2018-11-30-annual-report

Annual Report 30/11/2018

HAWA COMMUNITY GROUP

Moosa Patel

Charity Number 106063 18 Killeaton Place, Dunmurry BT17 9HR

Contents

VISION and MISSION .............................................................................................................. 3 Charity Purposes ........................................................................................................................ 3 AGM 2017 ................................................................................................................................. 3 Members of the Executive ......................................................................................................... 3 Chairman’s Report ..................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 5 Major Achievement ................................................................................................................... 5 Activities .................................................................................................................................... 6 Future plans ................................................................................................................................ 6 Partnership with other Islamic Centres and Mosques ................................................................ 7 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................................... 7

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VISION and MISSION

To work towards being a healthy, God conscious and socially responsible Muslim Community

Charity Purposes

1. To cater for the religious and social needs of the Muslim community in Lisburn and surrounding area

2. To positively engage with and foster relations between the Muslim community in Lisburn and surrounding area and the wider local community without harm.

AGM 2017

The first AGM which took place on 31/3/17 at 17H Station View, Dunmurry, Belfast BT17 0AE was attended by the small local community present at that time to officially elect the members of the group committee.

It was held in this newly rented unit through which the group would exercise their objectives and fulfil their aims.

Members of the Executive

Mr Moosa Patel, Chairman Mr Zia Nazar, Treasurer Mr Riaz Dastur, Secretary Mrs Nur Diana Binti Ismail, Member

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Chairman’s Report

It has been both a privilege and a challenge to manage what would seem like a simple charity group intended to cater for the local Muslim community in the surrounding area.

The community grew rapidly with the influx of Syrian refugees relocated as part of the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement which allowed us to practice important Islamic principles of helping and supporting our brothers and sisters in need of help and support.

Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sa) said:

“A Muslim is a brother of (another) Muslim, he neither wrongs him nor does hand him over to one who does him wrong. If anyone fulfils his brother’s needs, Allah will fulfil his needs; if one relieves a Muslim of his troubles, Allah will relieve his troubles on the Day of Resurrection…” [Bukhari and Muslim].

The committee worked hard to provide facilities and activities that would provide much needed religious and social support for both the local community and displaced refugees as a Muslims confidence in society is greatly linked to their ease of practicing their faith and enjoying social events in environments which cater to their values.

The end of 2018 saw the departure of this rented unit at Dunmurry Industrial Estate as another group “Iqraa” purchased and is in the process of setting up a facility for Muslims for 18 Ashley Park, Belfast BT17 9EH. As part of our charity purposes number “2” to work with the wider community. It was agreed to support the work for a permanent location rather than maintaining the rented unit. It was fortuitous that another group intended to operate within this locality saving us the challenge of trying to find and obtain a permanent location to run our activities.

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Acknowledgements

• I would like to thank my fellow members of the Management Committee for their untiring support throughout.

• I would like to thank all the community members who have volunteered and contributed in any way to support the activities.

• All those who donated generously to get the unit up and running especially those that committed via direct debit donations to finance the rent and running costs of the unit.

• The khateebs for prepared and delivered the Friday sermons Br Abu Zahir, Br Abu Khalid, Br Musa, Br Abdul Qadr, Br Ashraf, Br Sherif, Br Naim and Sheik Anwar.

• Craigavon Islamic Centre for donating a wonderful and expensive prayer mat that was most suitable for our prayer hall.

• The sisters who arranged weekly activities for the teenage girls which was a major objective.

• BIC and NIMFA for providing guidance along this new journey.

• MBA planning for supporting the application for change of use of the unit into use as a community centre

Major Achievement

There are two achievements that I would like to acknowledge.

• Successful application and receiving of Planning permission for change of use to community centre. This was not a straight forward process with no architect drawings of the facility which had to be done and parking space analysis conducted by the council to verify capacity suitability. The committee managed this while performing their regular day jobs. Their commitment was commendable.

• I am particularly happy to acknowledge the growth and consistency of the sister’s weekly programme, especially the weekly basketball at Shaftsbury Centre which gathered teenage girls and young adult women of various backgrounds such as Malaysia, Nigeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Libya, British and Irish to participate. This diversity and inclusivity despite language barrier is most impressive.

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Activities

Religious Activities

• 5 daily prayers and two Friday prayers

• Ramadan Program

• Quran and Islamic studies for children

• Youth Qiyam Night

Social Activities

• Social nights

• One dish party – very successful and popular

• Weekly basketball for girls at Shaftsbury Community Centre

• Weekly table tennis for fathers and sons

• Women’s Eid Party

• Women’s and Girl’s BBQ Party at Lady Dixon Park

Community Activities

• Welcoming activities along with Bryson for Syrian Refugees

• Fundraising by gathering clothes and food for Syrian Refugees in partnership with Bryson

• Homeless people support with SERC(South Eastern Regional College) community wing

• Weekly collection of food in partnership with Tesco to reduce wastage

Facilities & Infrastructure

• Unit acquisition, refurbishment and preparation

• Planning permission for change of use to community centre

• Homeless people support with SERC(South Eastern Regional College) community wing

• Weekly collection of food in partnership with Tesco to reduce wastage

Future plans

• Support the establishment of a permanent local facility. It has been agreed that significant effort and support will be provided to Iqraa in setting up the new facility for Muslims in Dunmurry. This will help us to overcome the limitations and restrictions presented by the rented unit which has now been agreed with the local community to cease renting off. The new facility will allow us to cater for men, women and children at times that best suit the local Muslim families.

• Muslim section in graveyard. With the common graveyard of Roselawn catering for the burial of Muslims, we believe that over the years additional space will be required and we would like to investigate the potential of securing space within the Lisburn area.

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Partnership with other Islamic Centres and Mosques

Our Treasurer, Zia Nazar, joined an online communication group between all the major Islamic Centres and organisations in Northern Ireland as the Hawa Community Group representative. The objective was to foster greater relationship between the wider communities, improve communication, share and provide support and advice and collaborate for large activities such as Eid celebrations which affect the community at large to increase the sense of community cohesion.

• Belfast Islamic Centre

• Craigavon Islamic Centre

• Islamic Centre, Coleraine

• Newtownards Mosque

• Newry Islamic Centre

• Ballymena Mosque

• Dunmurry Islamic Centre

• Coleraine Islamic Centre

• NIMFA

Concluding remarks

The community is growing and we are currently witnessing the most amounts of Muslim families and children now present in this society who require the support and facilities to foster confident Muslims who participate actively in society. This shows the work ahead, for not just ourselves but the similar organizations, will require a collaborative effort to develop and succeed. I would like to acknowledge the members of the Management Committee for all their hard work, commitment and dedication to help us through this fledgling time. I would like to thank the wider community for their ongoing support. I would like to thank all of those whom have contributed to HCG as I must say that without their financial support we would not be able to continue the work and services, thank you.

Narrated Abu Hurayrah:

The Prophet ( )ﷺsaid: “He who does not thank the people is not thankful to Allah”.

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Treasurer’s Report

Financial report 1[st] December 2017-30[th] November 2018

INCOME	AMOUNT (£)	EXPENDITURE	AMOUNT (£)
Direct Debits & Bank Transfers	5,430	Rent	4,800
Other Donations	286.68	Insurance	99.89
		Electricity	960
		Solicitor (Planning Permission fee)	240
		Electrical Heaters X 4	678.80
		Fire Extinguisher Service	49.20
		Carpet	451.23
		Misc. Expenses (Cheque Payments)	890.22
Total	5716.68		8169.34

Surplus B/F £6180.94 Surplus C/F £3999.14

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