Dr Beverly Lindsay OBE, OD was appointed the Vice Lord-Lieutenant for the West Midlands for a three-year term in 2017. Beverly is the founder and general manager of Diamond Travel, one of Birmingham’s leading independent travel agencies.

Beverly was born in St Thomas, Jamaica and came to Birmingham as a young teenager to complete her secondary education. She started her career in nursing and midwifery and after leaving nursing she worked as a Senior Community Worker in Handsworth Birmingham and later in financial services before establishing Diamond Travel in 1987.

Throughout her career, Beverly has always found time and energy to provide a selfless service to the development of her local community and her beloved country – Jamaica. Beverly is a celebrated mentor, champion and supporter of the African Caribbean community not only in Birmingham but throughout the UK and internationally. This work, alongside her success in business, has resulted in her receiving many awards in appreciation of her outstanding work and contribution to society, as well as two honorary doctorates from Aston University and Birmingham City University in 2017.

Beverly became a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham in 1997 and served as President during 2012/13, the first African-Caribbean woman president in almost a hundred years history of the Rotary Club of Birmingham. Beverly is a committed Christian and is a longstanding member of New Testament Church of God in Handsworth, Birmingham.

“Whilst there are a number of initiatives and many organisations seeking to promote community cohesion and interfaith dialogue in the City; THE FEAST is ground breaking in its approach by drawing in young people often living at the sharp end of difficult relations, those that may not be natural ‘joiners’ and engaging them in exceptional youth activities.

A Christian Organisation, rooted in its belief, that embrace and bring people of different cultures and beliefs together to share and fellowship, affording learning to understand each other so that each person can become a better citizen in today’s challenging Society.”

“Young people are the mirror within our community, we can reflect our cohesive and tolerant approach upon how young relate to each other and what is means to have pride in their civic inter-relationships”.

~ Dr Beverly Lindsay OBE, OD. 2019

Jehangir Malik is the Programme Director for the Voluntary Community Sector Emergency Partnership.

He began his humanitarian career as a student collecting donations for victims of the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s, and subsequently moved from a law degree to a role at Islamic Relief UK (IR).He participated in relief and development efforts around the world for over 23 years at IR, with leadership roles covering the USA, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. He was later made the organisation’s UK director.

Jehangir was also chief executive of Olympic legacy charity International Inspiration, and in 2010 was awarded an OBE in recognition of his contribution to the humanitarian cause. He sits on the board of trustees at ACEVO (Association of Chef Executives for Voluntary Organisations, the Muslim Charities Forum and the NET (National Emergency Trust) and sat as a Commissioner on the Birmingham Children’s Commission into poverty.

Jehangir was the CEO of Muslim Aid between 2016-2020, overseeing a period of transition for the organisation. In addition to presiding over Muslim Aid’s existing work in dozens of countries he has overseen the response to a range of developing crisis, including the Yemen conflict, the 2018 Indonesian earthquake, and the civil society relief effort following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.

Recently, Jehangir was a judge at the 2019 Civil Society Media Charity Awards.

“I am honoured to support The Feast Project, born out of my hometown Birmingham. The Feast is an amazing initiative bringing together young people from different faith backgrounds to learn, grow and develop into confident and active citizens within their respective increasingly complex environments. The notion of exploring one’s identity through a faith lens, building relationships and changing lives is a very personal experience for myself and I do very much believe that the Feast will be a key catalyst in the exploration of oneself with the social interaction of fellow citizens in Birmingham and beyond. Proud to support The Feast.”

Julie Siddiqi is a mentor, consultant and gender equality campaigner with a specific focus on Jewish-Muslim and other interfaith relations and on applying that to social action work together. She has a background in community grass roots work spanning 20 years and founded a local charity for Muslim women’s needs, which she led for 10 years. She is Co-founder of The Big Iftar during Ramadan, which has seen such events as the first ever Iftar (breaking of the fast) reception at Lambeth Palace hosted by Archbishop Justin Welby in 2014.

Julie was the Executive Director of the Islamic Society of Britain from 2010-2014 and is a Fellow in the Faith and Civil Society Unit at Goldsmiths University.

She was previously a member of the Government’s National Muslim Women’s Advisory Group and mentor for the Prince of Wales Charity, Mosaic. She is a Governor at Eden Girls School in Slough.

Julie was previously listed in the Times Newspaper’s 100 Most Influential Muslim Women in the UK and is a regular voice on BBC Radio 4’s Thought For The Day.

She is Founder and Director of Sadaqa Day, a one-day Muslim-led focus on social action and is Co-founder of the Jewish and Muslim Women’s Network, Nisa-Nashim. She is Co-founder of Open My Mosque, a campaign to highlight and speak out about inequalities in UK mosques.

In October 2020, Julie was awarded an MBE for her services to promoting interfaith understanding.

“I am thrilled to have been asked to become a patron for The Feast. The principles of young people coming together, leading the way on developing friendships and involving food, is surely a winning formula! I think it will continue to give hope and practical solutions to us as we enter a new decade finding more ways to connect and not allow those who seek to divide us to succeed” 

~ Julie Siddiqi

Jasvir is the Chair of City Sikhs, which provides a voice for progressive Sikhs in the UK and which has over 7,000 members. In 2012, he launched the British Sikh Report, which provides robust data each year about the British Sikh community. He is currently Co-Chair of the Faiths Forum for London, working with the capital’s nine main faith communities in encouraging and promoting interfaith projects. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, an established family law barrister, Chair of the Grand Trunk Project, an Associate of St Paul’s Institute and an Honorary Fellow of the Edward Cadbury Centre. He was given an OBE in the 2017 New Year’s Honours at the age of 36, becoming the youngest Sikh to hold that honour at that time.

The Feast was founded in Birmingham 6 years ago, and as one of the UK’s most culturally diverse cities, Bishop David is acutely aware of the need for young people and our future leaders to engage in healthy discussion and dialogue across all groups, be it on the basis of religion, culture or nationality. As a Bishop in the Church of England, in the largest UK city outside London, he is actively involved with education, industry and commerce. Chair of the Birmingham Social Inclusion Process and the University of Birmingham’s Wealth Distribution Commission, he is passionate about social and economic justice. David promotes inter-faith ‘presence and engagement’ in one of the UK’s most ethnically diverse regions, and is an enthusiastic practitioner of ecumenical Christian mission. Bishop David has served as a Patron of The Feast since 2014.