Meet the Team
We are run by passionate local female Volunteers,
who dedicate their time, talents and passion to support other women in Waltham Forest.
Jackie Grant
Chair
Jackie is now in her second year as Chairperson for WFWN and has been a part of the organisation for 2 years. Born in Walthamstow, she has lived in Waltham Forest for over 31 years. With her other years in other borough’s.
Jackie’s background is in Drugs and alcohol and is a qualified Personal trainer and Health Coach. She has a specialism in Women’s health especially PCOS, Fibroids and Menopause. She has also previously worked for organisations such as St Mungo’s, Centre point, Addaction, YMCA and Change Grow Live (Formerly CRI). Jackie is passionate about women’s health due to her own experience of being diagnosed with PCOS & Fibroids and her experience of working with women through their own health challenges. Jackie runs her own small business within the borough. Jackie is passionate about improving women’s health and access to the services that they need at the right time.
Sabirah Ali
Vice Chair
Sabirah is vice chair of the WFWN and has lived in Walthamstow for 10yrs and spent half of her life in East London. She is a passionate educator committed to widening
participation for under-represented groups. Her work centres on fostering community cohesion by leading on inclusive programmes that aim to overcome the socio-cultural, psychological and communication barriers that separate people and institutions.
Over 25 year career, she has helped 1000’s of adults and families gain confidence and skills to access educatio, cultural insstitutions, local services and employment. Sabirah has a strong sense of social responsilibty and a deep understanding of the community needs and wanted to bring this knowledge and experience to support her local community through WFWN.
Rukaiya Moola
Secretary
Rukaiya is a biomedical scientist by profession and a working mother of 4, she currently works as a Science Technician at a local Secondary School.
When she’s not working, Rukaiya volunteers as a cycling ride leader as part of Joyriders and loves all things cycling related.
Her other hobbies include reading, baking and family holidays.
Melanie Walker AATQB
Treasurer
Melanie is a mother of two who has recently joined WFWN as our treasurer. She was born in Waltham Forest and has been living here her whole life.
Melanie is a successful Administration Manager, AAT qualified bookkeeper, and a qualified AAT tutor who is passionate about accessibility, equality and working with upcoming accounting professionals to help them overcome and break down the various barriers to learning and the obstacles they face, getting into this challenging industry.
Melanie is also a successful event organiser and fundraiser who volunteered for various charities. When she is not teaching or studying, Melanie loves wheelchair basketball, and she is a wheelchair basketball player, table official and qualified Wheelchair basketball coach.
Ruqayyah Ahmed
Social Media Lead
Ruqayyah has been a part of WFWN for a year, she is the youngest elected member in the organisation’s history and a Law student at CUoL. She has lived in Waltham Forest for 20 years and works part-time in her family’s small business in Chingford. She is the communications officer of the CUoL Law Society and the President and Co-founder of the CUoL Women in Law Society which focuses on Social Mobility and Female empowerment.
Ruqayyah is passionate about inclusion and accessibility to justice in the community and also works in multiple pro-bono clinics in low income areas.
Angelique Belle
Angelique is from The Netherlands and has lived in London (Waltham Forest) for 20 years. Angelique’s day job is within the financial sector; this has provided me with lots of skills and experiences, including organising events.
Angelique’s hobbies include flower arranging, knitting and crocheting. In her spare time, she enjoy long walks with my dog, entertaining friends and cooking; cooking is one of her big passions. With my elderly mother still living in my home country, I combine caring for her remotely and visit Netherlands regularly when I can.
Becoming part of WFWN is a great experience and an opportunity to meet residents and contribute to the wider community of women within the borough. Since Oct 2022 I’ve co hosted the monthly Menopause & Women’s Health Cafe; this is a safe space for women to discuss various subjects, including workshops to guide them and provide information. This enables me to use my skills and follow my beliefs around enhancing support for women in the community.
Lesley Anne Finlayson
Lesley is Waltham Forest born and bred and an elected local Councillor from 1990 to 2006. Enjoying every minute, she was honoured to serve as a deputy Mayor twice.
After taking an early retirement in 2015, she spent her free time supporting many groups and charities as well as enjoying gardening and now she is a ‘LBWF Legend of the Forest’ and also training to become a vaccinator.
Katy Thompson
Youth Engagement Lead
Katy has been a part of WFWN for a year, she is the Coordinator of LBWF’s peer-to-peer engagement program, Streetbase. Katy is a passionate advocate for the borough’s youth and throughout her time as a coordinator, she has met many young people and has noticed a need for more emotional and mental support, but also the need for a network of young people to feel safe, inspired and focused on themselves as people.
Katy started out as a young advisor for the council at 12 and has been working to improve support for young people since. She is now in the process of becoming a Councillor for Waltham Forest and hopes to create support networks for young mothers and other vulnerable groups.
Carolyn Axtell
Carolyn is a campaigner, speaker, activist, and powerful advocate for women. She is a breast cancer survivor who creates sustainable opportunities for positive transformations in women’s lives.
Passionate about equality and social justice, she founded the award-winning women’s flagship cycling network, ‘Joyriders London’. Carolyn works for environmental organisation ‘Possible’ as a London Car-Free Cities Campaigner.
Ruksana Nawaz
Co-Opted Member
Rukshana has been a part of WFWN for 3 years, by profession she is a primary school teacher and has been living in Waltham Forest for over 30 years.
She has taught in several primary schools over the course of 12 and has acted as a parent governor in 4 local schools.
Rukshana believes in supporting and giving back to the community through volunteering and strives to work for the betterment of our future generation.
Tara Khare
Founding Member
Tara, one of the proud founding members of Waltham Forest Women’s Network (WFWN) and has founded various other organisations such as Doctors Wives Association, Local Women’s Interfaith Network (WIN) and Faith Friendship Club in Waltham Forest.
Tara’s passion lies in community cohesion whilst bringing people of different faiths together for the sake of peace and harmony.
Juliana Shalla
Co-Opted Member
Juliana Shalla is from Albania , and has been living in UK for 8 years within Waltham Forest.
Juliana is a an Educational Consultant and English Teacher She runs English classes for Adults and Albania classes for classes for children teaching them the Albanian language and culture. She is the representative for the Albanian community within the Waltham Forest Connecting Communities Network
She is grateful to be part of the Waltham Women’s Network . She supports every step to go to college or university both local students and international. Since 2018 she has organised various events within the borough which has included the first ever Albania talent show to 2023 where she organised an Albanian’s Professionals Event connecting Albanian professionals and students.
Her moto is work hard in silence and let success be your voice