Protection from discrimination on the basis of religion or belief should be taken to mean the full diversity of religious and belief affiliations within the UK, including non-religious and philosophical beliefs such as atheism, agnosticism and humanism.
The Faith Centre
The LSE Faith Centre is a state of the art multi-faith facility used for worship, prayer, interfaith discussion and hospitality by the diverse student body at LSE. The LSE Faith Centre represents Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Atheism and Humanism. Its purpose is threefold:
1. to meet fully our requirements under the Equality Act 2010 by providing the spaces necessary for different religious groups to pray, worship and explore their faith together on campus.
2. to be a centre for interfaith dialogue and common endeavour that seeks to address the religious tensions underlying many campus disputes and that increasingly characterise the world into which our students will graduate.
3. to provide a reflective space on a hectic campus where both students and staff can take time out away from noise and the stress of work either individually or in organised meditations, yoga, tai chi and so on. The LSE Faith Centre is based on the second floor of the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, with lift access available. It is a suite of rooms, including a large room for events, a social space, a quiet area for prayer and meditation and male and female Muslim prayer rooms, as well as the Chaplain’s office. All staff and students are welcome to use the Faith Centre as a space for prayer and religious worship, for interfaith dialogue and as a place for quiet reflection on a hectic campus.
The Faith Centre is also used by different LSE Students' Union faith societies for worship and discussion. Jummah prayers are held on Fridays at 1:15pm at the Venue, in the basement of the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre. More information on what is going on in the Faith Centre and religious provision at LSE can be found online at LSE Faith Centre and any questions can be emailed to faithcentre@lse.ac.uk. The Faith Centre will be open all day and everyone is welcome, you do not need an LSE card to enter.
LSE Religious Observance Policy
The School's 'Religious Observance Policy' [PDF] provides details on the key considerations at play when considering how to avoid disadvantaging members of the School who follow particular religious practices.
Equality Act 2010, Section 10: Religion and belief
If you would like to know more about the legal definition of the protected characteristic of 'religion and belief', please see the following text from section 10 of the Equality Act 2010:
(1) Religion means any religion and a reference to religion includes a reference to a lack of religion.
(2) Belief means any religious or philosophical belief and a reference to belief includes a reference to a lack of belief.
(3) In relation to the protected characteristic of religion or belief—
(a) a reference to a person who has a particular protected characteristic is a reference to a person of a particular religion or belief;
(b) a reference to persons who share a protected characteristic is a reference to persons who are of the same religion or belief.