Prince Charles puts Dewsbury in spotlight

Jan 23 2009 by Neil Atkinson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

BRITAIN was labelled a “fragmented society where prejudiced communities have little opportunity to learn about each other” by the Prince of Wales.

Charles made the comments as he hosted a seminar on strengthening neighbourhoods and suggested people could build bridges by working together on local projects.

The event heard first hand how a group of young men from Dewsbury had implemented the Prince’s ideas and used football to bring parts of their troubled community together.

Charles told the seminar: “When you think about the world we inhabit now, there are virtually no opportunities for people from different backgrounds, different religions or whatever to come together and do something in a team – we suffer, I think, from a fragmented society.”

Prof Ted Cantle, a senior government adviser on community cohesion, told delegates: “Even before the Shannon Matthews case, Dewsbury was - and has been - a difficult area for cohesion with a vociferous and intolerant far right on one hand and the presence of religious extremists on the other”.