Muslim charity volunteers from Burnley and Rossendale support Children of the World Campaign for street children in Bangladesh and Pakistan

Working with Muslim Charity, a series of fundraising events have taken place since Ramadan this year to raise donations and sponsorships for the Street Children Project.

Led by Moheen Uddin from Muslim Charity, volunteers Abdul Salek, Ansar Miah, Ranu Rahman, Abdul Qayyum and Hena Begum will be travelling to Bangladesh and Pakistan later on this year to work on the Street Children Project set up and run by Muslim Charity UK.

This project has been running now for several years where volunteers from the UK travel out to work with vulnerable children who are often homeless, labelled as runaway children, children who live on the streets, railway stations and even brothels.

Five Masjid Walk – For Street Children

More than 40 volunteers took on the challenge of walking 19 miles across five mosques in five towns, meeting five prayer times covering four boroughs in East Lancashire. The walk took just over 20 hours to complete.

Starting in Nelson, walking into Burnley, over the tops into Rossendale (Rawtenstall, Haslingden) and finally into Accrington. The group started from Nelson after the morning prayers and finished in Accrington for the last prayer for that day.

Abdul Salek said: “This was a first of its kind in East Lancashire and we are hopeful it will become an annual event focusing on health and well-being, community cohesion and the idea of helping ourselves to help others. People came from across the country to join in.

“The event was a great success and we are very pleased with how much awareness has been raised for the cause and working with vulnerable street children in South Asia.

“We were looking forward to this amazing event. I have to say it was a huge success. It’s great to see so much interest and support coming from the community, businesses and partners.

“Our goal is not just to complete the walk and raise vital funds but to bring the community together to help others around the world, especially children. It was a great 24 hours. A tough day but worthwhile and rewarding. 60,000 steps were recorded by each participant.

“We welcomed everyone from all sections of the community to join us in this worthwhile and rewarding event. Since we started this campaign, during the build-up and on the day, we have raised approximately £16,000. What a great achievement.”

If you would like to make a donation or sponsorship to this cause, please use the link https://giving.muslimcharity.org.uk/pf/shaheen-salek-hena-moheen-ranu

If you would like further information, please contact [email protected]

Escaping violence

An estimated 600,000 children are living and working on the streets of Dhaka and estimated 1.5 million people live on the streets in Pakistan. Many have been abandoned or are escaping violence, but some come from families that are so vulnerable that they’ve been forced onto the street

Children on the streets face dangers and offers from gangs ready to assimilate them into criminality and, worse, traffic them into sexually abusive and punishing work. Children who cannot find a job are often left with only the option to beg, leaving them prey for traffickers.

Muslim Charity rescues street children, reunites lost children with family, provides permanent homes for children without any family.