The monthly newsletter published by the Balsall Heath Local History Society (BHLHS) in Birmingham, UK. It serves as both a community bulletin and a historical record for the area.
What’s Inside the Gazette?
The publication typically includes a mix of current news and historical research:
Historical Articles: Local stories and accounts of local landmarks – the social history of the Balsall Heath and Highgate areas.
Photographic Archives: Rare images of the neighbourhood from various eras.
Society Updates: Information on upcoming monthly meetings, guest speakers, and local heritage events.
It is published monthly and has been a staple of the society for years with digital archives dating back to at least 2010. Distributed to members, recent and archived editions are also made available as PDF downloads on the official BHLHS website and on the Heathan.
Naseem Akhtar BEM looks back on the challenges growing up and growing strong in Balsall Heath. She has spent over 20 years inspiring and encouraging thousands of women in Birmingham and, with the Saheli Hub team, transformed lives through activity.
Naseem has lived in Balsall Heath nearly all her life. Growing up in Balsall Heath in the 70s and 80s, Naseem recalls hiding where she came from when at school in nearby Selly Park:
I genuinely used to hide that I was from Balsall Heath…I used to say, ‘just by Cannon Hill Park’, or ‘by the Edgbaston Cricket Ground’.
For a young girl in a traditional Muslim household with five brothers, the streets were off-limits. ‘I thought I wasn’t allowed out because I was an Asian girl. Looking back, I wouldn’t let my sons out now, knowing what was happening on those corners.’ Balsall Heath was then known for street prostitution and drug dealling.
‘It’s only when I became a teenager it kind of almost started to become like that 24-hour service. So, you’d see women on the streets in the morning, noon and night and growing up in a kind of traditional Muslim household, no one ever discussed what these women were doing or what it was about…I think that the day that I was really kind of horrified was when I stopped at my doctor surgery, who’s still my doctor, amazing doctor on Cheddar Road, and I remember one day walking past and a woman was sitting in a bikini. I thought what’s that about? But nobody talked about it.’
The Thread of Activism
Naseem’s journey into advocacy started in a local sewing factory at 19 when she realized she was being paid a third of what she thought she should. She went to the ‘low pay unit’ with her brother and photocopied leaflets, distributing them to every woman in the building.
‘…it was on piece work. And some people got the best pieces and some people didn’t, and I didn’t like it. But what I loved in the factory was that it was a lot of Asian girls. As an adult having left school with no real qualifications – I wasn’t allowed to go to College or Uni because Margaret Thatcher had come along and she’d shut all the colleges, unless you went to mix college. And in my generation, many girls weren’t allowed…because of the fact that they’re mixed.’
It was a hard lesson in leadership. “I was ostracized by half the factory,” she admits:
‘I learnt you can’t be an unelected leader by yourself. You have to bring people with you. I stayed for six months to prove a point, then got a job that paid the full £150. I went back to the old factory and showed them my wage slip. I wanted them to know you can get paid properly if you find the right employer.’
Saheli – a Vision Born of Rejection
By the early 2000s, Balsall Heath was changing. The community – churches, mosques, and residents – had reclaimed the streets from the sex trade. But for Asian women, “social exclusion” remained. Naseem joined the Balsall Heath Forum:
‘They could see I was really committed and so they offered me the job. Initially I was too scared to take it – my brother had completed the application for me and I got the interview…I got the job and started from there. So the Forum then employed me to see what women wanted and we secured funding for a feasability study.’
What they wanted was a health and fitness facility run by women, for women:
‘They wanted to do a swimming exercise, Fitness and Sport, and when we asked them why aren’t you using the biggest Sports Centre on the edge of your neighbourhood, they said because they felt nobody understood their culture. The women-only times were very limited by the time you got in and changed you needed to change back…it wasn’t suitable, so they just didn’t go.’
Responses to the feasibility study were dismissive – NHS services said ‘We don’t do leisure, we do health’, and City Council Leisure staff said, ‘That’s never going to happen’.
Naseem partnered with South and City College, starting in ‘The Learning Library’ one day a week. Soon, women were flooding in. Women who came for the gym ended up staying for ESOL classes and vocational training offered by the college too:
‘We changed in one of the side offices. And the numbers just started to go through the roof. So we started in April, I always remember that, and by September we had a meeting they said just have that bit of the site, just have it. And so we ended up using the site Monday to Friday.’
