Emma Taylor, 30, from Reading, Berks (England)

Emma Taylor, 30, from Reading, Berks, loved partying but converted to Islam. She says:

"I was raised a Catholic but after-school partying and living a wannabe WAG lifestyle became my religion. I loved buying sexy clothes and hanging out with mates.

As a filing clerk in an office I only earn £16,000 but until last year I managed to make it stretch by living in a shared house so I could spend my cash on looking and feeling good.

However in January last year, with my 30th birthday looming, I began to think that waking up with a hangover most mornings, having no long-term bloke in my life and no real ambition meant something was missing.

I'd also just come through a bad break-up and one night my Muslim mate invited me around for dinner.

Susan was more stable and content than my friends and I always turned to her for advice even though, at 28, she was two years younger than me. She converted to Islam three years ago.

While I was at Susan's she broke away to pray. I watched and she seemed so at peace with her life. That's when I asked her about her religion.

She didn't earbash me but she suggested websites and that I should go to a mosque. She said everyone was welcome, if respectful of others.

On March 2 I went to mosque with her. She'd told me what I should wear and supplied me with a headscarf. The day changed my life.

Sitting with the other women I felt a weird sense of relief and acceptance come over me. For an hour my problems disappeared. I liked the boundaries, with the men separated from the women, and the sense of reverence, of kindness. For the first time ever I felt spiritually alive.

With my friend's help, I converted. It was a radical change for me and many of my other mates thought I was mad. I persevered and discovered the Muslim community is made up of many races and everyone is very welcoming.

Now I pray five times a day, read the Koran, go to mosque and have been welcomed by everyone - there are lots of young white women my age.

I haven't had a drink in six months - the longest since I started sneaking booze at 13. I'm healthier and happier.

I wear a hijab or head scarf almost all the time I leave the house and I also don't eat pork - I tell friends my love of bacon butties has been replaced with a love of my new religion."