A CHARITY has announced plans to open a women’s education centre in Bradford – which will be its first school in the UK.

Chaar Yaar Welfare Foundation has revealed its intentions to convert an empty, Grade II listed office building in Manningham into an Islamic education facility where up to 200 students would be taught.

The registered charity, which says its main aim is to promote education, says the school will help “fill the vacuum when it comes to the provision of quality Islamic education for girls/women”.

They have submitted a change of use planning application for Cavell House on Eldon Terrace, from office use to educational use.

The three-storey office building dates back to the 1840s and has been empty since September.

If the application is approved, the charity says the building will be used for religious education classes and community events.

The planning application says the school will create five full-time and eight part-time jobs, and would open from 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and until 4pm on Saturdays.

Although there will be no changes to the listed building’s exterior, the interior will be altered to create separate classrooms for adults and children, a prayer hall and a ground floor assembly hall.

Most of the charity’s current projects are overseas, including two boarding schools for women, and another 15 schools in Pakistan.

The application points out that all the charity’s funds come from donations, and not public funds or grants.

It adds: “Once the school is fully established, the aim is to have around 150/200 students.

“It is believed that the establishment of this school will have a positive impact on the local community.

“It is considered the use for a school will allow new investment for the upkeep of the building and the use itself will not adversely affect the character of the building.”

The building, on the edge of the city centre, is at the bottom of a cul-de-sac next to Manningham Retail Park.

It had been a Bradford Council-run day nursery before it was turned into offices in 2008.

It currently has a 22-space car park which will be kept by the charity, and Bradford Council’s Highways Department has not raised any objections to the plans.

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A report by the highways department into the application says the school would be in a “relatively sustainable location on the edge of the city centre and close to all amenities including public transport.

“There are 22 off-street parking spaces available which should be adequate to serve this proposal.”

Bradford Council is expected to make a final decision on whether to approve the planning application in early May.