WISE in 2019/1440-1441 – ANNUAL SUMMARY
======================================
2019 for us was a continuation of taking stock of all the many activities that WISE is involved in, reviewing them all, streamlining & aligning where needed, and introducing improvements in the overall service we offer. This project is ongoing. This year was a year where we delivered on key milestones by Allah’s grace and your du’as and ongoing support.
The Education & Tarbiya services have been revisited and reworked. Weekly classes and courses aligned were in a way that complement each other and other activities. And we launched our new madrasa, the Salaam Academy which was a major milestone for us.
The Youth and Young Adult tarbiya programmes were revised, resulting in a modified structure of WIN for the boys and the launch of ARISE for the girls. Saturday Night Buzz for the younger kids was updated, so that there was a clear structure and plan with strategic goals going forward. Late Nighters and All Nighters ran through the year for young adults. Yearly Retreats were extended to include females as well, and will increase in frequency in 2020 given the huge demand.
Arabic language classes as well as classes and lectures on many different Islamic subjects continued through the year in both English and Urdu. We also introduced the Friday Circle for young adults – male and female – an open, comfortable, non-judgemental area for them to learn about Islam. This has been extremely well received and attendance has been consistently high.
We had our first ever conference, the WISE Winter Conference, almost entirely organised by our young adults. It was meticulously organised, inspiring and extremely well received, and another major milestone for us.
The da’wah stall continues with a dedicated team leading it, training has been given to volunteers, and a support team set up for new Muslims.
Complementing all this we have the Imam’s Advice & Counselling service which is in huge demand and has, generally, been very well received. We introduced a Confidential Counselling Service for women which had a 6 month backlog within the first week of launching, a third milestone.
And, of course, we have our Bookshop which is open daily.
School visits continue as they have done in previous years and feedback has always been extremely positive.
The 28th Wycombe (WISE) Scouts and Cub Scouts have now been running eleven years. They raised money for charitable causes through the year, and six of our Scouts were selected for the programme, Brain Ache on Emaan Channel which will be aired in 2020. They participated in the UK MSF South Olympics and the MSF summer camp. Our scouts had the opportunity to try out activities such as abseiling, archery, rifle shooting and learnt various skills such as knots, whittling and firelighting. They visited venues such as RAF Halton and the local fire station. They helped look after our guests at our public events such as the Open Iftar as well as completing numerous activity and challenge badges such as disabilities, media, first aid, team building, science, air activities, athletics and cooking. We will also be relaunching Girls Scouts in early 2020. Some of our Scouts leaders were given awards for 10 years of service.
Our community centre, the HIVE has been running for over two years now by the grace of Allah. Demand has grown exponentially and it is running at pretty much maximum capacity. It is in daily use by community groups, Muslim and non-Muslim, and a number of the services WISE offers also run out of this venue, including the Salaam Academy. The women, most of all, have capitalised on the opportunities offered by this centre and have availed of it to run multiple sports, social and religious classes and activities.
And then we also have all our other community activities running through the year: Sisters Social, Brothers Night, community BBQs, Family Fun Day, Open Day our Open Iftar Event, and Eid in the Park.
And of course, let’s not forget all the outreach work that WISE is involved with, locally and internationally:
WISE OUTREACH 2019/1440-1441
============================
As we draw near to end of this Gregorian year, I usually like to take stock of the charitable efforts that WISE has been involved in or supported this year. This year we set up dedicated teams of brothers and sisters to focus on helping those in need. May Allah allow us to do more for those who are in need of help, and put sincerity and blessings in our efforts.
Allah’s Messenger (Saw) said, “The most beloved people to Allāh are those who help others the most.”
LOCAL EFFORTS
————————
Financially supporting, sending volunteers or partnering with various local initiatives
-South Bucks Hospice
-Age UK
-Wycombe Homeless Connection
-Janies Homeless Friends
-One Can Trust
-Wycombe Refugee Partnership
-One Nation
-Let’s Cook & Let’s Sew Projects
-Healthy Living Centre
-Community Organising Network
-Wycombe Mind
-Healthy Minds
-Sadaqah Stitches
-and helping some individuals in need via the WISE Hardship Fund
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
————————————-
This year we had a particular focus on community initiatives and seminars to address problems in the Muslim and wider community. These ran through the course of 2019:
-Money Management Course
-Cons, Scams & Cybercrime
-Autism Awareness Seminar
-Mental Health & Well-Being Seminar
-Cancer Awareness Seminar
-Fire Safety Seminar
-RSE (Relationship & Sex-Education) Seminar
-Fitness Fusion for women
-Let’s Cook for Boys & Girls
-Let’s Sew for Girls
-GCSE Science and Maths tuition
-How to Survive Online lecture
-Games & The Gaming Industry lecture
-Relationship Goals lectures
-Islam & Evolution lecture
-The Friday Circle for young adults (boys & girls)
-Islam A-Z for beginners in Islam (sisters)
-Ilm2Amal for young kids
-WISE Trekking
-WISE Tarbiya Camping
We also launched THREE NEW INITIATIVES each of them incredibly important milestones for us and something we have been meaning to do for a while now
–The Listening Place in partnership with Wycombe Mind
–The Counselling Place – a confidential service for women
–The Big Elders Lunch Club, giving back to the elders of our community, Muslim and non-Muslim
WISE WELFARE
==============
WISE Welfare began in 2010 after the Pakistan Earthquake and now has a global reach by Allah’s grace. Zakat and Sadaqah is collected from the local community and distributed where needed, not just internationally but locally as well (to help those in need and in debt). Here is a list of some our international efforts.
INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS
—————————————
-The Rohingya Muslims (ongoing)
-WISE Kitchen in Myanmar and Bangladesh
-Palestine Appeal (ongoing)
-Sierra Leone (Masjid)
-Pakistan Relief (ongoing)
-Pakistan NWFP – supporting families and helping build madrasas
-Pakistan Balochistan Well Project – we have built a total of 13 water wells so far
-Blind Girls in Pakistan
-India Blue Inc School and Masjid in Uttar Pardesh
-Multiple Morocco Appeals – ongoing (Solar Panels, Ambulance, School Bus Water, Reservoir Ramadan food packs)
-The Refugee Crisis