Congregate

Pilot kit

Start small. Prove it in one place.

A 26 week plan for the first six months in one borough, town or neighbourhood. What to do each week, what it costs, what can go wrong, and a session any co-lead can run.

Download the pilot packJump to the week by week plan

One Word document with everything on this page, so you can edit it and share it. Version 0.1.

Three phases.

The pilot is the first. Prove it works in one place before anyone is asked to join something bigger.

Phase 1, start here

Local pilot.

Months 1 to 6

Prove it works in one place.

  • Secure one location: a single borough, with two partnering masaajid.
  • Run the intergenerational pilot linking Elevate, Consolidate and Rejuvenate.
  • Do the first self-audit, refine the playbooks, and publish version 1.0.

Phase 2

Open and regional.

Months 7 to 18

Make it easy to adopt.

  • Launch the open portal with playbooks, templates and the audit tool.
  • Onboard five regional hubs across major population centres.
  • Form the national federated shura council, with a representative for each pillar.

Phase 3

Maturity.

Months 19 to 36

Build what lasts.

  • Deploy the community awqaf fund and the venture studio.
  • Build partnerships with legal, healthcare and education bodies.
  • Reach full eight pillar coverage across registered hubs.

What each phase needs.

Start with a free stack and volunteers, and add paid help as the work grows. A funded coordinator from the start is the best single protection against burnout.

  • People

    Phase 1: pilotA volunteer lead and three volunteer pillar leads, each with a co-lead

    Phase 2: scaleA paid community manager and eight volunteer pillar leads

    Phase 3: maturityTwo full time staff (operations and technology) and eight domain experts on the shura

  • Technology

    Phase 1: pilotA free stack: Notion, WhatsApp and Google Drive

    Phase 2: scaleAn open source documentation hub and a web based audit tool

    Phase 3: maturityA shared community CRM, a directory and a portal app

  • Money

    Phase 1: pilot£2,500 to £5,000 for venue hire, materials and events

    Phase 2: scale£25,000 to £40,000 for technology, legal templates and regional training

    Phase 3: maturity£80,000 to £120,000 a year for core salaries, platform upkeep and endowment seed capital

  • Places

    Phase 1: pilotNone owned: partner masaajid and community spaces

    Phase 2: scaleShared facility booking agreements between hubs

    Phase 3: maturityInstitutional awqaf assets managed through Cultivate

The money figures are a UK reference from the original plan. Adjust them for your own context. Our strengthened advice: fund a coordinator, even part time, from phase 1 instead of waiting for phase 2.

Week by week.

Twenty six weeks, in four stages. Tick each step off as you go. Change anything that does not fit your place.

21 steps

Your ticks are saved in this browser only, so you can come back to them.

Weeks 1 to 4

Gather and map.

Find the people already doing the work, and choose where to start.

  1. Week 1

    Convene a founding group

    • Invite five to eight people who are already doing the work, across at least three age groups.
    • Agree the aim in one sentence, and the two or three pillars to start with. Elevate and Consolidate are a good pair.
    • Agree the guardrails: about two hours a week per volunteer, and a co-lead for every lead.

  2. Week 2

    Map what already exists

    • List every organisation, venue and programme in your area against the eight pillars.
    • Mark overlaps (the same thing run twice) and gaps (nobody running it).
    • Note who is already doing the work in each pillar.

  3. Week 3

    Choose your location

    • Choose one borough, town or neighbourhood, and two partnering masaajid or neutral spaces.
    • Have a one to one conversation with the leaders of each partner.
    • Agree a neutral second venue now, in case a host venue withdraws later.

  4. Week 4

    Name your team

    • Appoint the lead orchestrator (a khadim, a servant facilitator, not a boss) and pillar leads, each paired with a co-lead.
    • Cap commitments at about two hours a week.
    • Decide whether you can fund at least a part time coordinator from the start.

Weeks 5 to 8

Build trust and safeguards.

Agree terms, protect young people, and brief everyone before anyone meets.

