Islamic partnership plan

Mosques across the Thames Valley have joined forces to create an apolitical council representing 57,000

Muslims across the area.

The Thames Valley East Masaajid Council (TVeMC) will set out to offer representation, guidance and become a positive force against hate crime and Islamophobia.

The council is an overarching consortium encompassing 10 mosques or Islamic centres covering the geographical footprint of Maidenhead, Windsor, Slough, Runnymede and South Bucks.

Its aim is to ‘develop partnerships with statutory and non-statutory organisations as well as other religious communities to improve racial and religious harmony in the region’.

Launching during the Eid celebrations this week, the council has been six months in the making and will meet monthly to address issues that affect every area.

“Whilst Muslim communities face similar challenges to the rest of the population, such as the increasing cost of living, crime, health inequalities, and local authority spending cuts, there is also a worrying concern about the swelling toxicity concerning immigration, Islamophobia and hate crime,” said Dr Arshad Jarral, chair of

TVeMC.

“We feel that local mosques have a greater role to play in this environment to help maintain stability and cohesion between communities.

“Working closely with local mosques, TVeMC will provide an effective voice for the Muslim community and garner effective partnerships with statutory and voluntary organisations to develop safer communities and offer a better quality of life for all residents.”

Underneath the newlyformed council are subgroups focusing on topics like youth work and families.

The family group’s motto is ‘everything to do with the cradle to the grave’ and the youth group will look at issues such as knife crime and drug use in areas like Slough, said Dr Jarral.

“It is all to do with how we can work with the statutory agencies, the police and other organisations to address all the issues and understand together what needs to be done. Because everybody is firefighting but we aren’t necessarily understanding the root causes. Having lost several lives, we can’t afford to carry on like this.

“Similarly, our young people are getting into issues themselves, so how can we work with the police and social services and education departments to prevent that from happening?”