Welcome to Issue 2 of Connect. It has been a busy three months since our first issue; we have been overwhelmed by your support and general feedback. I would personally like to thank all of you who have submitted your projects and apologise if we have not been able to feature them as yet. It is apparent that many of you are involved in innovative and challenging pieces of work. 

We want to recognise projects that we feel 'stand out from the rest', so we are introducing 'Best Project' status to projects in each issue. This has been given to 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' in this issue for their excellent work in building bridges between young people from different backgrounds. 

Providing leadership training is a big theme in this issue; Abdul Wahid of the Nida Trust details information on their leadership course set to gain accredited status from London Metropolitan University; the Muslim Youth Development Project, through a volunteering scheme in partnership with many organisations, has come up with a comprehensive package to prepare future youth leaders; and the Muslim Youth Forum has also provided much needed training for its forum members, enabling them to take on leadership and advocay roles. Additionally though, the forum also gives the young a voice; imperative in the current context. 

The Ansar Youth Project, a project that focuses on those most in need and ‘hard to reach’, has now successfully trained young mentors (aged 18-28 years), with help from the Mentoring & Befriending Foundation, who provide necesary support for young Muslims facing new life challenges. The discourse around 'Muslim Youth Work' is addressed by Sadek Hamid of Chester University. This article, the first part of two, addresses key concepts and rationale around the subject matter. 

I hope you enjoy this issue and I welcome your views and suggestions for future themes and articles. Please do get in touch.

Tafazal Mohammad

Managing Director

Muslim Youth Skills

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