Pakistan cricket legend raises £100k for Syria
A full house of 300 people packed a Bradford restaurant for A Night for Aleppo, a fundraising event featuring Waqar Younis, the former Pakistan fast bowler and coach.
Syrian refugees gave eyewitness accounts of what life is like for people living in war-torn Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city. This was followed by a Q&A session with Waqar Younis hosted by Richard Heller, co-author (with Peter Oborne) of the new book White on Green – A Portrait of Pakistan Cricket).
“Waqar Younis is a true cricketing legend and we are delighted that he was able to support our work in Syria,” says Altaf Hussain, our North East Community Fundraising and Volunteer Officer. “SubhanAllah, the incredible response meant we were able to raise £101,000 – that’s an average of well over £300 per person.
“This was an emergency Zakat dinner, and the generous response from the community really demonstrated the true spirit of Ramadan.”
The event tied in to Islamic Relief’s wider Ramadan 2016 campaign. The aim is to raise over £11 million to save and transform lives around the world. So far we have assisted 6.5 million Syrians since the conflict began, delivering over £140 million worth of aid and assistance.
The campaign will feature on more than 500 buses in Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester. Donors are being encouraged to ‘gather the rewards of Ramadan’ by giving generously in a month when Muslims believe good deeds can be multiplied more than 700 times.