Muslim Aid on Tuesday distributed 10,000 meals as it launches its flagship Feed The Fasting campaign in the UK to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
Muslim Aid, which is one of the oldest British Muslim charities, carried out launch event for the distribution at East London Mosque in partnership with Euro Foods.
Local high-profile figure such as Dilowar Khan, the Director of East London Mosque, Lutfur Rahman the Mayor of Tower Hamlets and Shelim Hussain MBE, Managing Director of Euro Foods, attended the distribution.
Muslim Aid’s leadership team also spoke of their experience in food poverty and the way their experience drives their humanitarian work.
Mustafa Faruqi
“Sadly, we do have poverty right here on my doorstep right here in Tower Hamlets. I myself, I grew up not far from here in a council estate in Hackney, and I remember as a child, my mother and I used to live alone and I used to come home from school and there wasn’t hot food in the house”, said Mustafa Faruqi, Muslim Aid's Chair of the Board of Trustees.
“I remember eating plain bread because we didn’t have food in the house. We didn’t need food banks or food parcels but I do have a little bit of experience of what it’s like to be in food poverty and food hunger”, he added.
“The distribution was a massive success and we are proud that Muslim Aid has extended our Feed The Fasting campaign by launching it at one of Europe’s largest Mosques, and we are looking to roll it out to the rest of the country as we find more partners to work with”, said Abul Kalam, Head of Fundraising and Marketing Campaigns at Muslim Aid.
“Muslim Aid is based in London’s borough of Tower Hamlets, where 56 percent of children live in poverty, it felt natural for us to launch this campaign closest to home”, said Khalid Javid, Interim CEO of Muslim Aid.
Feed The Fasting takes place every Ramadan by Muslim Aid -- the second oldest Muslim charity in the UK -- which feeds people in poverty across the world to cover their meals throughout the holy Muslim month.
Last year, Muslim Aid's Feed The Fasting campaign delivered over 2.2 million meals across the world in 12 countries. Muslim Aid is planning to roll out the campaign in the UK by engaging with civil organisations, businesses and local political leaders to become partners in this national endeavour.
For interview opportunities, press enquiries or multimedia from the collection or a chance to cover the next collection, please email diana.alghoul@muslimaid.org
