Muslim Women's Helpline

The idea of setting up the Muslim Women's Helpline was originally proposed by a group of approximately 8 Muslim women at a conference for Muslim women held at the Islamic Cultural Centre in 1987. They were extremely concerned about the difficulties/problems being faced by Muslim women, e.g. marital problems, depression, loneliness, generation gap difficulties between parents and children brought up in the UK. These women then formed a committee which first met at City University in December 1987. Imelda Ryan (who had five years experience with the Samaritans) was asked to lead the group which would work on setting up the Helpline. The Helpline acquired office space in November 1988 (through the generosity of Yusuf Islam who donated a ground floor room in one of his properties), and relocated to new office premises in North London in October 1991. The helpline began receiving calls in February 1989.

In addition to its works as a listening and counselling service, the Muslim Women's Helpline also produced a quarterly newsletter, 'ASK' (A Small Kindness) and contributes to discussions and debates in the Muslim community and in the mainstream on social issues. This has in the past included organising conferences, attending exhibitions and even staging plays. It was a member of the Telephone Helplines Association and affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain.