Britain is now a richly diverse multi-cultural and multi-faith society. There are immigrant communities who have been residents here for decades and there are ethnic groups who have arrived only recently.

But for all of these, whether born here or recent incomers, customs, practices, religions and otherwise are often passed on from one generation to the next.

In the interest of sympathetic understanding, this booklet has been prepared as a basic guide to information about beliefs and customs for the Health, Social Services and other caring or custodial organisations to ensure that institutional services provided reflect the needs of all the communities in Britain.