Islamic Relief, the international charity, have confirmed that Queen Mary and Barts & The London students have raised £46,779.44 for Charity Week 2014. The record breaking amount was raised through the Queen Mary Students’ Union Islamic Society (I-Soc) and the Muslim Medics & Dentists Society, with additional donations made online.
Islamic Relief, the international charity, have confirmed that Queen Mary and Barts & The London students have raised £46,779.44 for Charity Week 2014. The record breaking amount was raised through the Queen Mary Students’ Union Islamic Society (I-Soc) and the Muslim Medics & Dentists Society, with additional donations made online.
Events during the week included games nights, sports tournaments, quizzes, a tea party, tube & street collections, sky walking up the O2, an “envelope” and “phone a friend” challenge, and even a mountain climb up Mt. Snowdon. This culminated in the prestigious “Big Event” fundraising night , featuring a dinner and charity auction.
Each year Charity Week raises money for “Orphans & Needy Children” across the world, with Islamic Relief delivering sustainable projects to children worldwide. The project started in 2003 by a group of London students who had the vision to bring people together by uniting them for one cause. The first Charity Week in 2004 raised £30,000 across 20 University Islamic societies. This has now grown to the incredible total of £732,571.47 this year, with money still coming in from the 87 institutions involved, including from as far afield as Australia and Qatar.
Dilruba Sulthana, Sisters Rep for QM/BL Charity Week said, “Our total is a true testament of what can be achieved through unity. It was deeply inspiring to see so many individuals come together to support this cause, from our team of dedicated volunteers who ensured the success of every single event, to the lovely staff at Queen Mary Students’ Union who spent their evenings counting the donations. It was the collective effort of every single individual involved that led to success of Charity Week. I believe this is only the beginning; Charity Week at QM/Barts will only continue to get bigger and better!
Irshad Gooljar, Brothers Rep for QM/BL Charity Week said, "Charity is given a huge priority in the religion of Islam. It is for this reason that a huge number of students globally work tirelessly and passionately to achieve the staggering figures we've seen in charity week. It is also unique in that it provides a platform for healthy competition with other institutions to raise as much money as possible but with everyone uniting at the end to celebrate collective totals."
Mariam Kadodia, Charity Week UK National Director commented on the great Queen Mary effort, “The fantastic amount of money raised by Queen Mary students will be pooled with the money raised overall during Charity Week. The participating institutions are in the process of deciding where they would like the money to go from a list of projects put together from Islamic Relief. However, the main thing is that we can use this money, a product of working together for the greater good, to help so many children, regardless of race or religion: from the more urgent in Gaza, Syria and the surrounding areas to the needs that fly below the radar but are no less urgent in places such as the Central African Republic, Chechnya and Malawi.”