​On Tuesday 15 November 2022, Lambeth Citizens along with King’s College London launched their new report for Lambeth Council to help social mobility for young people within the borough. The future of our children after leaving Iqra is important to us.

The Building Better futures report came after a listening campaign with over 700 Lambeth residents. Iqra staff and parents were part of this campaign. As a result of our participation, one of the key recommendations of the report was dealing with Islamophobia. (See page 23) This is a significant achievement which if adopted by the council will make a difference to improving young peoples lives, since Islamophobia has adverse impacts on the life chances of young adults while in education and beyond. 

Two former Iqra pupils (Ashraf Mohamed and Abdirahman Mocalim) spoke at the event highlighting the challenges that they had faced as a young Muslims beginning secondary school. They spoke passionately regarding issues on special needs as well as a other curriculum areas. They spoke about the importance of needing greater understanding and spaces (such as Iqra Primary School) where young Muslims feel as though they belong.

Iqra parents also took part; Umm Zakariyya  did an amazing job co-chairing the event (along with Kirsty from Kings College) and Umm Ashraf spoke eloquently about her challenges when trying to find a secondary school for her son. Around 200 people attended the event from various organisations within Lambeth. Thank you to all who took part.