Community Gatherings & Events

We hold gatherings throughout the year in Manchester — religious commemorations, shared meals, and occasions that bring families into the same room.

What We Hold

• Milad gatherings and religious commemorations, including the annual programme in Rabi al-Awwal
• Mehfil-e-Naat — evenings of naat recitation
• Shared meals, including community iftars through Ramadan
• Women’s gatherings and study circles
• Children’s activity sessions alongside the main programme
• Eid gatherings, which are usually the largest of the year

Why We Keep Doing This

These occasions do more than mark the calendar.

A community centre is one of the few places left where people who would otherwise never meet end up sitting next to one another — a retired man who came here in the seventies beside a student who arrived last month, a family who have been in Longsight for three generations beside one who moved in last week.

They are also how someone quietly struggling gets noticed. Nobody fills in a form to say they are isolated or that money is short. It comes out over food, sideways, to someone they have seen a few times before. A good proportion of the practical help this organisation gives started at a gathering rather than through a phone call.

If You Have Never Been

Everyone is welcome, including people who have never attended anything here and do not know a soul.

Some things worth knowing in advance: gatherings usually have separate seating areas for men and women; food is normally served afterwards and there is no charge; children are expected and nobody minds the noise; and you will not be asked for money at the door.

If you would rather not walk in alone the first time, say so when you contact us and someone will meet you.

Coming Up

Dates are listed on our events page, and photographs from previous gatherings are in the gallery. To be told when the next one is arranged, get in touch.