Muslim community in South Cumbria County in North West England are now much closer to realising their first mosque dream since the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spearheading the project, the South Lakes Islamic Centre (SLIC) will submit the mosque plans to the Barrow Borough Council in the next couple of months.
Though the plans were first submitted in 2019, COVID-19 caused unexpected disruption. Now, SLIC believe a new prayer center at Crooklands Brow is an ideal location for the local Muslim population with Furness General Hospital just miles away.
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“We ideally wanted it to be close to the Furness General Hospital but couldn’t find a suitable property/land and hence Dalton became the next best option, covering Askam, Ulverston,Lindal, Urswick and Greenodd,” a SLIC spokesperson told The Mail.
“Furness General Hospital itself has 40-50 practicing Muslim doctors/clinicians, plus the additional families of professionals, business communities and other trade workers who will need basic prayer, burial, teaching and community facilities.
“Now the closest mosque is Lancaster which is 50 miles away and due to the lack of basic facilities we see a big attrition rates amongst the Muslim families who leave for other more established towns.”
Promoting Diversity
The center would also help develop a more diverse and united South Lakes community, according to SLIC.
“It will most definitely give a sense of identity and belonging to the Muslim community here in the South Lakes,” the spokesperson said.
“People from the wider community can come and observe what the true religion of Islam is about and the richness of diversity and culture which it brings to the area – it will promote the sense of community service within the Muslims using the center as the hub.”
Cumbria is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972.
Islam, unlike in most areas of the UK, is not the second most common religion in Cumbria.
In 2001, 747 people followed the religion (almost 0.2% of Cumbria’s population), with the largest concentration of Muslims being found in Carlisle, Barrow, and Kendal.