The National Youth Agency - Muslim Youthwork Foundation

Muslim Youthwork Foundation

Creating safe spaces for young people to explore personal, social, spiritual and political choices.

The Muslim Youthwork Foundation has been designed as a direct response from participants of two national conferences on Muslim Youth Work 2005/2006.

Muslim Youthwork Foundation

The Muslim Youthwork Foundation (MYWF) is an innovative and groundbreaking national Muslim Youthwork organisation that places young people at the heart of its purpose and function. The MYWF is unique in its ability to integrate Muslim and non-Muslim youth work expertise, working across age, faith, and gender, and is reflected by a Board that brings together a range of experience and expertise.

The MYWF supports and trains young people, building their capacity to enable them to reach their full potential to be of service to their peers, their communities and neighbourhoods. The variety of projects provides space for different forms of expression and belonging to emerge. The MYWF places great emphasis on the neighbourhood as a site of shared belonging, identity and experience and seeks where possible to strengthen this by working with young people of all backgrounds, nurturing relationships across ethnicities and faiths.

Is This Foundation For Me?

Yes if you work with Muslim young people, either exclusively or in multi-faith contexts. The foundation looks to strengthen neighbourhood ties and relationships. It doesn’t matter if you are Muslim or not, what does matter is that you have a genuine interest in the development of life chances and opportunities.

The Muslim Youthwork Foundation has created an opportunity for more effective work to be done with young British Muslims to achieve the government’s Every Child Matters Outcomes and its agenda on community cohesion and safer communities. The work to date in establishing this organisation has created a culture in which a positive and challenging dialogue is sustained so that existing boundaries of what can and cannot be said about Muslim youth work can be expanded.

The Muslim Youthwork Offer

Muslim youth work can enable young people to have a sense of self worth that takes on board the faith dimension of their identity. Young men and women need to be taken seriously in the Muslim community; the youth work process can enable this. This is particularly so in the current policy agenda where young people need to be seen to be taking an active part in the projects and initiatives put forward for funding. Youth participation can contribute to addressing the gendered nature of representation. Muslim youth work can provide interventions in a crucial influencing space outside home, mosque and school:

It can bring into play existing curricula in culturally appropriate ways and also develop new positive curricula.
It can introduce new models of understanding work with young people and the purposes that influence it.

Muslim youth work can form relationships with young people that are accepting and well informed about the faith dimension of their lives:

It can assist young Muslims constantly faced with negative images of their faith to challenge this in a constructive way e.g. the arts, creating spaces for their voices to be heard.
It can develop new relationships with the Muslim world and influence agendas on issues of justice and minorities as members of the European community.

Youth workers from a Muslim faith perspective in senior positions with local authorities are few and far between and are often stretched and ghettoised. A national network can be a source of support. Theoretical frameworks that authenticate a Muslim perspective and approach to work with young people are being developed and the Foundation is a vehicle for sharing and inspiring these.

If you would like further information on the Muslim Youthwork Foundation please visit our website or contact Manaf Alderwish. Tel: 0116 242 7438

Muslim Youthwork Foundation is a registered charity no: 1122273