An archery club set up to engage the Muslim community in Birmingham has been shortlisted at the Birmingham Awards which recognise the people and groups who make a contribution to the city and those who live there.
The awards, which are in their 9th year, have seen 500 nominations flood in showcasing the support clubs and individuals offer to the city. The celebration is aimed at bringing people together to show pride in Birmingham and demonstrate how people from different backgrounds and sectors are advancing the city.
The organisers said the finalists reflect the resilience and diversity of Birmingham.
Crescent Archers came about after Archery GB successfully bid to Sport England for the National Governing Body (NGB's) Sport Participation, Innovation and Digital fund, which targeted NGBs involved in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games programme.
Our first step was to appoint a part time Legacy Coordinator to help achieve our aspirations and we were incredibly fortunate to appoint Jamila Bi, a hugely positive role model for archery and the West Midlands.
Jamila and her son attended the British Muslim Awards earlier this year where Project Rimaya was highly commended
Jamila Bi said: "My role as an Archery GB Legacy Coordinator is to coordinate and deliver archery activities that increase participation, retention and most importantly to tackle inequalities or barriers, which may prevent anyone from taking up our sport, especially in ethnic minorities."
Jamila completed her 1st4sport Level 3 Award for Tutors and Assessors in Sport and is now an Archery GB Coach Developer, delivering Archery GB Instructor Award courses across the West Midlands and further afield. Jamila has delivered seven Instructor Award courses so far, including two courses for the Muslim Scout Fellowship. Jamila always goes over and above to support all the candidates and her feedback from attendees is excellent.
As well as delivering archery at a community level, she has also established an archery club, Crescent Archers, where she is seen as a pillar of the community.
Her hard work has resulted in over 6,000 people experiencing archery, in most cases for the first time, across the West Midlands, since she started on 1 July 2022. As well as the club, she delivers the StreetGames HAF Programme (Holiday, Activity & Food) focused on archery delivered across all school holidays in partnership with Bring it On Brum. She also helped coordinate the Team GB team announcement which was supported by Ackers Archery and members of Crescent Archers.
The awards take place tomorrow (9 November) at the Eastside Rooms at a night of celebration and inspiration. You can follow along with the results by following the hashtags #BrumAwards24 and #BrumInspires on social media.
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