Ben Fund welcomes new Multi-Faith Leader, Khadija Sulaiman to its Operations Team

We are delighted to welcome West Midlands Police’s new multi-faith lead, Khadija Sulaiman on to our Operations Team.

Khadija made history this year after becoming the country’s first Muslim to be appointed the role at a police force and we are honoured to have her on our team.

Khadija’s interest in chaplaincy began around 12 years ago when she found herself volunteering in the local community, specifically supporting women from South Asia.

Shortly afterwards, she started volunteering as a chaplain at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital. This paved the way to her subsequent career in chaplaincy at Birmingham’s Women and Children’s Hospital, before going on to support inmates at a local female prison.

Having joined West Midlands Police earlier this year, Khadija now leads a team of over 100 multi-faith chaplains, replacing John Butcher BEM, who retired after supporting the Force for more than 30 years.

Chairman of the Benevolent Fund, John Williams commented, “John was a real ambassador for the Ben Fund. He regularly attending our Trustees and Operations Committee meetings and was keen to support our police charity wherever he could. We were sad to say farewell to him after many years of dedicated service.

“However, after meeting and chatting to Khadija, it is clear to see that she possesses the same desire and motivation to help and support our police family. We are very fortunate to have such a determined and focused individual on our team. Her ambition to raise the profile of the multi-faith team and channel further effort into the pastoral care for officers and staff is exactly what our charity can support with.

“The team here at the Benevolent Fund wish her every success as she embarks on her historic role and we are really looking forward to working with her in the future.”

Our operations committee meet every six weeks and it is their job to consider grant and loan applications and then recommend them to the Trustees for approval.

The committee has a broad base of members that represent a group or association linked with West Midlands Police. The majority are from the Police Federation, but there are others from National Association of Retired Police Officers, Association of Chief Police Officers, Superintendent’s Association, Women in Policing, Black & Asian Police Association (BAPA), the LGBTQ+ Association and disability advocates.

Khadija says she is looking forward to working with West Midlands Police Benevolent Fund and can see how her role and her team of chaplains can support and raise awareness of the fund’s vital charity work.

“Working in so many different environments will definitely help my role in the police,” added Khadija.