Farooq Siddique: A Muslim in Bristol

When was the last time you walked through Easton? Or drove through, except along the arterial Stapleton Road, and even then with the doors locked and as fast as possible?

It's true, Easton has a bad reputation; a destructive concoction of drugs, prostitution and a host of other ailments, affecting the aspirations and self-worth of the people living here. A side the media focuses on.

Last week, Common Purpose invited me to take a group of BBC TV and radio journalists on a tour of Easton, to see a side of Easton they wouldn't normally; challenging their perceptions, hopefully making them think about how they cover the area in their news reporting.

I have lived in Easton nearly 40 years. In that time, cosmetically, it has not changed that much. What has truly endured, though, and what has certainly served to mask some of the problems, has been the spirit of the people that live here.

You can still walk down the street, anywhere in Easton and smile at a complete stranger, and they smile right back. Heck, you would even be expected to say "morning" or "afternoon"! If I tried doing that in say, Clifton, I'd get a confused "are you feeling OK?" look! By the time the appropriate response was figured out, I'd be halfway down the street!

Communities here in Easton do get along. Yes, different communities! We talk to each other. We work together. The jewel in the crown of Easton is certainly St Mark's Rd. One journalist described it as a "hidden secret of Bristol that looks like a film set". In a few minutes walk, you will come across businesses run by Moroccans, Chinese, Bangladeshis, Indians, Pakistanis, Kenyans, Afro-Caribbeans and yes, of course, white Anglo-Saxons! If you haven't visited one of Easton's many cafes and restaurants, you're literally missing out on the world at your doorstep!

Nearby, Stapleton Road, once a long depressing road of boarded-up shops that no one would touch with a barge pole, is now in such demand that retail rental rates, in some parts, are equal to that of the city centre!

Some things could only ever happen in Easton; the mosque opposite the church, or the synagogue around one corner and a temple around the other. Muslims and Christians regularly talk to each other, as do Muslims and Jews; the two communities even built a radio station together, the first of its kind in Europe, broadcasting to the world from right here in Easton. The city's Multi-Faith forum is also based here. One of the quirkier sights is the anarchist community cafe, which actually displays opening and closing times! In Easton, even the anarchists succumb to the sense of community!

Easton has the highest concentration of Muslim communities living in the city but is also home to the city's highest concentration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities – no one even bats an eyelid! We're Eastonians!

We are not all the same, we don't have to be, I wouldn't wish it to be; it's what makes "us" special.

There is vibrancy and a genuine sense of community in Easton that I don't see or feel elsewhere. It's no coincidence either that Easton is the street-party capital of the UK!

At the end of the day, having witnessed all this and more, one of the touring journalists asked: "In Bristol's recent bid to be the European City of Culture, don't you think Easton could have won the accolade all on its own?"

The fact the question was even asked spoke volumes!