An Edmonton mosque has celebrated International Women’s Day by announcing its first female chief executive.

Seval Gokce was unveiled at Mevlana Rumi Mosque in Fore Street, making her one of only a handful of females in the same role across the country.

Her appointment was marked during a breakfast event held at the religious venue alongside Edmonton MP Kate Osamor and Enfield’s deputy mayor Bernadette Lappage.

Ms Gokce said she was looking forward to working together with the local community, of any gender or religion.

She said: “I am going out of my comfort zone by taking on this role, but we all need to do that sometimes.

“I do work in a male-dominated mosque, but they have been so wonderful and supportive – as a teacher, I wasn’t expecting it, usually I have people running in the other direction when they see me.

“I have only been here six weeks, so I have been learning fast, and I’m looking forward to learning more in the future.”

Ms Osamor said she was looking forward to working with Ms Gokce to make sure the mosque would become more widely known.

She said: “I want to thank the mothers here today for reminding us how important and how great it is to be a woman.

“Let’s remember those who need us, and celebrate a wonderful day. I should not just be today – it should be every day.”

Cllr Lappage said it was a pleasure and honour to be there to celebrate International Women’s Day, and to have many successful women in the room.

She said: “This is a day to talk about the importance of women, how far we have come and how far we have got to go.

“I am one of three women councillors in Edmonton, we have Kate, a female MP, and Joanne McCartney, our GLA member who is also a woman. This is a good moment for women in Enfield.

“For Seval, it is a great achievement locally and nationally. We are grateful for the work she does.”