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Communities and neighbourhoods

Muslim Youth Helpline

Date of speech	30 April 2009

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Draft text of the speech - may differ from the delivered version.

Thank you - it's a real pleasure to be here. I've long been an admirer of Muslim Youth Helpline and the great work that they are doing to support young Muslims in the UK.

As we all know, it's a difficult time to be young, Muslim and British and many young Muslims are struggling to come to terms with a range of issues - from educational attainment, family issues, peer pressure, drugs and gangs. Many of these problems are not unique to Muslims and are also faced by young people from other backgrounds too.

However, some issues like faith, culture and identity issues require more specialist support and understanding that may not be on offer from other service providers and Muslim Youth Helpline is able to treat these issues in a faith and culturally sensitive way. This is a great example of the Muslim community galvanising itself to provide support to those who need it most, which is why I'm pleased that we are supporting MYH to expand their reach even further across the country.

Muslimyouth.net is a much needed online resource. Not only does it provide guidance and information but it also really encourages young people to explore important issues like identity, citizenship and their role within society. The internet has an important role in tackling one of today's most sensitive challenges: tackling violent extremism. Violent extremists promote a worldview based on division and difference. Violent extremists offer easy answer to complex questions. They prey on people who feel ignored, frustrated about their chances in life, and confused about their identity.

It is important to have a community forum such as muslimyouth.net that does bring issues into the light, where they can be acknowledged, discussed and addressed in a legitimate way.

I understand that the website has registered about 3,000 members and has had about half a million hits - that's quite an achievement and I'm sure the new website will continue to go from strength to strength.

Another great example of supporting some of the most at risk people in society is MYH's Prison Campaign, which Faridha has just spoken about. It is a sad fact that the Muslim prison population is disproportionately high and it's also true that many prisoners offend again once released due to the lack of support and opportunities available on the outside, such as being able to find training and employment. The current economic climate will also make it more difficult for people to find jobs, which is why the services that MYH offers to offenders both, inside and outside prison will be more important than ever over the coming years.

I was delighted to be asked to be involved in the production of one of the 'Reelhood' Campaign films last year about Section 44, pre-charge detention laws and their impact on the community, which was something that I feel very strongly about.

I understand we are now going to watch one of the three 'Reelhood' films called '2nd Chance', which is about gang culture and knife crime. I hope you all find it interesting.