A big break came from a moment of raw honesty at a high-level regeneration conference. Naseem was given seven minutes to speak. She told a room full of suits that despite £6 million being spent on “regeneration” in her area, nothing had changed for women and girls. That honesty caught the ear of a funder from Sport England. He asked for a one-page vision. Naseem sent him a photo of local girls in hijabs and helmets, splashed with mud, beaming after a day of mountain biking in a ravine.
Today, the Saheli Hub stands as a testament to what happens when you stop telling a community what they need and start listening to what they want.
Naseem’s ‘radical’ ideas – that women from all backgrounds deserve to take up space, ride bikes, and prioritize their health – have helped build a bridge to a healthier future for women and men.
From a girl who was once ‘walked to her friend’s house by her brothers for safety,’ Naseem has been walking, running and biking with an entire community in Balsall Heath and across Birmingham.
Naseem is the project manager at Saheli Hub, a charity in Balsall Heath run by women for women, which aims to improve health and wellbeing and encourage participation in exercise and sport. The hub is based in Calthorpe Park and operates out of three wellbeing centres and two GP practices.
Since starting the charity in 1998, Naseem set up The Young Sahelis, a youth club for girls aged 14-25; The Saheli Running Club, which has seen over 75 women run half marathons and seven women complete full marathons; and The Saheli Cycling Club which has taught over 2,000 women to ride a bike.
Naseem has always been passionate about breaking down barriers to exercise for women in her community. She’s channelled this passion into creating opportunities for local women of all abilities to gain confidence to take part.
Saheli Hub welcomes around 1,600 women a year, 80% of which are from diverse ethnic backgrounds, who have now started their physical activity journey with Naseem and the Saheli Hub, regularly taking part in walking, jogging, cycling, chair-based exercises, yoga, pilates and body conditioning.
From July 3rd to 13th, 2026, let’s celebrate Balsall Heath! For Balsall Heath Community Festival we are shifting from a single one-day event to a community led week of wonder! We’re working with local organisations – schools, charities, faith centres, everyone and everyone to celebrate everything Balsall Heath and everyone Balsall Heathan.
What’s happening?
We’re coordinating over a week of fun, heritage, and innovation. While the full schedule is brewing, here is a sneak peek at what’s in the works:
Health & Wellbeing – Join us for community meals, a Faith Trail and specialized workshops with our partners at Saheli, MIAH Foundation and Anawim.
Get involved
Whether you’re an individual or a local organisation in Balsall Heath get involved – it’s a great platform to:
Find out more about fellow Balsall Heathans and Raise Your Profile – Benefit from collective publicity and the relaunch of the Heathan to reach hundreds of local residents.
Meet People and build Partnerships – Meet your neighbours, connect directly with schools, faith centres, and other local organizations
Shape the Future – We want to know what you think about Balsall Heath and we need your help to show the best of Balsall Heath and prove why Balsall Heath deserves continued investment
Many activities are already funded by individual groups, but if we pool our ideas maybe we can unlock even more small-scale funding together. We’re also hoping to feed into the updated Balsall Heath Development Plan with Balsall Heath Alliance so our new Council and Councillors can work with us.
Ready to jump in? Contact Marcus at ma****@********************co.uk to find out more. Let’s show Birmingham what Balsall Heath can do when we work together!
Here’s some images from Balsall Heath Carnival over the years, from which the Community Festival has been inspired:
Anawim is celebrating forty years – check out their 40th Anniversary Day – Joy Doal MBE, CEO, tell us their story:
Anawim was founded by two pioneering nuns, Sister Magdalene Matthews and Sister Maisie Nevin, who belonged to the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. Sister Magdelene had been working with alcoholics in Balsall Heath and Maisie with young people, but both were searching for something more.
They met women doing street ministry, joined them and immediately felt a calling to work with the women they saw on the streets nearby. The pair opened their home on Mary Street as a drop-in centre to women in Balsall Heath who were involved in sex work and vulnerable to exploitation.
Anawim 40th Celebration Save the Date 3rd July!
The Sisters’ Safe Space
Mary Street was then part of the traditional “red light” area of the city with sex workers on the streets and in around 25 houses used as brothels. The Sisters were struck by the difference it made for women to have a safe space, a warm drink and a listening ear. A place they could go without fear of judgement, to meet other women who cared deeply about their wellbeing. In a matter of two years their contact with women had increased so much – through hospitality at their house in Mary Street and outreach – they decided the time had come to devote all of their time to this Mission.
