In 2006, EMF set up the EQUAL Programme: a pioneering training
scheme designed to enable marginalised Muslim women in
England to access labour market opportunities by developing
their skills and knowledge base. Managed by a team of
experienced community practitioners, the project featured
volunteers training and mentoring the programme’s beneficiaries
in an array of Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI)
disciplines including, ESOL – English for Speakers of Other
Languages, ICT – Information and Communication Technology, Arts
and Crafts as well as Radio Broadcasting among others. The
scheme ultimately aimed to foster Muslim women’s financial
independence and economic integration.
Initially, we set out to training 100
beneficiaries with the help of 18 volunteers operating from a
handful of premises. Two years later,
the popularity of the scheme and unprecedented demand for
services saw EQUAL operating from eight centres across the
country – each equipped with learning and training facilities,
featuring over 200 volunteers and reaching over 900
beneficiaries. The programme’s remarkable success has been due
in large measure to EMF’s effective use of its own community
intelligence and networks as well as the deployment of Muslim
women to help other women within their communities.
