Bradford Arabic School Youth Club
(BASYC)

Developing the skills, potential and capability of Young Muslim men and women in England and Wales is core to our vision of an integrated and inclusive society where Muslims are valued for their positive contribution and are actively involved in all aspects of life.

Furthermore strengthening the capacity, effectiveness and competence of young Muslim peoples forums around the UK will create an effective mechanism for developing the potential of young Muslims to effectively engage in mainstream society and challenge social exclusion and disaffection which feeds into the development of extremist Islam.

Currently there are a range of formal and informal forums and representative structures that have been established by young Muslims in the UK and are principally run by them. This includes organisations such as:

¨ Local consultative forums

¨ Islamic charities

¨ Islamic schools

¨ University, college and school Islamic societies

¨ Islamic study circles and groups

¨ Sports clubs

¨ Social networks

¨ Young Muslim professional networks

¨ Young Muslim women’s groups

¨ Muslim Youth clubs

Organisations such as these operate in a formal and informal capacity; formal structures include University Islamic societies across England and Wales, forums such as the Leeds Young Muslims Forum. Alongside these are many semi-formal and informal groups that work in a detached way at the grassroots in all major cities and localities in the UK.

We, in Bradford Arabic School, would like to encourage our young Muslim students to be good examples in both academic and moral levels . The new club aims InshaAllah to offer a model of excellence in personal effectiveness development that combines the best practice in this field combined with strong Islamic principles to deliver a programme

of personal development which enables the consistent development of young Muslim groups . We feel in Bradford Arabic School that this will enable the development of the following :

¨ Develop the leadership potential of young Muslims in Bradford and across the UK based on a consistent model of personal development . These young Muslims who are still studying in Bradford Arabic School or have just finished their Arabic program. The club is opened also to the young Muslims outside the school.

¨ Develop a leadership that is able to actively challenge the roots causes of violent extremism by promoting inclusion, integration and challenging disaffection

¨ Development of a leadership that can actively participate in decision making

¨ Empowered and competent young Muslim representatives that are able to actively support engagement and participation of young Muslims in civil society

¨ Improve the provision of support services for young Muslims by practitioners and agencies

¨ Enhance the capacity and effectiveness of Muslim young people led forums and organisations

¨ Empower young Muslims with theological understanding in relation to violence, armed struggle and extremism in order to challenge extremist ideas

¨ Create understanding on emotional distress and trauma that leads to vulnerable young Muslims being targeted by extremism and extremist preachers

¨ Promote a model of emotional well-being development that challenges disaffection and social exclusion

These will delivered to Bradford Arabic School Youth Club members (who are between 12 and 17 year of ages) through a project and some interventions which will include:

1. Young Muslim Leadership development Programme- this will be the core of the programme and it is expected that over three years the five module (five day) programme is delivered in the school.
   The programme will have a range of components some of which will include:
   
   

¨ Leadership and governance

¨ Personal management skills

¨ Project management

¨ Conflict resolution

¨ Assertiveness

¨ Emotional well-being

¨ Community relations

¨ Understanding decision making and policy change

¨ Media skills and communication

¨ Islamic theology in relation to citizenship and violent extremism

2. Social Networking and Dialogue events- a series of events every year will be planned in the school or in Dar Al-Arqam (e.g. i' tikaf event) . It will also provide a showcase for young people led projects and an opportunity to reward excellence through an awards ceremony; through the events young people can undertake action planning and objective setting as part of their leadership role and performance against these objectives can be measured at subsequent events.
   
   
3. Sporting activities – the club will aim to facilitate different sport activities for the club members (football, swimming, basketball, horse riding, ..) which can be planned out of school hours and in terms (and mid-terms) holidays .

4. Training program for education/youth workers/practitioners- a series of five one day training events (per year) for practitioners who work with young Muslims students to develop their competence and skills in working with Muslims young people; the course will cover issues such as effective youth work skills, engaging young Muslims and increasing take up of activities and services, delivering Muslims sensitive youth services, impact assessing provision, understanding issues related to violent extremism and young Muslims; the program will co-operate with other similar organizations in Bradford and Leeds .

Bradford Arabic School

For more details please contact  Mr. Mohammad Isreb M.Isreb@Bradford.ac.uk
or the School Committee skalghazal@hotmail.com