At the event Liz Meek presented the awards to recognise the achievements of women involved in the Active Community Volunteering Scheme. Amongst those recognised were women who have made use of services provided by the £350,000 GOL-administered Connecting Communities Project, which aims to provide greater access for the Muslim community to jobs and services, whilst offering advice and training.
Liz Meek said:
“I was delighted to be invited to present these awards, which are particularly apt as this is the Year of the Volunteer. I was very impressed with Muslim Welfare House and all the good work they are doing to build inter-faith harmony and community cohesion. I’m pleased to see women’s volunteering celebrated, as women so often provide the glue that connects communities and families.”
Black and Minority Ethnic communities are under-represented in public sector employment and their use of public services is lower than that of wider society. The Connecting Communities’ Access to Jobs and Services programme builds trust between minority ethnic communities and public service providers and employers. Activities include careers fairs, IT training, work placements, youth forums, and orientation seminars with public bodies.
The volunteers who received awards carry out a variety of tasks on behalf of the Muslim Welfare House, including teaching and tutoring, events organising and youth work.
Award winner Houda El-Fadili said:
"I was pleased to have my contribution to the community appreciated. This will encourage me and others to contribute even more. We were happy that GOL’s director presented us with the awards, as it showed that the government cares about our community and work”.
For more information contact Karen Deadfield 020 7217 3171
