’s about building their trust and confidence in the police and letting them know that we’re here to listen and take their views on board.”

Invitations to the event have been extended to all faith leaders located within Wrexham town centre.

If successful, the initiative will be rolled out across the wider Wrexham district later in the year.

Anyone with connections to local faith groups within Wrexham and who wishes to attend the event can email: [email protected]