A PIONEERING community partnership which has seen tens of thousands of people given vaccinations against Covid-19 has received recognition.

Keighley Markazi Jamia Mosque became one of the first mosques in the UK to host a pop-up vaccination clinic, in February.

That hugely successful session saw around 160 people vaccinated throughout the afternoon, in the mosque’s community hall.

Since then, the venue has welcomed more than 50,000 people to have their jabs.

Now the mosque is being acclaimed as a leading example nationally of health and community collaborations.

And to mark the achievement, committee member Mohamed Nazam – with colleagues and elders at the mosque – staged a presentation to the Modality GP group, which has organised the vaccination teams onsite.

Lois Brown, practice manager for AWC Modality, received the award – marking an outstanding contribution to the vaccine rollout – for the partnership from Mohammed Sadiq, president of Keighley Muslim Association.

She said: "This is one of the absolute highlights of my professional career and shows the value of working with our communities to make sure people can stay healthy and well!"

A special award has also gone to Umar Iqbal, the AWC Modality division lead pharmacist.

He received an accolade from Keighley MP Robbie Moore in tribute to his work setting-up the vaccination clinic with the mosque and his efforts to combat myths and misunderstandings surrounding the vaccination which deterred some people from taking-up the jab initially.

He said: "I am very proud to receive this award and to have been able to help get people vaccinated, and put one of our local mosques at the centre of the vaccination effort."

Bill Graham, community lead for Modality, said: "It's been a fantastic achievement.

"From organising some pop-up clinics at the mosque, we then created a central Keighley vaccination centre running at least three days a week since June – and working with the mosque we ensured that vaccine take-up was higher in the Keighley area than in other similar parts of Bradford district, particularly in the over-40s and at risk groups."

From Thursday (January 6), the vaccination clinic is moving to the nearby Sangat Centre, in Marlborough Street.

Surgeries operated by AWC Modality include Silsden and Steeton Medical Practice, Cross Hills Medical Practice, Fisher Medical Centre in Skipton, Kilmeny in Keighley, Haworth Medical Practice, Holycroft Medical Centre and Farfield Group Practice in Keighley, and Oakworth Medical Practice.