  1. Week 5

    Agree terms with host masaajid

    • Sign a short memorandum of understanding. Congregate is an unbranded guest utility, and the masjid keeps its name, governance and final say.
    • Watch for early warnings: delayed room bookings, last minute demands to change the syllabus, or a refusal to sign.

  2. Week 6

    Put safeguarding in place

    • Appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) with certified training.
    • Start enhanced background checks (DBS in the UK, or your local equivalent) for every mentor, before they meet young people.
    • Agree insurance cover under an existing registered partner charity.

  3. Week 7

    Agree how data is handled

    • Agree a data sharing agreement before any youth records are shared between organisations.
    • Keep only the records you need, and decide where they live and who can see them.

  4. Week 8

    Recruit and brief

    • Recruit mentors from the Consolidate group, and elder advisers from Rejuvenate.
    • Hold an orientation for elders: they come as consultative advisers, not disciplinarians.
    • Brief mentors with ready made session guides, so any co-lead can step in with no preparation.

Weeks 9 to 20

Deliver.

Run the programme, watch the early warnings, and adjust.

  1. Week 9 (programme week 1)

    Launch the intergenerational pilot

    • Run the first session with young people (Elevate), mentors (Consolidate) and an elder adviser (Rejuvenate) in the room.
    • Take attendance from the first day.

  2. Week 10 (programme week 2)

    Settle the rhythm

    • Hold a 15 minute check in for leads and co-leads after every session.
    • Keep sessions practical. Pair a skill (martial arts, coding or public speaking) with a short tarbiyyah segment, not a lecture.

  3. Week 11 (programme week 3)

    Check attendance

    • Compare attendance with week one, and ask parents and young people what they think.

    Trigger A: if attendance has dropped below 60%, pause the standard curriculum for one week and call parents and young people one to one to adjust the format.

  4. Weeks 12 to 14

    Keep the rhythm

    • Before each session: confirm both adults, the room and the plan 48 hours ahead.
    • During: group work only, in view of others, with no one to one contact.
    • After: a short note of what worked, filed where the whole team can see it.

    Early warning: unanswered messages or missed prep meetings 48 hours before a session. Activate the shadow co-lead.

  5. Week 15

    Mid-point review

    • Meet as the founding group: what is working, what to change, who is tired.
    • Rebalance the load before anyone burns out.

  6. Weeks 16 to 19

    Keep going, and collect feedback

    • Hold the rhythm, rotate responsibilities, and keep apprentices doing real tasks.
    • Ask young people, parents, mentors and elders for short written feedback.

    Trigger C: if a key mentor resigns, the pre-assigned shadow co-lead from Consolidate takes over facilitation within 24 hours. Trigger B: if a host venue withdraws, move to the second venue straight away.

  7. Week 20 (programme week 12)

    Close the cycle

    • Thank everyone publicly, and collect final feedback and attendance numbers.

Weeks 21 to 26

Audit and publish version 1.0.

Score yourselves honestly, and share what you learned.

  1. Week 21

    Assemble the audit panel

    • Appoint three to five people: at least one young person, one working professional and one elder.

  2. Week 22

    Gather the evidence

    • Collect the last 12 months of records, or the pilot period if shorter: finances, attendance, volunteer retention and documents.

  3. Week 23

    Score and benchmark

    • Run the self-audit together, and agree each score as a panel.
    Open the self-audit

  4. Week 24

    Write the 90 day plan

    • Address the two lowest scoring criteria, and publish the plan to your community.

  5. Week 25

    Refine the playbooks

    • Update the playbooks from feedback, and write down what changed and why.

  6. Week 26

    Publish version 1.0 and share it

    • Publish your version of the playbook openly.
    • Arrange a peer audit swap with another hub, and plan to help the next hub start. The pilot team can spend two weekends embedded with them.

Plan the money.

Most pilots cost very little, because the venue is a partner's hall and the time is given. Add up what you expect to spend, and see how it compares.

What can go wrong.

Most of these are about people and trust, not money. Read them before you start, and share them with your founding group.

Political

Critical

Masjid committee pushback or control.