Looking for Life Transformation
During the day, the Sisters would attend court with the women or accompany them to Social Services conferences, visit them in their homes, hostels or prison. Health and Probation soon became aware of the Sisters, and the local churches were very supportive. The first two women to regularly come to the Mary Street house had stopped sex work and were soon followed by others. Their children were cared for in the front room and in the back room the women were offered literacy training, budgeting, crafts and parenting skills. This was the beginning of the ‘Women’s Development Centre’.
Around this time the Balsall Heath Forum started Streetwatch, the campaign to discourage both those working on the streets, and the kerb crawlers. Women were harassed and sometimes hit with sticks – this had a dramatic effect – it drove them out of sight and made them more vulnerable to attacks. The Sisters, together with volunteers, had to search them out in surrounding areas – where vigilante groups also sprang up.
Maisie, Balsall Heath 1989
Sister Maisie, 1986, 166 Mary Street – a safe space for all women
‘Safe House’ to ‘Development Centre’
In 1994 a Safe House was opened after requests from the women who had left, and lay staff were employed with the help of a lottery grant and funding from the Anglican Church Urban Fund. When the need for larger premises to house the ‘Women’s Development Centre’, became apparent this was closed.
To provide the space required, the present centre in Mary Street was rented from St John and St Martin church and opened in January 1999. By 2002 it was under threat of closure. This was due to lack of funds, the ‘client group’ of sex workers being moved on, the project struggling to meet new women, changes in the political climate and legislation such as ASBOs.
At this time Sister Lizanne was visiting Brockhill Prison and meeting lots of women there, but they were very different to the ones back in Balsall Heath. An integration came when they employed Joy Doal as manager in 2003. Through fundraising to employ staff, co-ordinating volunteers, entering into partnership with the SAFE project to co-locate their methadone programme and development of alternatives to custody with Probation, ANAWIM began to grow.
One-stop centre for all
Anawim became a pioneering one-stop centre for women who were either in the sex industry, at risk of being there, or were involved in offending. Outreach workers went out at night to reach the sex workers who had been dispersed across the city and in-reach took place at HMP Eastwood Park and HMP Brockhill, where Birmingham women were often sent, offering support while there and a place to come on release.
Many women have banded together, over 40 years, to grow Anawim into the charity it is today – an organisation that remains true to our founding ethos and now works with thousands of women every year. Anawim has an open access drop-in and specialist services to meet the needs of women from all parts of the city.
At the charity we believe anyone can find themselves in difficulty or experience trauma – whether that’s living in an abusive relationship, battling addiction, involved in crime or sex work – or simply struggling with life. Our staff can make a huge difference in helping women to try to change their lives – step by step.
Working with Women whatever their situation
We work with women at every stage of the criminal justice system, from first offence to prison. Our open access drop-in is available for any woman who needs it for any reason, and our main room remains a space where people can come for a cup of tea and a chat.
While funding will always be an ongoing challenge, we’ll do everything we can to keep Anawim’s doors open for women and be part of the fabric of Balsall Heath. For support, for friendship, for a safe space.
The monthly newsletter published by the Balsall Heath Local History Society (BHLHS) in Birmingham, UK. It serves as both a community bulletin and a historical record for the area.
What’s Inside the Gazette?
The publication typically includes a mix of current news and historical research:
Historical Articles: Local stories and accounts of local landmarks – the social history of the Balsall Heath and Highgate areas.
Photographic Archives: Rare images of the neighbourhood from various eras.
Society Updates: Information on upcoming monthly meetings, guest speakers, and local heritage events.
It is published monthly and has been a staple of the society for years with digital archives dating back to at least 2010. Distributed to members, recent and archived editions are also made available as PDF downloads on the official BHLHS website and on the Heathan.
Believe in Balsall Heath is a community arts and heritage initiative brought to you by local organisations to celebrate the people, culture, and history of Balsall Heath. As we mark the area’s 750th anniversary, the project invites everyone – residents, visitors, and communities – to come together in honouring its rich heritage and vibrant diversity.
