Bradford College up for national diversity award

Bradford College is up against Channel 4, the British Army and the Police and the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson and a host of other organisations for a prestigious diversity award.

The college has been shortlisted in the Diversity Champion of the Year category at the 2019 British Muslim Awards ceremony, which takes place in Bradford on Wednesday, January 30.

The college’s nomination relates to an exhibition it held to raise awareness of Islamaphobia.

Put together by the college’s Student Base team, with support from MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development), it ran during National Islamophobia Awareness Week.

Mohammed Azeem, Student Base Team Leader, said: “The exhibition featured the positive contributions of British Muslims such as Mo Farah, Nadiya Hussain, Sadiq Khan and many more and showcased the true scale of Islamophobia and other forms of hate crimes across society. Its main aim was to bring people and communities together and to promote peace and unity as well highlighting the scale of the different forms of hate crime.

“The exhibition ran around the same time as a hate crime incident that occurred in West Yorkshire which attracted huge local and national media report when a young Syrian boy was bullied in Huddersfield.  This highlighted the importance of such and exhibition and how to tackle hate crime by bringing people together to celebrate equality and diversity.

“The response from students and staff was fantastic with more than 300 staff and students engaged with the exhibition.

“The Student Base service provides opportunities for students to get together, build connections and friendships, and provide peer support among themselves.”

The British Muslim Awards, now in its seventh year, showcases the strength of the British Muslim community, the impact it has on culture and its achievements over the last year in areas including business, charity, sport, arts, culture, religious advocacy, education and medicine.

The 2019 awards ceremony will be held at The Bradford Hotel on Wednesday 30th of January in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Irfan Younis, CEO of the awards’ organisers, Oceanic Consulting, said: “All finalists should be proud of the opportunity to represent British Muslims, highlighting all the wonderful achievements of this diverse and brilliant community. The 7th British Muslim Awards 2019 will be the best yet having seen of the influential leaders put forward; the awards provide a platform to thank those who do what they know best, thrive in their fields and provide future generations with inspirational role-models.

“We wish all our finalists the best of luck and look forward to a night of celebration on the 30th.”