O N Sunday, in Bristol, as reported in the Post, I helped organise the first regional gathering of influential members of the diverse Muslim communities; men, women, elders and young people from across the ethnic divide.

And they came from all over the South West including Exeter, Yeovil, Bournemouth, Swindon, Gloucester, Dorchester, Weymouth, Chippenham, Gloucester and Gillingham, as well as unswerving support from Plymouth, Taunton and Trowbridge.

Two hundred delegates gave up their Sunday to come to the conference to express genuine commitment to develop and implement ideas that will enable Muslims to play a full and active part in the society in which we live.

We agreed to work to challenge representation of Muslims, reach out to the wider society, and challenge radicalisation where there is risk it may manifest itself as violence.

Frustration was expressed that the word "Muslim" was now synonymous with words like "terrorist" or "radical" or "fundamentalist", because all those words were so far removed from the tenets of being Muslim.

Clearly, there is a huge and deepening divide between how we, as Muslims, actually see ourselves and how the world actually sees us; this divide could not have been more clearly illustrated than in the images shown of the front pages of some of our national newspapers about Muslims.

Delegates gasped at some of the more derogatory headlines.

Perhaps some would see this reaction as naive. Surely, Muslims know how they are being viewed by the wider world? To a certain extent, yes, but it is taking time to sink in. The view thus far has been: "but surely non-Muslims know that the terrorists are just criminals using Islam for their own agenda, as a recruiting tool, preying on the vulnerable?"

Yes, most non-Muslims can make that distinction. But because Muslims appear to have been slow to stand up, to reaffirm that distinction, it is beginning to wear thin.

The main conclusions of the event were simple: we, as Muslims, now need to stand up and make that distinction. We need to engage with the wider society, with our neighbours, our friends, with the people we see walking in the street.

We need to open our mosques to members of other faiths. We need to initiate more inter-faith dialogue. Our young people need to have a safe space to discuss and question ideas. There needs to be better engagement between parents and their children.

We need to better support, as parents, the teachers in our schools. We need to become more active in civic and social life of the city. We also need to clearly acknowledge and celebrate our lives here in the UK, and the freedoms we enjoy as Muslims in this society.

We all hope for the best, but the time has come to acknowledge that we are simply not there yet. Our actions need to match our words.

This is not the role or responsibility of one individual or one group. It is the collective responsibility of all of us.

We, as Muslims, from all over the South West, have united and have certainly committed to taking a step forward. I hope we can rely on your support.