East End Women’s Museum: Yashmin Harun BEM (British Empire Medal)
About this record
Yashmin has been involved in sport her whole life, and founded Muslimah Sports Association in 2014. The organisation advocates for equal opportunities for women of colour in sport and empowers women through sporting activities. As part of ‘Ready, Set, Go! Newham Women in Sport’, she spoke to researcher Mena Ogbuehi about her life and experiences.
Yashmin Harun is the creator and founder of the Muslimah Sports Association (MSA), an organisation that aims to offer women a safe and positive environment to participate in a number of different sports without compromising their religious or cultural beliefs. The MSA runs 18 sports classes a week, the majority in Redbridge, Newham and Wandsworth. In 2019 she received a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her work to open up sports such as football, badminton, tennis and fencing to minority ethnic women.
Sporting and Founding the Muslimah Sports Association
Yashmin stated that she was involved in sports all her life, from Netball to Football and so on, however after leaving secondary school she found that she couldn’t find a safe place to continue to participate in sport that respected here faith as a Muslim woman and therefore stopped. She stated that she got inspired after getting married and having children to create that safe space that wasn’t available to her, where Muslim girls could engage in sports and to normalise Muslim girls being active, and that was how the MSA was formed.
“It is important for women to have a safe space to exercise, not just for the social impact [of sport] but for mental wellbeing as well”
London 2012
“The legacy has gone away” – Yashmin Harun
On the legacy of London 2012, Yashmin believes that it is down to small organisations and charities like the Muslimah Sports Association to continue the legacy of London 2012 and encourage women to take part in sports and athletics.
What is one thing you want to leave behind with the Muslimah Sports Association and its legacy?
“That sports is a part of everyday life!”
This exhibition explores both historical and present-day Newham women and their contributions to sport. FULL DETAILS +
This Family Games Day gives families and young people the chance to try different sports and see our exhibition for Newham Heritage Month. FULL DETAILS +
Additional record details
- Contributor: East End Women’s Museum
- Date created: April 2022
- Location: Newham
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