A lot to update on, alhamdulilah, so here goes!

 

- started the year with delivery of 15,000 Fresher Packs. We produced these in conjunction with UKISOC and had to distribute all over the UK and Ireland, not an easy task! Many thanks go to several people who stayed up late nights to make this all happen.

 

- the next event was the FOSIS Winter Conference, which took place in Cambridge in December. Cambridge ISoc were our amazing and fantastic hosts and a huge jazakAllah khair to them for their efforts and hard work. All the 120 delegates who came from all across the UK thoroughly enjoyed the event and we were lucky to have with us several scholars, including Mufti Ibn Adam Al-Kawthari and Shaykh Abdal Hakeem Murad address us on many matters of importance. The highlight was no doubt the founder of Islamic Relief and ex-Treasurer of FOSIS Dr Hany el-Banna rounding off the evening with a memorable rendition of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"... you had to be there!

 

- since the beginning of the year preparations for the next FOSIS Annual Conference (FAC) have been taking place and I have been up to several venues to ascertain their suitability for this summer. We have also been working hard at getting sponsorship proposals ready and getting our marketing and programme structure in place for what will be, insha'Allah, the best event in the Muslim students' calender this year!

 

- we have also been working on designing new content for the Fresher Packs for 2011. These promise to be one of the highlights of the fresher experience and follow extensive market research earlier this year. Production of the content for our materials is under way and we have begun to source merchandise and seek sponsorship for them.

 

- one of the new projects we launched this year is Artistic Jihad. This is in response to the large number of Muslim students who find it difficult to get onto the career ladder following study in the arts, and also to help dispel those misconceptions about art that exist in the Muslim community. We've arranged with University of Arts Islamic Society an exhibition in April, following a month long competition to be judged by prominent UK artists to find emerging talent. There has been a lot of interest and insha'Allah promises to be an exceptional project. Go towww.artisticjihad.com for more information.

 

- working with Br Ameen Umarjee, we've made progress with initiating our alumni network. We've met with several alumni and friends of FOSIS over the past few months and have spent many meetings planning and organising our next steps. Keep your eyes peeled!

 

- as part of the alumni plans, we arranged an Insight Evening for Corporate Law with Simmons and Simmons. Alhamdulilah this was very well received and attended with nearly 70 people attending from all over the UK an as put by one of the attendees, " I just wanted to thank you for providing us with an opportunity to gain such an honest insight into a city legal career. I have attended a few events held in city law firms but this was the first one to be different and offer frank answers about both the difficulties of rewards and disadvantages of such a challenging career." We plan to have more of these events with different and varied careers coming up soon