At the heart of our work at TaAF is the belief that when people begin to shift their mindsets, change their approach and build new skills, they are the key to changing the systems and places around them for the better.
As we approach the end of our Accelerator funding phase, we are celebrating the people who have been on this journey with us, those who’ve not only changed themselves, but helped shape the communities and systems around them for the better.
Following her heart was always something Sumaiyah has been encouraged to do, but it was the right working environment and a unique set of challenges that helped uncover her true talents. She brought a rich cultural insight and distinctive set of skills to TaAF, and her astute, diligent approach led to impactful and creative ways of delivering change within the Active Madrassah project.
Connecting with the community
Sumaiyah’s TaAF journey began when she coordinated the walking and cycling project in Blackburn with Darwen. Creating change starts at the heart of a community, and Sumaiyah’s willingness to learn has been at the forefront of her work. While working as the walking and cycling coordinator, she actively sought the opinions of Blackburn with Darwen residents to gain a better understanding of challenges people faced in leading an active lifestyle and importantly, explore the solutions. Email surveys weren’t proving effective ways of gathering insight, so armed with a clipboard, she stood outside children’s centres, GP surgeries, schools and in the park to capture the opinions of people who live in the place and use the space.
Changing pace in parks
Numerous barriers which prevented people being physically active in the park were identified, including a lack of maintenance and few organised activities to participate in. This insight enabled TaAF to reach out to different people and organisations who could facilitate change. As a result, Queens Park received a significant investment to install a new children’s playground, learn to ride a bike track, cricket wicket, and a state-of-the-art lighting system which enabled people to feel safer using the park after dark.
Previously a dated by-law prohibited cycling in the park. Blackburn with Darwen Council has since over-turned this and consequently the Re:Fresh team have delivered ‘Learn to Ride bike’ sessions in the park, proving popular with residents of all ages.
“I do feel like we have left a good legacy behind with the local parks, there is ongoing developments in progress as well.”
Identifying the need
Having built strong relationships with the TaAF team, Sumaiyah moved into a new role leading the Active Madrassah initiative.
When she joined the TaAF team, she quickly began applying her experience to drive system-level change. Guided by the goal to “embed movement, sport, and play into the routines of children in specific systems,” she began her work with Madrassahs – an after-school learning environment for Muslim children.
Sumaiyah, along with other members of the TaAF team participated in Cormac Russell’s ‘Asset-Based Community Development’ (ABCD) programme – a strengths-based framework that focuses on ‘what’s strong instead of what’s wrong’ and grows community power from the “inside-out”. Through this lens, together with experience from her previous roles and own lived experience, Sumaiyah recognised how strongly communities engaged with their local Madrassah. Drawing on research which shows that children play a powerful role in influencing family behaviour change, she explored how these settings could act as catalysts in creating healthier habits.
Every evening, 92% of young Muslims attend Madrassah to learn Islamic teachings—this often reduces their ability to participate in out-of-school physical activities. Recognising the need increase physical activity in these environments, Sumaiyah saw an opportunity to integrate physical activity, especially Sunnah Sports, into religious education.
She championed the idea that movement, sport and play are essential and her deep understanding of the community enabled her to drive meaningful change. By embedding activity into Madrassah life, she has created pathways for young people to thrive, not only spiritually but also mentally, physically, and educationally.
Sumaiyah was determined to work ‘inside out’ and wanted to engage Madrassahs across Pennine Lancashire. She made over sixty phone calls to gain expressions of interest, but with only twelve responses, she knew she had work to do to gain trust.
“I knew that other Madrassahs were interested but they wanted to see results and that we had to prove ourselves and do the work to build trust and connection.”
Despite the slow start, Sumaiyah remained resilient “I often found myself reflecting a lot throughout the day, always thinking about how this could be developed further” she recalls. Through her pro-active approach, the number of engaged Madrassahs began to grow, one by one. From a blank canvas, the picture had begun to develop.
Being willing to adapt
Ahead of her first workshop with a Madrassah in Blackburn, Sumaiyah thoughtfully scheduled the meeting to work around the attendees busy timetable. “Madrassahs don’t work the usual nine to five, so I was flexible with my own hours to make it happen,” she explained. To acknowledge their time and commitment, she provided a kit bag as a gesture of appreciation.
“The workshop helped us to understand what level of control madrassah staff had within their settings, what they already knew and what the gaps were. That insight shaped the foundation for the Active Madrassah framework.”
From healthy food education to archery, canoeing, cricket, hockey, horse riding, swimming and simple 15-minute exercise breaks, Sumaiyah and the team trialed a wide range of activities, each uniquely tailored to the group they were supporting. They encouraged Madrassahs to choose what suited them best in terms of pupil choice and space, while exploring where Muslim representation could make the activities more meaningful and accessible.
Increasing skills and capacity within the Madrassahs meant that this piece of work would be sustainable and self-sufficient. The maintenance would be to empower the changemakers. The first step towards that was the launch of the Female Leadership Academy which is an immersive leadership programme which aims to increase physical literacy. The results have been profound with the ladies in attendance have been changing their own personal behaviours to feel the benefits of physical activity, as well as growing in confidence and making system changes to their settings which lead to healthier lifestyles.
Change in me, change the system
Having a background in education and spending several years teaching in the United Arab Emirates and in the UK, Sumaiyah has always worked in highly structured environments. The flexibility and trust of the TaAF environment enabled Sumaiyah to grow into a leader capable of influencing system change, with a space to work in which has played to her strength. During her time with TaAF, she has flourished, and she has achieved success after success – driven by adaptability and willingness to learn and knowing her strengths.
“Working for TaAF has helped me grow in confidence, shown me my strengths. TaAF has trusted me to take this project forward – they saw something which I hadn’t recognised before.”
“My dad has always encouraged me to follow my heart. Through the Active Madrassah programme, I’m following my heart and using my connections to create opportunities we [people of a similar age to myself in my community] didn’t have when we were kids,” she said. This sentiment speaks volumes to Sumaiyah’s commitment to the project –“ it’s more than a role; it is a vocation.”
From training Madrassah leaders in Archery, to giving many their first experience of horse-riding, to delivering both a female and male leadership programme, the scope of the programme has grown significantly during TaAF’s Accelerator phase. To meet demand Sumaiyah strengthened the programme and welcomed new members to the Active Madrassah team.
Sumaiyah’s impact on the community has been, and continues to be, profound. She has shared her learning locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, influencing practices of sporting national governing bodies. She is an LGA associate.
Her journey is a powerful example of how investing in the right person, and giving them freedom, trust and support to work differently, can unlock meaningful, system-level change.
To learn more about Active Madrassahs visit the webpage here.