The Young European Muslim Newsletter (Y. E. M.)

In January 2000 as part of a new government initiative, the Neighbourhood Support Fund (N.S.F.) began to channel £60m over three years to community-based projects in forty of the most deprived local authority areas in England. The Community Development Foundation (C.D.F.) and the Community Education Development Centre (C.E.D.C.) is responsible for channelling up to £42m of that funding to 600 projects, organised by groups in touch with what is happening on the ground. It helps them run activities geared to reconnecting these young people with their communities. The programme is aimed at 13 to 19 year olds in general, but with special attention to 16 to 17 year olds. By building up their self-confidence, the programme helps to open the door again to the world of education, training and employment opportunities.

The Lancashire Council of Mosques launched the YEM project in mid August 2000, in conjunction with the Governments (N.S.F). scheme. The aim of the YEM project is to produce four newsletters a year concerning Muslim issues such as Muslims in sport, Drugs, Islamophobia, etc. The stipulations of the funding necessitate that the newsletters are produced working with twenty socially excluded youngsters from the local community.

An experienced LCM member of staff who has access to in-house expertise coordinates The YEM Project. The young people are recruited through various networks i.e. the C.V.S. (Council for Voluntary Service), Blackburn Youth Service, Millennium Volunteers, various schools as well as via word of mouth.

Post recruitment activities involve dissemination of information about the project, its aims, objectives and benefits. This is followed up by brain storming sessions about the theme of the newsletter. A fundamental part of the newsletter is preliminary research. The young people receive training in this area and various other valuable academic and I.T. disciplines. The articles are then produced for publication purposes after which the cycle of Preparation, Proof reading and Publication is repeated. The essential aim of this exercise is to ensure that articles are not only accurate but also socially acceptable.

The project, to date, has proved to be extremely successful. At the commencement of the fifth newsletter the project involved approximately forty young people. At present, recruitment has had to be curtailed, as over recruitment would be detrimental to the project. The young people are extremely enthusiastic about the project, as they consider involvement with the project a vehicle to engage in meaningful endeavours that will enhance their academic abilities and serve as a medium to express their viewpoints. LCM has recently awarded various youngsters a certificate of achievement and involvement after the successful completion of four newsletters, that is, one year on the project.

Aims of Lancashire Council of Mosques

· To produce, publish and circulate a quarterly newsletter entitled Young European Muslim Newsletter.
· To work with excluded Asian heritage young people in Blackburn to produce a Young people focus newsletter

Objectives of Lancashire Council of Mosques

Motivate and support recruited young people in writing, producing and distributing the newsletter
Investigate and identify issues and stories of concern to young people and develop them into newsletter material
Promote and market the newsletter project to young people, schools, Mosques, Colleges, Youth and Community Centres and other interested partners
Develop, maintain and monitor the newsletter production schedule over the lifetime of the project
Monitor the progress of each individual working on the project

Progress to date

This project is now closed.