"I was taking my right hand and putting it on my heart, saying, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay, maalish, maalish,’" recalls Dina Mahmoud, founder of M3lesh UK, a community initiative that brings people together through music, cultural events, and wellbeing activities. "When I did that, I felt very, very calm, and I became attached to the name."
An Egyptian Arabic expression meaning ‘it’s okay’ or ‘never mind’, the word 'maalish' became a source of comfort for Dina during a difficult period after moving to the UK.
Three months after arriving, Dina was diagnosed with a serious medical condition and spent more than six months in hospital. Away from her family, she began to understand the importance of emotional support during recovery.
"They wanted me to understand that this wasn't the end of life, that I still had a chance and needed to have hope," she says, recalling the nurses who encouraged her to stay hopeful.
After leaving hospital, Mahmoud travelled to Egypt to visit her parents, who had not known the full extent of her illness. During the trip, her brother gave her a keyring bearing the word 'maalish'. Having already found comfort in the phrase, she was struck by the coincidence and began to wonder whether it could mean something more.
The gift also prompted her to think about people facing difficult circumstances without the support she had received. She wondered how many people across the UK were dealing with serious illness, grief, domestic abuse or the challenges of building a life away from family, often without anyone to turn to.
"I was thinking about how many people in the UK were suffering on their own," she shares.
That concern eventually led Mahmoud to establish M3lesh UK around a year and a half ago. Having lived in the UK for more than 15 years, she understood how difficult it could be to build a support network far from home. She wanted to create a space where people could meet, talk openly about their problems and find help without feeling ashamed of what they were going through.
Raising awareness through community
As Dina puts it, M3lesh UK is built around three pillars: awareness, stress relief and networking. Together, they aim to help people understand their wellbeing, manage everyday pressures and build relationships with others.
One of the initiative's key partnerships is with the NHS Be Well hub, which provides free mental health training in Arabic.
M3lesh UK also works with the Stroke Association to raise awareness of stroke and the importance of recognising warning signs.
Meanwhile, her The Power of You workshop focuses on building mental resilience, helping participants recognise their strengths and develop ways to navigate personal and professional challenges. Through these sessions, Dina hopes to make conversations about mental wellbeing more accessible, particularly within Arabic-speaking communities.
“It's not a shame to say that I am not okay," she says. "Come and say that you are not okay, and we are going to help you through our awareness sessions, workshops and events."
Music, movement and connection
Alongside awareness sessions, music has become one of M3lesh UK's main ways of bringing people together. During her recovery, listening to music and the Quran helped Dina feel calmer, inspiring her to organise events that could offer others a similar experience.
One of the initiative's early gatherings featured the London Arab Orchestra, with audiences encouraged to sing along and take part in the performance.
This idea continues through Yalla Nighani, M3lesh UK's Arab music events. Its latest gathering attracted around 1,500 people, bringing attendees together to celebrate their music and culture.
The initiative has also organised anniversary celebrations, Ramadan iftars and suhoors, giving people opportunities to meet outside their everyday routines.
M3lesh UK has also used its activities to encourage conversations about women's health. A five-day retreat in Soma Bay, Egypt, brought together women from Iraqi, Tunisian, Algerian, Lebanese, Egyptian and Nubian backgrounds.
The retreat also welcomed women from Morocco, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, and included a breast cancer awareness session. Dina hopes to build on this work through further retreats, including a planned trip to Luxor and Aswan in December, as well as somatic movement and belly dance classes.
These activities reflect Dina's belief that wellbeing also involves having time to relax, enjoy yourself and connect with others.
Building cultural connections
For Dina, bringing people together also means creating opportunities for different Arab communities to connect through their shared heritage.
One example is her relationship with Emirati engineer Latifa Bent Eissa, who gifted Dina a piece of artwork carrying a humanitarian message from the UAE to people everywhere. Dina sees the gesture as a reminder of how cultural exchange can build understanding and bring people together across borders.
M3lesh UK also welcomes people of different backgrounds and genders. Mahmoud says men have approached M3lesh UK for support after separation or divorce, while others in their late 30s and 40s have said they want to find a partner and get married. These conversations have highlighted the need for spaces where people can discuss relationships without feeling judged.
The initiative is also developing camping trips and M3lesh UK Plus, a weekly gathering where people can share meals, listen to music, dance and build friendships.
Dina hopes these activities will help international students living away from family and young people who feel disconnected from their family's country of origin find a greater sense of belonging.
Practical support when it matters most
While social activities help people build connections, some need more direct assistance. M3lesh UK has built a network of volunteers, including solicitors, financial advisers, and doctors, who can help people access practical support. Dina also supports Syrian refugees in Oxford, where she lives, through community events and talks on mental health and wellbeing.
She recalls helping a woman who had experienced domestic abuse and travelled to Egypt with her two young children. According to Dina, the woman's husband left with the children, taking her passport and phone.
Dina contacted a solicitor and other organisations to help the woman return to the UK. Volunteers met her at the airport, while another organisation helped arrange safe accommodation. The woman and her children are now safe, she says.
"Our work goes beyond community events. We also want to help people access legal and practical support when they don’t know where to turn," Dina tells The New Arab.
'A life well lived'
Alongside her community work, Dina has a background in business, healthcare recruitment and education. She previously worked as sales and marketing director at DHL and holds MSc qualifications in Digital Marketing and Business Management. She now connects healthcare providers with staff, including healthcare assistants and registered nurses, and provides teaching assistants for special educational needs schools.
For Dina, these different roles share a common aim: supporting people and helping them access the resources they need.
She says helping others through difficult experiences has also given her a sense of purpose.
"When I help someone who is struggling, especially someone going through something severe, it makes me happy," she says. "People need to be able to talk about their wellbeing and feel safe when they do."
As M3lesh UK grows, Dina hopes to build more partnerships and expand its activities, helping people access support, make connections and feel part of a community.
Under the initiative's logo is a phrase that sums up her vision: 'A life well lived'. For Dina, that means looking after yourself, looking after others and helping people feel that they belong.
Zainab Mehdi is a British Iraqi journalist and the Associate Features Editor at The New Arab. She holds a BSc in Modern History and International Relations from the University of Essex and an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS
Follow her on Instagram: @zaiamehdi_/@zainabmehdiwrites_