Founder and Chair
Bushra Iqbal MBE
Founder and Chair of North Lanarkshire Muslim Women and Family Alliance, and the driving force behind more than three decades of grassroots work with women, families and communities across North Lanarkshire.
Awarded an MBE in 2008 for services to community relations, she champions equality, interfaith understanding and the wellbeing of women and families.
Bushra Iqbal MBE, founder and Chair of NLMWA.
Her story
From grassroots support to a Scottish charity
Bushra Iqbal MBE began bringing Muslim women together in North Lanarkshire in 1994, at a time when there was almost nothing locally for women who wanted to learn English, find friendship or get help with health, housing and school issues.
What started as informal gatherings grew into a structured organisation with classes, befriending, advocacy and family support. In 2015 the group became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, North Lanarkshire Muslim Women and Family Alliance, with Bushra as its Chair.
She has always insisted that the women the charity serves should shape it. Members lead the sub-committees, plan the activities and speak for themselves with councils, health services and funders — the idea behind the charity’s Voice for the Voiceless work.
What she leads
Her work today
As Chair, Bushra leads the strategy group alongside the secretary and treasurer, and personally leads the charity’s partnership work with North Lanarkshire Council, NHS Lanarkshire, Police Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service and the funders and trusts that support the charity.
- Championing family support for women facing isolation, bereavement or crisis
- Opening up learning and skills, from English classes to digital confidence
- Improving health and wellbeing through partnership with local health teams
- Building community and culture events that bring different communities together
- Guiding the charity’s projects, past, present and planned
Recognition
An MBE for service to the community
Bushra was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2008 for services to community relations. Her story has also been recorded by Colourful Heritage, the Scottish archive of South Asian and Muslim community history, as part of its Herstory series.
Equality and public service
Building bridges across Scotland
Alongside her leadership of NLMWA, Bushra has worked as an educator, equality advocate and community advisor. Her work brings together women’s empowerment, interfaith understanding and stronger relationships between public institutions and the communities they serve.
Her advisory experience includes work as an Equality Advisor to the West of Scotland Regional Equality Council (WSREC), a Special Advisor to Strathclyde Police, and a consultative role supporting the Procurator Fiscal Service. These roles have focused on equality, community engagement and trust.
A voice at the Scottish Parliament
On 23 October 2012, Bushra delivered Time for Reflection at the Scottish Parliament, representing North Lanarkshire Muslim Women and Family Alliance. Her address explored the purpose of life, personal responsibility and accountability, closing with a message of peace.
Read Bushra’s Time for Reflection address.
The Lo Presti Institute
Bushra is also a co-founder and board member of the Lo Presti Institute, where she contributes her experience of community leadership, equality and inclusion in an advisory capacity.
Be part of the work she started
Join as a member, give your time as a volunteer, or support the charity with a donation.
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Meet the wider team on our Our team page.
