Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees

The current Trustees are responsible for the recruitment of new Trustees.  The Trustees seek and recruit new potential Trustees based on the commitments and skills they can provide to Iqra charity Trust.

As part of the recruitment and selection procedure, potential candidates are interviewed by all the Trustees and each candidate is scored on his/her merits.  This ensures that the process is fair, and the best candidate can be found to serve Iqra

Induction and Training

Once a new Trustee is appointed, they are briefed on their roles and given a copy of the Trust Document.  They then work closely alongside an existing Trustee to get a feel for the role and tasks and are better able to understand their potential responsibilities and input. After a period (typically between 6 to 9 months), if satisfactory feedback is received from the existing Trustees, the new Trustee is given their exact role and responsibility.

Recruitment of International Volunteers

Our international volunteers currently work for established charities and schools that specialise in supporting disabled children or those with learning difficulties. We rely on the vetting process of the schools that they are employed with. We are currently in the process of implementing our own vetting process to further ensure that individuals who work on our behalf have a clear record and are not associated in any way with fundamental groups.

We are reviewing the international volunteer process as follows:

We have invested in an online solution to manage the school as well as track donations from source to the destination to provide auditors with complete transparency of where funds are being invested.

The illustration above shows a list of recent transactions in the system, details of the donor, the intended purpose and the amount pledged or donated. An electronic receipt is sent to the donor as soon as the donation is logged onto the system.

Our Aims

The aim for Iqra is to provide education, charitable support and assistance both within the UK and other countries outside the UK such as Pakistan. In Pakistan we focus on helping disadvantaged children and adults by making donations to satisfy their educational and personal needs.

Our Objectives

UK

Iqra Education Trust’s school objective is to provide supplementary education in national curriculum subjects and community languages. We also respond to the religious, social and cultural needs of children and adults who are financially disadvantaged.

The needs of the immediate local community are continuously supported so that those less fortunate are helped during tough times.

Pakistan

Iqra Educational Trust’s objective in Pakistan is to help the underprivileged and the less fortunate, focusing on those children with special needs.  Our objective is to provide aid and support to enable these children to better themselves and build a life with greater independence.

We also provide healthcare facilities to ensure the basic amenities such as clean water are provided.

Each year the Chairman and Trustees review our objectives to ensure that they continue to reflect our aim.

Iqra Educational Trust works closely and supports both local and charities abroad with the same value and ethos as us.  This ensures that the donations which are given reach those who the Trustees and donors feel are the most deserving.

Iqra Educational Trust with help from valued donors and Allah(SWT) continued its remarkable work throughout 2018.  With projects simultaneously running in the UK and Pakistan Iqra once again delivered help and aid to the neediest.

Providing Braille Books including Quran and Pangsura

Following on from the previous year, Iqra Educational Trust again purchased and delivered Braille books and Qurans right across Pakistan. Iqra Educational Trust also provided Braille paper to the National Book Foundation Karachi which ensured that Braille literature both Quranic and general study were printed and provided throughout areas in Pakistan.  This support was vital to ensure that continuous awareness and advancement reached those neediest.

Examples of some of the books and posters are shown here:

The water projects continued throughout 2018. Iqra provided dispensers, water pumps and wells to the most underprivileged people and schools. Locations included Sargoda (Punjab), Bhawalpur, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujarat, and Attak.

Iqra donated to the new tree initiative in Pakistan to enable the plantation of trees in Sargodha and Tobateaksingh.

Libary pic below of plantation.

Various Stationary items such as art paper, pens and colouring materials were provided to schools. This continued effort ensured that children had adequate resources to reach their potential in the early years of their lives.

Iqra donated sports item to many special schools in Multan, Bahawalpur, and Lahore. The sports initiative was needed as the children lacked resources. This is something Iqra will be looking to build upon in 2019.

Iqra Educational Trust maintained its close alliance with the specialist training colleges catering for the deaf and blind children.  This ensured that the teachers had adequate resources to learn and teach the children to the best of their ability.

Resources such as chairs, furniture, books for the library and other basic amenities were some of the items which Iqra funded.

Sensory Room equipment–A range of materials related to sensory integration therapy were required for the sensory room at the LifeHouse Institute for Special Children. Other requirements such as carpeting a classroom and bean bags were also provided. The funds for all this were donated by Iqra Educational Trust.

Iqra Education Trust has provided approximately 50 wheelchairs across various schools in Pakistan. Locations include Lahore, Bahawalpur, Karachi and Multan.

Building on last year’s efforts, Iqra Educational Trust continued to support this hostel in Lahore for displaced women.  We continued our aim to empower the women within the hostel providing sewing machines, learning literature and clothes. This enabled these women to gain independence. These women could make clothes using the sewing machines provided by Iqra Educational Trust and gain independence once they are in a position to leave the hostel or find work.

Large donations of good quality ready-to-wear and unsown cloth were also provided as well as sweaters for the winter months.

Bazeecha Trust is one of the preeminent non-profit organizations engaged in providing a better future to the underprivileged girls. It was founded as an effort to help those affected by the earthquake that hit Pakistan in 2005. Initially, in 2006 Bazeecha trust started as a makeshift shelter home in Abbottabad, providing food and shelter to 10 young girls. Presently there are thirty young girls, aged between three years to twenty-one.

Iqra has supported Bazeecha Trust in the following ways:

• Provide educational resources
• Food ration packs-Especially during Ramadan
• Financial help –For both hostel and other ongoing Bazeecha trust programmes

Iqra provided Ramadan packs and Eid gifts to special education schools in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Tobateaksingh, and Sargodha.

Iqra Trust also has a Saturday School which has been established for over 30 years. This School provides Tuition for children up to the ages of 16. The school covers Key stages 1/2/3 in Maths English and Science.  Iqra also covers Islamic Studies and Urdu for both beginners and advanced levels.  Iqra has maintained a sincere approach to teaching and is dedicated to helping Children progress further.  Iqra also provides financial support for underprivileged children to help those families most needy.

Fundraising is an integral part of Iqra Trust to raise money and create awareness of the work that Iqra Trust is involved in. 2018 was no different and we had the support of Lord Nazir to help with the large fundraiser. Iqra also has numerous charity fairs hosted throughout the year.

Farishteh Trust provides daytime respite – club each Saturday and weekly outings. They also provide to carers regular activities and outings. We offer information, advice and assistance. All the above was on a voluntary basis.

Iqra Trust provide financial help to Farishteh on a regular basis.