Muslim women are encouraged to take up playing football and cricket in an initiative launched at Birmingham City Football Club.

Supported by a £72,000 Football Foundation grant, the Bend it like Birmingham sports inclusion project is the brainchild of five housing associations and Birmingham City Council.

It aims to break down cultural barriers and tackle low-level crime by using sport to reach out to more than 1,000 people of different backgrounds.

Project officer, Kameron Hussain, says: “We will be challenging traditional taboos and crossing cultures so people can see the 95 per cent that makes us the same, rather than just the 5 per cent that makes us different.”

According to Hussain, dozens of Muslim women have shown an interest in playing football and cricket and even want to train as coaches. Many young people have also said they would rather take part in sport than hang around the streets.

The West Midlands Regional Sports Board, which wants to get 200,000 more people active in the region by 2012, has welcomed the scheme.