Muslim Youth Helpline

This article reads like an advertisement!

The Muslim Youth Helpline is a confidential helpline for young Muslims based in London, England.

It is a registered charity which provides pioneering faith and culturally sensitive services to Muslim youth in the UK.

History

Founded in August 2001, the MYH began as a youth forum created by young people themselves to respond to the social problems endured by young Muslims in Britain today. The absence of effective community support schemes and the apathy to deal with rising levels of social exclusion, mental health problems, abuse and criminal activity led to the creation of an anonymous helpline service putting young people at the frontline of service provision.

In August 2001, after six months of research and planning, 18 year old Mohammed launched the Muslim Youth Helpline from his bedroom at home. With the support of his father who covered the cost of the phone line, Mohammed started MYH with little more than some folders, a few pens, and a telephone. Within weeks, news of the service spread, with Mohammed taking increasing numbers of calls.

MYH ran a year-long pilot scheme from September 2001, which led to the recruitment and training of 14 new peer-counsellors. The official service was launched in December 2002 with the transition from Mohammed’s bedroom to the Charity’s first office in Wembley Park. In September 2003, the helpline extended its opening hours and launched a free phone number to ensure that all young people could access the service and employed its first paid member of staff.

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"As a young Muslim growing up in the UK, I was all too familiar with the problems young Muslims face. The alienation and isolation of Muslim youth was not something I noticed, it was something I lived with, along with my peers. It was something we endured, something we knew was worth changing. In college, I became more and more aware of the emotional anguish experienced by my friends, many of whom suffered mental health problems or used drugs as a means of escaping their anxieties, fears, and problems."

" – Mohammed Mamdani, Founder

Service Information

Our core service is a free and confidential counselling service available nationally via the telephone, email, internet and a face to face befriending service in the Greater London area. The service uses male and female volunteers trained in basic counselling skills to respond to client enquiries. They deal with a whole range of issues including sexuality, suicide, depression and relationships to mention a few.

MYH also runs an interactive peer support site, www.muslimyouth.net. The site was launched in October 2004 as Britain’s first guidance and support channel for Muslim youth. The site is designed and managed entirely by young people and reflects the diversity of Muslim communities in the UK. The site encourages young Muslims to develop peer-support networks, access specialist and mainstream support services and care for their social and mental wellbeing. muslimyouth.net aims to raise awareness of the different social problems that affect young Muslims and provide culturally sensitive guidance to young people.

All volunteer staff are between the ages of 18 and 30 years. By omitting the generation gap and the cultural restrictions of an adult-run service, they are able to build the trust of young people and deal effectively with the social pressures that young people from the Muslim community have never before been able to reveal.

The Helpline holds full voting membership of the Telephone Helplines Association, independently assess policy documents and govern our practice. MYH was also awarded the Investors in People Standard in October 2005.

Recruitment

Helpline Workers (HW's) are volunteers who commit to a 3 hour shift every week, answering calls, replying to emails and writing letters to prison clients. Generally they are aged from 18-25 (with some exceptions!), and include people from the whole spectrum of the Muslim community. Recruitment & Training sessions run three times a year, and include a 75 hour intensive course designed to equip HW's with the skills needed to provide emotional support, in addition to ongoing update training held every two months. The training involves both in-house training on Islamic counselling and social issues in addition to training delivered by the Telephone Helplines Association.

Prospective HW's are required to complete a formal application form, attend a selection interview and provide professional references, in addition to an Enhanced CRB disclosure.

For information on recruitment, contact: [e-mail]

09/06/07: New Salaried Positions have arisen-please visit our website for more information.

Fundraising

MYH relies mainly funds its work through grants from various charitable trusts, independent fundraising and donations from individuals & the community. Recently it held it's inaugural Fundraising Dinner on the 11th of May 2007, which raised over £55,000. The charity holds and participates in various events including the British 10k, as well as events such as the 3 Peaks Challenge. To participate in this year's run or for more information, visit: http://www.myh.org.uk/events.php?id=4

External links

* [http://www.myh.org.uk Helpline Web Site]
* [http://www.muslimyouth.net MuslimYouth.net - a online forum and support site for young muslims containing articles and news]
* [http://www.ansaryouth.org.uk/main/ Ansar Youth Project-A Social Inclusion project for young people run in the London Borough of Harrow]
* [http://www.inspireproject.org.uk/ The Inspire Project-designed to facilitate the progression of young Muslims from disadvantaged inner city backgrounds into Higher Education.]

References

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3586421.stm "Disaffection among British Muslim youth"] , "BBC", March 31 2004. Accessed September 26 2007.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4735127.stm "What do young Muslims think?"] , "BBC", August 1 2005. Accessed September 26 2007.
* [http://www.4children.org.uk/pla/fellowship/view/node/8 "Philip Lawrence Awards"] Accessed September 26 2007.
* [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/riazat_butt/2007/09/paying_it_forward.html "Paying it forward"] , "Guardian", September 7 2007. Accessed September 26 2007.