The Smethwick Places of Worship Heritage Trail will be a chance for people to visit Smethwick, explore the diverse faith communities and learn about the history and current life of the different places of worship.

There will be 3 trails of varying lengths that will incorporate Churches, Mosques, Gurdwaras and Mandirs, they will reveal something of the rich industrial history of the area and the way faith impacts daily life for people today. The trail will be launched in spring 2024 when people will be able to join organised walks or download maps and details and take the walk themselves.
 
The heritage trail builds on the successful trail developed in Lozells and Handsworth that has been used many times by several different groups. The trail in Smethwick is being organised the local charity FNC: Faiths, Neighbours, Changemakers in close consultation with a variety of local places of worship. The lead person is Canon Dr Andrew Smith the Director of Interfaith Relations for the Bishop of Birmingham. There will be school resources created by staff at The Feast youth charity (www.thefeast.org.uk).
 
The interviews, photography and historical research will take place during the autumn and winter of 23/24 with a public launch in Spring 2024, the date to be confirmed by after Ramadan, Vaisakhi and Easter. After that the trail will be available online for anyone to use to walk by themselves or in a small group. There will be a physical map that people can use for the trail, the online version will contain extra photo’s, stories and audio and video clips.
 
The aim of the trail is to help people appreciate the diverse faiths in the area, the history of how they came to be worshipping in these buildings. Th trail will also highlight the current activities of the community and the lived faith experience of one of the members, demonstrating that faith is a lived reality for many people in the area.