Who is involved? Funded by Birmingham City Council, this collaborative project brings together: ● The Old Print Works ● The MIAH Foundation ● The GAP Arts Project ● Fruit & Nut Village ● Balsall Heath Local History Society
Together, these organisations are working to bring renewed pride to the streets of Balsall Heath through community events, workshops, and street planting initiatives.
What to expect One of the project’s most visible and exciting outcomes will be a series of commissioned street banners, installed across Balsall Heath’s high streets. These artworks will celebrate and commemorate the area’s history, identity, and community pride – making heritage something you can see and experience in public space.
Our commissioned artist: Faisal Hussain Last month we were excited to announce Faisal Hussain as the commissioned artist for the Believe in Balsall Heath project and we received a wonderful response from the community:
“I’m an artist based in Birmingham. My work spans public art, film, archive, sculpture, audio, and text. I create work that questions perceptions, challenges lazy stereotypes, and highlights missing histories and overlooked stories.”
Faisal brings not only a multidisciplinary artistic practice, but also a deep personal connection to Balsall Heath:
“I’m particularly excited to be working in Balsall Heath as I have generational roots there – from my grandfather sharing a house with workers in the 60s, to my mother’s shop on Stratford Road in the 90s, to working in my family business in the 00s. I have memories of music, food, Qur’an classes, functions and raves here. It’s a special place – often overlooked – and I’m looking forward to creating something that reflects its people, past, and future.”
Looking ahead Over the coming months, Faisal will develop a series of street-based artworks to be exhibited across Balsall Heath. Drawing on the area’s rich history, culture, and lived experiences, these works will form a bold and public celebration of the neighbourhood.
To stay updated with the project, follow us on Instagram (@believeinbalsallheath) and sign up to our Newsletter and contact us on be*******************@***il.com
Heba Y Project Coordinator – Believe in Balsall Heath
The relaunch event, held during Second Saturday, was a perfect place to bridge between our past and our future. We gathered at the Mix Café inside The Old Print Works, surrounded by archive editions of The Heathan with fab food and refreshments from Change Kitchen.
For those used to modern layout software, the exhibition was a revelation – We showcased how the original zine was painstakingly assembled using typewriters, ‘cow gum’ and a massive amount of patience. While the technology has changed, the mission remains the same: for Balsall Heath and Balsall Heathans.
Catching up at Second Saturday as the Heathan relaunches
Second Saturday sees our return
We spent the day sharing memories, and chatting about what the future of Balsall Heath looks like. We will be at every Second Saturday to meet up, chat and keep grounded in Balsall Heath.
Take a look at our gallery below to see some of the faces we met on the day! Thanks Photographer Richard Albutt
Fixing the dynamo connectorToqueer, green championFinal adjustments to the bike dynamoFlicking through past editions of the Balsall Heathan on displayDuncan Ali, looking for a fairer, greener world at Second SaturdayMarcus with Fahima, artist, sculptor, does henna sometimesRachel Gillies, editor of ‘NeighbourhoodNewsOnline.com’ on hand to see the Heathan relaunchFrancesco, co-founder of PRISM, exhibiting at Second SaturdayIan & Susie on the Mix Room Cafe CouchStep back in time, remembering days playing in the concrete drainage pipesA family of cyclists at Second SaturdayDan checks the wheel pulley thing to convert bike power to electricity
What’s next?
Whether you want to share a story, promote a local project, or just stay updated on what’s happening, we want to hear from you. If you’re interested in journalism, editing or helping in any way please get in contact with us.
Painted by local artist Muhmood Tahir, gifted to Balsall heath, displayed for the first time at our relaunch!
Judith explains ‘Well, I was living in Moseley, you know, rented Housing Association Flat. At the time I couldn’t consider buying a property. I couldn’t afford to anywhere in Moseley, but what was available in those days in the newsagents, was the Heathan, which for 20p I could afford, and I’ve just found the article, [Issue 103 Dec 1987]…Seven Streets Success, which…that was what made me consider Balsall Heath.’
The Moseley Road Friends Institute has stood for 125 years now that legacy is under immediate threat – petition.. Commissioned by Richard Cadbury 1897, built to serve as a hub for education, recreation, and the improvement of life for all Birmingham residents.
There have been people who have had recent operations and the doctor has recommended cycling. It helps. People over 60 are coming for rides and they are doing well. I’m thinking, it’s amazing, it’s really liberating for people.
