.Queen’s Park in Bedford is rich in both culture and religion, with Christians, Muslims, Sikhs (and others of all faiths and none) living together in harmony. Our three main faith communities have places of worship within three hundred metres of each other, and faith leaders have developed a ‘Faith Tour’ for schools and other organisations, which has now been running for about 20 years.

‘Faith Tours’ are administered by ‘Faith in Queens Park’, a registered charity (1139459) & Company Limited by Guarantee (07419682).

The Queen’s Park Faith Tour provides an opportunity for schools to:

• bring R.E. alive through first hand experience
• enhance the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils
• experience community cohesion at work in a rich and diverse neighbourhood

Faith Tours run on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only, during term time.
We offer two Faith Tours on one day, by running them in carousel.

The timings work as follows, but as there will probably be two tours running, please read your Confirmation of Booking email carefully; note whether you are following tour A / B or both A&B.

All visitors are asked to respect the religious and cultural traditions by:

• dressing modestly, ensuring that for adults, shoulders, arms and legs are covered;
  but for children, normal school uniform, including summer uniform, is fine.
• removing footwear before entering the Mosque and Gurdwara
• bringing packed lunches that are strictly vegetarian (no meat, fish or eggs)
• ensuring that all participants bring a headscarf (not hats or handerkerchiefs)

Headscarves must be worn by all people entering the Gurdwara (there are spares at the entrance for those who forget). Females also need to wear a headscarf in the Mosque. No meat, fish or eggs are allowed into the Gurdwara on account of the Sikh belief in the sanctity of all life.

When you book, please assemble all needed information before beginning to complete the Booking Form. This will include the names and contact details of at least two different members of staff, ideally the Trip Leader and an Admin/Finance office contact, together with details of ages and numbers of children/adults and any special needs or learning focus.
On completion and submission of the Booking Form, please do save a copy for your records.

When your booking has been accepted, we will send you a Confirmation of Booking email, confirming the date and which tour you have booked.          

Please ensure that you note which tour you will be following (A/B/A&B). To remind you of all necessary tour information, we will attach an Information and Guidance letter to the Confirmation of Booking email. Invoicing: Your Confirmation of Booking email will be followed soon by an email containing your Invoice.

 We would ask for invoices to be settled within 30 days; if this will not be possible, then please indicate your probable payment date on your Booking Form after.

Preparation: You will also find, in this website, our Information Pack, which provides a wealth of assistance as you prepare for your Faith Tours, including our template Risk Assessment, template letters and reminders to parents, ideas for vegetarian packed lunches and other preparation for our Faith Tours.

Journeys -Traffic coming into Bedford in the mornings can be difficult and schools need to arrive at their tour start-point by 9:45am so that the Faith Tours can start promptly. Please book your transport allowing for busy traffic and rush hour delays. Buses should drop off, pick up and can park at the Gurdwara for the duration of the Faith Tour. Please respect Sikh values by ensuring no smoking in the Car Park, and that any food brought into the Car Park is also totally vegetarian (no meat/fish/eggs).

If you are delayed or need to contact us on the day, please phone the number given in the Information and Guidance letter which will accompany your confirmation of booking. 
Please note however, that late arrival will mean that your first visit of the Faith Tour is shortened.  The best way to contact us in advance of your visit is by using our contact form or emailing us.

The optimum number of pupils for one tour is 45-60 (65 for tour B), in order to make the best use of Faith Tours availability. We can occasionally make special provision for a slightly higher number of visitors but ordinarily if your numbers exceed this you will need to book and pay for two tours (which can run concurrently on the same day).
If your group is much smaller than 45, may we suggest that you consider combining with another year group or another school/organisation?

This may also be financially beneficial to both schools/organisations; if two small schools arrange to combine for one tour, one tour fee would be charged and you may be able to share transport. If so, then ideally one school needs to be the lead school, which would book the tour, be responsible for the joint arrangements and pay the invoice on behalf of both schools.
We do of course understand that small numbers are unavoidable for some groups and would still encourage those groups to book to come on Faith Tours.