THE past two weeks have been turbulent for the UK. Disinformation has helped to foment and spread unrest across villages, towns, and cities. Much of this disinformation has been spread through social media and online.

Yet, despite the unrest, this has been a time for the emergence of leaders using their responsibilities and networks to maintain local community trust and to bridge divides. These leaders have stepped forward with courage, showing that human relationships are more powerful than the forces that seek to sow division.

Love can, and does, overcome fear in the public forum.

Nowhere has this been demonstrated better than in the Oxfordshire Faith and Community Leaders Group, who have been proactive, perceptive, and persistent in their response to the unrest.

I have witnessed their responses first-hand, collaborating especially with the leaders Imam Monawar Hussain DL; the Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft; and representatives of Thames Valley Police.

The work of the Oxfordshire Faith and Community Leaders Group is a model of using personal relationships, technology, and networks to maintain trust across groups when this trust might otherwise unravel.

As disinformation grew through social media in the UK last week, the Oxfordshire Faith and Community Leaders calmly communicated through WhatsApp their thoughts about what they were seeing in their respective faith communities. They shared this news with their trusted networks, which helped to reduce the spread of rumours. It showed support for targeted refugee groups and helped to mitigate potential unrest.

Their messages have set a tone of togetherness — one of lovingkindness and strength in the face of extreme difficulty. The messages shared within the WhatsApp group over the course of the week demonstrated support and gratitude for the work of Thames Valley Police, while providing updates on rumoured unrest within their local communities.

Thames Valley Police was a critical partner in these efforts, releasing its own statement on 7 August, one that encouraged caution in the face of disinformation efforts on social media: “Please be vigilant to the misleading comments that are circulating social media about potential protest activity. Please think twice about what you read, share and believe from online sources. There are a lot of motivations for why people may be sharing information so be critical, challenge what you see and if in doubt, look to trusted voices.”

Also, in a 7 August statement shared through social media such as LinkedIn, Imam Hussain and Dr Croft reiterated the risks of “false and inflammatory information” spreading online. “We invite all to extend a hand of friendship and solidarity to your neighbours, regardless of their background or beliefs,” they continued. “Together, we can create a community where everyone feels valued, respected, and given the space to flourish and contribute to our region and country.”

The work of Imam Hussain and Dr Croft, as part of the wider Oxfordshire Faith and Community Leaders Group, and in partnership with Thames Valley Police, is a testament to the power of human relationships. These relationships are developed over time through in-person encounters, which create and deepen trust.

Trust is built through meaningful action between people, not only through words. Spending time with others, face to face, is one way to reduce the potential spread of disinformation through social media, which rely on false rumours’ never encountering reality.

In his 20th-anniversary edition of the landmark study of social connectedness, Bowling Alone, the political scientist Robert Putnam suggests that social media can meaningfully build trust between individuals, but that this is helpful when it begins with in-person contact — the approach taken by Imam Hussain, Dr Croft, and their peers.

And, on this point, a recent King’s College London study suggests that 98 per cent of the UK’s population say that they trust people whom they know personally. The UK ranked very well in this study of 24 countries, ranking second in trust for foreigners, and third in people met for the first time. Notably, the KCL Policy Institute, which led the study, found that “between 2005 and 2022, the share of Britons who said they trusted people of another nationality rose from 71 per cent to 84 per cent — the highest on record.”

The KCL Policy Institute study shows that, despite the recent weeks of unrest, the UK remains open to diverse peoples and perspectives. We have considerable reason for hope in the future.

The leadership of the Oxfordshire Faith and Community Leaders Group, in partnership with Thames Valley Police, provides, as we should expect, reason to maintain faith in one another and in our institutions.

Imam Hussain, Dr Croft, and the wider Oxfordshire Faith Community Leaders Group have, over recent weeks, deepened trust within the communities around them.

These efforts are a model for local communities across the UK, working with faith, love, and hope at these critical times.

Marjorie Neasham Glasgow is the Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire.