STEPS Muslim Youth Development Programme

Empowering young Muslims to live life with knowledge and purpose

About the Programme

The award-winning STEPS programme is an 11-month course starting in September 2024 and ending in July 2025. It combines classroom sessions with outdoor activities and includes three major events:

• Leadership Retreat: A weekend residential trip focused on developing leadership skills and fostering unity among the participants.
• Iftar Gathering: A special event organised by the STEPS participants for the members of the organisation, promoting teamwork and community spirit during Ramadan.
• Charity Hike: A challenge that combines physical activity with a charitable cause, encouraging participants to give back to the community.

The programme aims to provide a balanced understanding of Islam, boost confidence, and improve life skills. Through this mix of learning methods, participants will gain a deeper appreciation of their faith while developing important skills for everyday life.

The Curriculum

Each session will cover a unit from our ‘Leadership Model’ which is a carefully compiled list of 25 prophetic qualities that we feel young people can benefit from attaining. Every topic is explored in detail, with the relevance to Islam in the modern day as one of the main points of focus.

The Faith Inspire Leadership Model

STEPS consists of weekly sessions with breaks during school holidays, and Ramadan.

Every session has been designed with the young person in mind, meaning we avoid too much ‘teaching’ and focus on interactive learning and engaging activities.

The schedule for this year’s programme can be found below:

The Expectation

The STEPS programme is intended to be a safe and enjoyable atmosphere for the young people. This includes boys and girls, and so we expect all participants to be respectful of one another, respectful to the team delivering the programme, and behave in a manner that is befitting a Muslim.

STEPS uses a strike system: after 1 strike, we will have a conversation with the young person; after 2 strikes, we will involve the parents; after 3 strikes, the young person will be removed from the programme.

Also, we have designed the STEPS programme to cause the least hassle and inconvenience to the young people. We line up the STEPS session with the academic terms in the school calendar, accounting for half term and end of term breaks. Parents are encouraged to inform us of any planned absences 24 hours before the STEPS  programme at the latest.

The Locations

The STEPS sessions will primarily be in a single venue. However, for our non-content based sessions, we may opt to have sessions at different venues or in different areas, parents will be notified of this in advance.

Venue is in Tower Hamlets (TBC)

The Details

Every session will be:

Day: Sunday

Time: 11am – 1pm

Frequency: Weekly

Term time only (Half term breaks)

Applicants must be Secondary School students (12-16)

Cost of the programme:

The program fee for each participant is only £200, although the actual cost exceeds £500. This reduced fee is made possible through subsidies received from Faith Inspire members’ contribution, Launch-Good’s Ramadan Campaign, and funds raised by previous STEPS cohorts

The £200 will cover the following:

• September – July programme
• Refreshments
• Faith Inspire Welcome Pack
• Classroom and venue hire
• Transport to fundraising challenge and refreshments
• Celebration dinner
• The three-day residential cost that includes:

– Transports from London to venue

– Accommodation (room share)

– Three meals a day

– Activity centre cost, such as archery, high ropes and more

 

For those that are struggling to make the full payment, we ask you to write to us via email for committee consideration for a concession; this will be reviewed on a case by case and we will provide further subsidies, if required. Please note that the committee decision is final, due to limited funds.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have two children, is there any discount?

The programme has already been heavily subsidised, so unfortunately, we are unable to offer any further discounts for additional children.

We can, however, offer further subsidies to those unable to afford the full price. We welcome you to email us at FaithInspireYouth@gmail.com and we will review each case on its own merit.

Is there segregation in the classroom?

Boys and girls are seated on different sides of the room. Our team of facilitators is made up of brothers and sisters who are all trained and will deal with their relevant groups.

The course aims to instil the values of modesty and good Islamic manners in this regard.

Are the sessions held during school half-term breaks?

To ensure young people have a natural break, we have decided not to deliver sessions during half-term breaks, allowing students to spend quality time at home with their families.

We will be following the respective local authority academic calendar. Timetables will be provided for the year, at the start of the session to parents.

There are excursions and trips. When will they take place and will you cover transport and lunch?

All parents will be provided with the calendar for the STEPS programme to ensure they can adequately plan for the year ahead. We will cover all travel and food costs for the planned trips and excursions.

My children have allergies and/or medical conditions, is this taken into consideration?

We will ask parents to complete a registration form to detail any allergies or medical conditions, however you are welcome to speak to the leaders for clarity.

We will try our best to accommodate the students’ needs. If, however, we are unable to, we shall be in touch.

My child has special educational needs and requires support?

We are unfortunately not able to support children with SEN, as this requires a specialist to be with us during all of the sessions. We are unable to cover the cost of this on this occasion, but it is something we shall endeavour to work on in the future Insha’Allah.

Do we need to pick up our child from the centre or can they leave when the session ends?

It is the responsibility of the parents to decide how best the child gets home. We would not be able to stay longer than 15 minutes at the premises after the session ends.

How will you communicate with parents?

The main way we communicate with parents will be via a parents’ WhatsApp group. It is important parents provide the right number when signing up their child so we can add them to the group and inform them of any information/changes to the programme. If we are not able to reach you via your phone number, we will chase up via email.

What if my child misbehaves?

We will give a warning to students who misbehave, however, with any incident deemed to be serious, we shall endeavour to arrange a meeting with the student and parents to discuss the best way forward.

My child does not wish to participate any longer on the programme, how should this be managed?

Please inform us at your earliest convenience, and we would be happy to discuss what we can do to better accommodate the student’s needs.

STEPS is designed to accommodate for any changes in a young person’s lifestyle. However, we will not refund any fees paid or any payments relating to excursions after the 48 hour notice deadline.

Can parents accompany the child for any sessions?

Due to safeguarding issues, and the well-being and development of the child, unfortunately parents are not allowed to attend any of the sessions or excursions.

If the programme has started can I still join?

Due to limited spaces, we can only accept participants if we haven’t exceeded our max capacity of 35 participants. Latecomers to the programme will see their price adjusted to reflect the remaining sessions

We welcome suggestions or any enquiries on the details of the events we hold. For further information or any concerns, please email us at faithinspireyouth@gmail.com or call/text 0748 321 5770 and we’ll get back to you within 2-3 days.

Review of Steps 2021-2022

It’s been an amazing year for the cohort and first Steps programme – the innovative Muslim Youth development programme.

30 young people graduated on July 16 2022, stating the programme in October with regular weekly commitments.

The parents and faith inspire are proud of the cohort’s achievements, which includes

• Regular attendance and participation on the sessions
• Growing sunflower from seeds for months, with a winner receiving a prize for the tallest.
• Organising a faith inspire members Iftar gathering at the atrium venue with over 200 people, in attendance were families to wider community members. The participants planned, prepared and hosted the event all playing a part to make this a success.
• Attended a weekend of leadership residential in Leicester, Islamic Foundation where participants competed in mini-Olympics to an enterprise team challenge.
• At the residential activity centre took part in raft building, high ropes, archery and more. For most, it was new activities and life skills and experience.
• Hiked Snowdonia, the tallest peak in Wales whisky raising over £12,000 for Faith Inspire youth programmes. The highest fundraiser raised an astonishing £2,000 and winning an IPad
• Presented a 7min presentation on their learning and on leadership at the end of the programme, and confidently presented to their peers due to regular public speaking training and engagement of the sessions.

All the participants and their families were present at the award ceremonies, to receive the certificate from the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain Zara Mohammad.

We wish to thank the parents, the supporters and more importantly the young people in putting their trust in Faith Inspire, its members and volunteers who delivered an amazing programme.

Review of Steps 2022-2023

Alhamdulillah, Faith Inspire delivered the STEPS programme for a second year. Another 30 young people graduated the programme on July 8, 2023, committing to a year of weekly sessions starting in September 2022.

Faith Inspire and the parents are proud of the cohort’s achievements, which include:

• Regularly attending and participating in sessions
• Attending a weekend residential at Kingswood in Kent, where they took part in various activities such as laser tag, archery, a campfire and watched the World Cup Final.
• Organising the annual member’s iftar for the 200+ Faith Inspire members and their own families, covering every element from venue viewing and selection, to hosting and running panels on the night.
• Participating in a fundraising challenge with prizes being awarded to first, second and third place on the fundraising leaderboard. The highest fundraiser raised an incredible £2,300, winning an iPad, and the total raised was over £13,000 which will be invested back into the Faith Inspire youth programmes.
• Going on a day trip to Brecon Beacons in Wales and hiking along the Pen Y Fan hiking trail, braving the cold, rain, and ice for a lifechanging and unforgettable experience alongside their friends
• Presenting a 5-minute presentation on what they learnt, what they loved and how they plan to become effective leaders in their local communities, all in front of their peers after public speaking training.

All the participants joined us for the graduation ceremony, sharing their testimony of the programme and receiving certificates from the deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Maswood Ahmed.

We wish to thank the parents, the supporters and more importantly the young people in putting their trust in Faith Inspire, its members and volunteers who delivered an amazing programme.