More than 50 Jewish and Muslim women attended the inaugural meeting of Nisa Nashim West Midlands. The gathering was addressed by Laura Marks and Julie Siddiqui - who initiated and led the project in London - they shared the aims of the organisation, which are to bring Muslim and Jewish people together, to encourage women to lead, and to run events or projects for one another or for the benefit of wider society.

The participants at Birmingham's Moseley Exchange formed a local steering group and a number of Muslim women volunteered to take part in this year's Mitzvah Day activities in Birmingham. The Nisa Nashim gathering, the first outside London, was initiated by Nikki Bi and Ruth Jacobs, both of whom said they were delighted by the response to establish Nisa Nashim in Birmingham.