The Ramadan Experience @BTHFT

Bradford Teaching Hospitals is taking a proactive approach to supporting Muslim colleagues and creating an inclusive workplace for them during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Our Spiritual Pastoral and Religious Care (SPaRC) team joined forces with our Bradford Hospitals’ Charity to get the Trust Ramadan ready by unveiling our unique initiative; ‘The Ramadan Experience @BTHFT’, a project designed to cement our position as a ‘Ramadan friendly employer.’

The Ramadan Experience @BTHFT will see Muslim colleagues given unprecedented support during the Holy Month, with non-Muslim colleagues having the opportunity to share some of the experience, provide support by becoming a Ramadan Ally, and help boost vital NHS charity funds. The initiative includes:

• Ramadan Allyship: Opportunity to pledge support to Muslim colleagues by signing up for a Ramadan Ally badge.
• PROP (Pop-up prayer Room OPerational) Packs: For managers to create their own dedicated area to be used as a pop-up prayer facility within wards/departments.
• FAST (Fasting At BTHFT’s Supportive Trust) Packs: Available to Muslim colleagues containing essential items for Ramadan.
• Skip Lunch – Change a life appeal: Open invitation for non-Muslim staff to share the experience and join their Muslim friends and colleagues for Fasting Fridays throughout the month of Ramadan.

• Want to find out more about Ramadan?
• Do you work with or manage Muslim colleagues and want to support them this Ramadan, whilst balancing the needs of the service?
• Want to take a pro-active approach and create an inclusive ethos in the workplace to enable Ramadan to be a positive experience for all?

Then contact the SPaRC Team on SpaRCteam@bthft.nhs.uk to take your pledge and become a Ramadan Ally!

Our SPaRC team have been hosting events at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital to raise awareness, recruit Ramadan Allies and distribute PROP Packs (Pop-up prayer Room Operational Packs). Colleagues were presented with the opportunity to sign up to become a Ramadan Ally, find out more about Ramadan and support available to fasting colleagues and learn how to set up a pop-up prayer facility with some live demonstrations from the SPaRC team.

Our SPaRC team, with the support and funding from the Trust’s own Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, have put together a pack for managers to create their own small area within wards/departments to be used as a pop-up prayer facility for their Muslim colleagues to use during the 30 days of Ramadan.

The idea of the ‘PROP Pack’ came about as a result of managers requesting advice on how to manage releasing staff members for prayers whilst also continuing with service delivery. These packs enable colleagues to quickly set up a prayer facility within their own working area without the need to leave their ward or department, reducing unnecessary strains on the service or compromising patient care.

The packs contain an advice sheet for managers on how to support Ramadan in their individual areas and departments, a prayer counter, a Qibla (direction of Mecca) and instructions how to use it, a schedule of prayer times, a pop-up prayer facility poster and a woven prayer mat. The mats have been kindly provided by friends of the Trust in the local community.

“Ramadan is a sacred and important month in the Islamic calendar, and with 21 per cent of staff at the Trust describing themselves as Muslims, we were keen to develop a proactive and inclusive approach. Managing Ramadan pro-actively reduces unnecessary strains and tensions on the service by normalising this annual event into schedules and practices, while demonstrating how this can be managed within the normal working day.

“The idea of the ‘PROP Pack’ came about to make it easier for Muslim colleagues to find an appropriate, temporary space to pray without needing to leave their areas. It takes just minutes to set up the pack – less time than it takes for a kettle to boil!

“We believe our ‘Ramadan Experience @BTHFT’ promotes good working relationships and creates a better understanding with non-Muslim colleagues, who are often wanting to support their Muslim colleagues but not sure how to.”

SPaRC Practitioner, Rubina Yasin

PROP Packs were distributed at the Ramadan Allies Project Event stalls, where managers signed up to become Ramadan Allies to support their colleagues. For more information, please contact the SPaRC Team on SpaRCteam@bthft.nhs.uk.

Non-Muslim staff are invited to join their Muslim friends and colleagues for Fasting Fridays, in which they are invited to donate £3. The Skip lunch – Change a life appeal will see non-Muslim staff, who are safely able to take part, fast during daylight hours and donate either online or via text. Muslim colleagues are also invited to donate their Sadaqah.

Take part in the Fasting Fridays during Ramadan and donate the price of your lunch to Bradford Hospitals’ Charity. Anyone wishing to make a donation of £3 can do so by texting RAMDN to 70085. Texts cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message. You can also donate online here: https://bradfordhospitalscharity.enthuse.com/cf/ramadan-2023

Our very own Chief Executive, Mel Pickup, will lead the way by taking part in the first Fasting Friday of Ramadan, on 24 March.

“During the Holy Month of Ramadan our Muslim colleagues enrich the atmosphere here at the Trust with their discipline, resilience and diversity, so I’m delighted to show my support for them by joining in Fasting Friday.

I also want to thank those colleagues for continuing to care for our patients while fasting, and I hope that the support we will be offering during the Holy Month is a welcome gesture to bring our Trust together for a blessed Ramadan.”

Prof. Mel Pickup, Chief Executive

Our popular BTHFT Fast Packs are back this Ramadan!

Just like in previous years,‘Fast Packs’ will be distributed to staff who are fasting to allow them to break their fast on their ward or department. Muslim colleagues will be offered a charity-funded pack containing cool bags, dates, a water bottle and water, a disposable prayer mat, prayer counter and prayer timetable – all packaged in a handy drawstring bag.

Fast packs can be collected from the Muslim Prayer Facilities or the PPE Hub from 21 March.