| The Muath
Welfare Trust (MWT) was established in 1990. A Yemeni
charity based in Birmingham, its main aims are to cater
for the needs of the Yemeni community in particular and
the wider community in general, and to enable the
community to take a fuller part in British society.
This is achieved through the
provision of education and training, recreational and
social welfare activities and facilities.
The Trust is based in the
Bordesley Centre, a grade II listed building, formerly
King Edward Camp Hill Grammar School, and a site of
historical significance.
The Trust initiated its activities
and services in 1993, when the Centre was officially
opened by Lord Howell and Mr Ali Mohammed and Ahmed Hayel
Saeed of the Hayel Saeed An’aam Group of companies in
Yemen, benefactors of the Centre - a gift highiy
appreciated not only by the Yemeni community, but also by
the people of Birmingham for the Centre’s valuable
services and contribution to the city. These services
include:
- education and training for
adults;
- evening supplementary school
delivering the Yemeni curriculum;
- weekend Arabic school;
- cultural activities including
multi-cultural and multi-faith programmes,
exhibitions and celebrations;
- recreational activities,
including indoor and outdoor games, trips, scouts,
camps and sports tournaments.
The Trust also runs a residential
hall at the Centre with 14 fully furnished rooms and 3
family flats.
Last July the Trust ran a
multi-cultural programme of events entitled "Giving a
Soul to Europe" - an initiative that made the Trust
the first Muslim organisation in Europe
to secure funding from the
European Commission for this programme. The initiative
contained seminars, workshops, musical concerts and a
photographic exhibition highlighting the diversity of
European nations in faiths, cultures and social life
patterns as a whole. The exhibition is available for loan
to interested parties.
More generally, the Trust is
heavily engaged in tackling the various issues relating to
the Yemeni community in Britain and has taken an active
role to present the views of the community to the local
authority, researchers, the media and others concerned
with the community. The Muath Welfare Trust sees itself as
an organisation with a vision. It works to enable the
Yemeni community to interact with all sections of society
and to enrich local cultures and participate in local
initiatives.
December 1997
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