About Us
Unique Minds
Background & evolution
Lamehlak, is an acronym which stands for The Late Dr ME Hoque and Late Dr AN Khanam memorial foundation. Dr Hoque and Dr Khanam left a sizeable family legacy for a charity to be set up in their name and they bestowed the guardianship of this to their brother Nurul Khan, who became their legal guardian later in life and is Chairman of the charity.
Dr Hoque was an Opthamologist and Dr Khanam a general practitioner and with Nurul’s support found their first employment in Corbetts Hospital in Dudley Borough in the 1960s.
They moved to Bromley in Kent in the late sixties where they settled. Sadly, they could not have children, but both took on the role in the wider Khan family as patriarchs, assisting their family with advice, guidance, moral and in some cases financial support.
Over the years they also took in and domestically supported many family members, with some living with them for many years; this included Dr Khanam’s younger sister, and some of her nephews, most of whom are now settled in the US and have families of their own, and it was the support and love the doctors provided to them that provided a stable and secure base to flourish.
They were also very close to Nurul’s family, including his wife Mary and their children, two of whom (Julie and Nazmul) lead the charity today.
Both doctors were very pious and devout to the Islamic faith, giving significant donations to charity and visiting Mecca on several occasions on pilgrimage to Hajj.
As they got older and more infirm they both were diagnosed with dementia, and came under the guardianship and guidance of Nurul, who looked after them until they passed away in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
Nurul’s promise to them before they died was that he, alongside close family members and friends, would set up a UK charity in their honour, which would aim to make a positive impact on families and loved ones in need. Since early 2024 the charity has focused on setting itself up correctly to achieve that goal.
The Unique Minds leadership team
Nurul Khan
Chair
Is the Chair of our charity and one of our three founding members. Nurul is a well known and respected retired restaurateur known in the Midlands Bengali community as a master trainer since the 1970s.
He has also worked with a number of charities and spent 10 years as a health advocate for a charity in Warwickshire, and many of his clients were LWD or carers themselves.
Lamehlak’ is an acronym referring to the late Dr Hoque and Dr Khanam, who Nurul acted as guardian for in their later years. They tasked Nurul with setting up the charity in their honour.
Nurul is passionate that loved ones living with dementia and their carers are supported throughout their dementia journey and feels blessed to be given this duty achieve this via Unique-Minds
Naz Khan
Trustee
Naz is one of the co-directors and founding members of the charity and is a services industry professional with over 30 years experience. He has a background in leading operations, managing change, digital transformation, business process design, procurement, and project and programme management.
He joined the charity after six years as Head of Regulation Operations at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICs) and previous to that role worked for 18 years as a management consultant for clients from the commercial, charitable, regeneration and public sectors, as well as working directly for charities on fund-raising, new builds, operational implementation and business planning
Naz feels privileged to be given an opportunity to run such an important charity and is committed to making Unique-Minds a success along with his fellow trustees
Julie Khan
Trustee
Julie is a co-director and founding member of the charity, with 19 years’ experience as a secondary school language teacher and middle leader. She is trained in NLP, Belief Coding, and EFT, integrating therapeutic approaches to support wellbeing and personal growth. Over the past three years, she has worked with private clients in the alternative therapy field.
Previously, she served over a decade on the management committee of a women and children’s centre in Haringey, including a year as Chair, delivering community wellbeing workshops. Skilled in programme development, coaching, and collaborative engagement with young people, families and professionals.
Julie is grateful for the opportunity to serve the community through the charity and is committed to helping people enhance wellbeing, improve quality of life, and support individuals and families through the charity’s mission.
Charity number: 1206326
Granta Lodge, 71 Graham Road, Malvern WR14 2JS