Likelihood high. Impact high.

A clear memorandum of understanding that defines Congregate as an unbranded guest operational utility.

Financial and legal

Critical

Child safeguarding and insurance failure.

Likelihood low. Impact high.

Mandatory enhanced background checks for every mentor, and cover under an existing registered partner charity's insurance.

Operational

High

Volunteer and mentor burnout.

Likelihood high. Impact high.

A buddy system pairs every lead with a co-lead, and commitments are capped at about two hours a week.

Operational

High

Youth drop off and low engagement.

Likelihood medium. Impact high.

Blend practical, high value skills (martial arts, coding, public speaking) with tarbiyyah, instead of passive lectures.

Political

High

Friction between masaajid or factions.

Likelihood medium. Impact high.

Position the pilot as a borough wide initiative, and use neutral community spaces if joint hosting stalls.

Political

High

Being seen as an umbrella body.

Likelihood high. Impact medium.

No public fundraising in phase 1, which reassures local charities that Congregate is not competing for donor funds.

Operational

Medium

A gap between the generations.

Likelihood medium. Impact medium.

Hold an orientation before the pilot so elders understand their role is consultative, not disciplinary.

Financial and legal

Low

Pilot budget shortfall.

Likelihood low. Impact medium.

Use zero cost partner venues such as masjid halls, and secure five to ten local professional micro-sponsors from Consolidate.

Early warning signs.

Trouble shows up in small things first. Watch for these, and act while it is still easy.

Masjid committee interference.

Look for

Delayed room bookings, last minute demands to edit the syllabus, or a refusal to sign the memorandum.

Then

  • Position Congregate as a behind the scenes accelerator that makes the masjid look successful to its congregation.
  • Keep the core tarbiyyah curriculum to universally accepted character (akhlaq) and practical life skills.

Volunteer mentor drop off.

Look for

Unanswered WhatsApp updates, or missed prep meetings 48 hours before a session.

Then

  • Use ready made session guides so any co-lead can step in with no preparation.
  • Keep a 1:2 mentor to youth group ratio, so no session relies on one person.

Safeguarding exposure.

Look for

Unvetted adults attending sessions, or unmonitored one to one digital contact between mentors and young people.

Then

  • Enforce a strict rule of no one to one contact, digital or physical. Communicate only in monitored group channels or public spaces.
  • Appoint a certified Designated Safeguarding Lead for the whole pilot.

If this happens, do this.

A

When

Attendance drops below 60% by week 3

Then

Pause the standard curriculum for a week, and call parents and young people one to one to adjust the format of the activities.

B

When

A host venue withdraws access

Then

Move sessions at once to the second venue you agreed in advance, such as a council community centre or a partner sports hall.

C

When

A key mentor resigns mid-pilot

Then

The shadow co-lead from Consolidate takes over facilitation within 24 hours.

A session you can run tomorrow.

Plug and play: any co-lead should be able to run this with no preparation. Pair a practical skill with a short tarbiyyah segment.

  1. 10min

    Arrive and settle

    Welcome, take attendance, and share a short opening reflection on intention (niyyah).

  2. 40min

    Skill block

    A practical skill with a clear outcome, such as martial arts, coding or public speaking. Two vetted adults in the room. Everyone leaves having made or done something.

  3. 25min

    Tarbiyyah circle

    One theme of character (akhlaq) connected to the skill, for example self-restraint with sport, trustworthiness with coding, or honest speech with public speaking. Have your scholar adviser approve the sources.

  4. 10min

    Reflect and plan

    Each person names one thing to practise before next time. Mentors write a short note.

  5. 5min

    Close

    A short closing dua, tidy up, a headcount, and everyone collected safely.

What success could look like.

These are aims from the original plan, not results. Set your own, and measure them honestly.

10

institutions using at least two playbooks in year 1, and 50 by year 3

60%

of registered organisations moving from Level 1 to Level 3 within 12 months

100+

documented handoffs per hub each year, from youth to mentor to elder adviser

40%

less duplicated local service within 36 months, through shared facilities and one calendar