Iftari in the Park...

The ‘Iftar Flashmob’, made up of members of the Muslim Khatri Association, Association of Muslim Police Officers and the PREVENT Engagement Team, invited the homeless and all other members of the community to join them at Spinney Hill Park marquee.

The event was broadcast through MKA alerts, FMO radio, posters, e-mails and word of mouth. The wider community was asked to donate food, drink, disposables and volunteer to help on the day. The response was overwhelming from all communities and this iftari programme was a great success!!

A marquee was put up in Spinney Hill Park and decorated with balloons and Ramadan Mubarak bunting and colourful MKA Ramadan Greeting posters. Tables were laid out with food, drinks, desserts, sweets, cakes, chocolates and fruit, all with MKA logo flags on each dish.

Children and adults broke fast together. Prayers were said in English and Arabic.

Billy Dedat, from the PREVENT Engagement Team, said: “During Ramadan Muslims get a glimpse of what it is like to be hungry. However we must think about those people who do not have the luxury of a decent meal at the end of the day. Tuesday night’s event gave us a great opportunity to share our food with neighbours and community members and to build on the community spirit that we have.

“The Muslim Khatri Association has kindly worked with us to make this happen, they have been great ambassadors for promoting this good cause and we all got together and enjoyed the evening and helped those who are less fortunate within our community and our city.”

Inspector Bill Knopp, commander of Spinney Hill Park Police Station, said: "We are fortunate to get many offers during Ramadan to partake in Iftar.  This is our opportunity to invite the community to our own event, in recognition of how significant the Holy month of Ramadan is for many of our residents and staff."

Vice Chair of the MKA, Mumtaz said: "Thanks to the generosity of everyone from all communities, this iftari programme was such a great success".