BOARDING SCHOOL PLAN RAISES BIG ISSUES

A controversial proposal by the Birmingham based charity Islamic Help to convert Brierfield Mills - the Grade II listed building and former home of the medical fabrics manufacturer Smith and Nephew – into a 5,000 place boarding school for Muslim girls raises big issues.
 
I want young people to mix and grow up together, learning from each other.
 
A huge boarding school in the middle of Pendle could, potentially, have a colossal impact on other schools in East Lancashire. For this reason and for others I am opposed to the proposal.
 
The main charitable objective of Islamic Help is to help respond to emergency disasters overseas. It seems to me that the "Pendle School for Girls" takes them well away from their main charitable objective. True, the charity says it wants to expand the educational work that it is supporting, especially in Asia and Africa, but does that mean the girls would come from overseas? We wait for details.
 
Details of the Birmingham based charity, Islamic Help, can be accessed on the Charity Commission website;
www.charity-commission.gov.uk/