Finalist in The Herald and GenAnalytics Diversity Awards
Exciting News – Amina MWRC has been shortlisted as a Finalist in The Herald and GenAnalytics Diversity Awards, to be held on Friday, 13 September in Glasgow.
The Herald Award helps to build awareness of diversity issues, while celebrating organisations and individuals who actively work towards equality for all.
Amina – the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre, has been selected for the Diversity in Sport category, sponsored by sportscotland. Our Breaking Barriers Project, run by the Amina MWRC Creative Well-Being Dundee team in collaboration with Badminton Scotland, has received this nomination for improving the access of Muslim & BME women to sports. Breaking Barriers has provided badminton training and equipment over a series of weekly training sessions and a tournament in May 2024.
“Women from ethnically diverse backgrounds often suffer more from lack of opportunities to exercise. Working with the group from Amina made me realise turning up to play badminton is a big thing for them. We had to make sure the hall was screened off and no men were allowed to enter the hall or look in when the women were playing. These are all things I had never considered before. Many of them were from countries where women are second class citizens.”
Women ranging from the age of 17 to 70 attended weekly badminton sessions, progressing from learning the basics of the game to taking part in matches and tournaments, gaining skills and confidence to play sport in public venues. This engagement in Sports has helped to improve the health and wellbeing of countless women, whilst developing their skills and confidence.
“This was a bit of a pilot. We’re looking at expanding the number of sports we can offer, so seeing how well this has worked and seeing women in the group go from being inactive and lacking a bit of confidence to taking part regularly has shown us we are on the right track.”
Following this pilot programme, we are excited to announce our upcoming Badminton Level 1 Training programme for BME women in Dundee, in addition to a new pilot Basketball programme.
We are honoured to be a finalist in this category, and for being recognised in our contributions to making Sports Activities more inclusive for Muslim & BME Women across Scotland.
Finalists will be announced at the Award Ceremony on Friday, 13th September. Keep an eye on our socials for more details, and to find out about our upcoming sports projects.
Read the original nomination article here on The Herald here.
Amina’s Creative Well-Being programme offers a safe space for women to learn and connect. We partner with other organisations to deliver sessions that encourage confidence building, creativity, and self-expression. Through this we can impress a sense of community and personal well-being among the women who join our programme. Register now for free weekly sessions every Tuesday in Dundee!