The highly popular Shariah Moneybox roadshow will be winding its way to Manchester in early April where three events will be staged. Already two very successful Islamic financial educational road show were held in London last month and organisers of the roadshow indicate that registration for the forthcoming events has been high.

The primary objective of the Shariah Moneybox Roadshow is to create awareness among the Muslim community regarding the new Shariah complaint products that are being offered by Lloyds TSB, Alburaq and the Children's Mutual. Lloyds TSB is offering customers an interest free Shariah compliant current account.

Alburaq, a brand of the Arab Banking Corporation, offers a Shariah compliant home finance scheme, which is marketed by Lloyds TSB through its network, while the Children's Mutual, the UK specialist in long-term savings for children, has set up the only Shariah compliant Child Trust Fund account. "We are heartened by the numbers of people who attended these events and it is clear that the Muslim public is acutely aware of their obligations to participate in Shariah compliant financial services that are being offered by financial institutions in Britain today. This desire for further knowledge and information augers well for the planned events throughout the country which will be taking place over the next three months", said the key note speaker, Mufti Abdul Kadir Barkatulla.

He said that the numbers and diverse audience was a clear indication that there is tremendous interest in Islamic finance. "In general there is a high level of awareness because of the visibility of these Shariah compliant products on the market", he said. "However that there is still misinformation in the community which we, through the road shows, hope to dispel" Mufti Barkatullah added. Not only did the road show allow the public to engage with representatives from some of the major financial institutions like Lloyds TSB, the Children's Mutual and alburaq, but they were introduced to some of the Islamic products currently on the market. Participants will be given an overview of Islamic finance and the principles underlying Islamic financial.

As well as explaining the work that Shariah Board scholars undertake, a detailed explanation is provided on how and why the products available on the market currently are Shariah compliant. Mufti Barkatullah said that further Islamic solutions are being formulated by scholars which would meet the Shariah needs of the Muslim community. He added that financial institutions have recognised the potential of the Muslim market and together with the Treasury are working to get the legal barriers removed. "Now the choice is for Muslim consumers to take up these offers" said Mufti Barkatullah. Although the new emerging Islamic financial products were not necessarily more expensive than their non-Islamic equivalents, participants were concerned about ensuring competitiveness of charges.

Although one participant pointed out: "When it comes to halal food products, Muslims are prepared to pay a higher price without any qualms or question, but when it comes to Shariah compliant financial products, attitudes are different. The important thing is that we have a choice of a halal financial product". In a further development, Muslims parents were urged to make sure that they have not missed the deadline for investing their Child Trust Fund Voucher, because failure to do so would mean that the government would have placed the voucher into a non- Shariah account. Even if they have missed the deadline, parents can still switch to a Shariah compliant Child Trust Fund account which has been set up by the Children's Mutual, the UK specialist in longterm savings for children. Last month marked the anniversary of the first CTF vouchers being issued to parents all over the UK, which means that the earliest wave of vouchers are starting to expire.

Starting soon, the Government will automatically open an account for each child whose parents haven't used the CTF voucher to open one within of year of the issue date. Parents who choose their own CTF provider can select from a wide range of accounts, including ethical and Shariah-compliant share based accounts. Those who fail to invest their voucher in time will miss out on the chance to decide how their child's money is invested and could end up with accounts that are inappropriate for themselves and their children. David White, Chief Executive of The Children's Mutual, said: "We strongly urge parents to act now so that they can be actively involved in the choice about where their son or daughter's CTF voucher is invested right from the start. For Muslim parents this is especially important if they wish their child's voucher to be placed in a Shariah compliant account." He added: "Every day that parents delay opening their child's CTF account means a potential reduction in the value of their child's lump sum at 18. For instance, if a voucher was invested in The C h i l d r e n ' s Mutual's main s t a k e h o l d e r product at the beginning of April 2005, it would have grown to around £292 by December 2005."

Mr White said that The Children's Mutual was taking measures to ensure that the CTF was accessible to all eligible children, including a live over-the-phone translation service for those parents whose first language is not English. Parents are now able to apply for their CTF account with The Children's Mutual in 103 different languages.