NLMCC
was successful in securing funds from Young Hackney to help pay for 12 young
people aged 18-19 to embark on a journey of a life time to The Gambia.
The
dream was set, all we needed was proactive and determined young volunteers to
take part. News of the project spread fast and within a week the 12 spaces for
young people had been filled.
The project galvanised huge interest from the local community. We were fortunate to have 8 additional volunteers that joined the group, paying the full cost for their own expenses. This took our 22 group members with the addition of two youth workers.
The youth attendees:
Ajhar
Ahmed, Hamzah Shaikh, Ismail Marshal, Jamal Mapara, Junaid Vahed,
Mohsin Bhamjee, Tasneemul Haq, Yusuf Ali-taleb, Ziyaad Achhala, Zakaria
Sharif Ali and Zakaria Yahiaoui
Adult volunteers:
Abdullah
Dana, Asif Shaikh, Ismail Adia, Khalil Mangera, Maaz Haffeji, Suhail Zina,
Ummer Dana and Yusuf Mangera
Staff:
Hafiz
Saleh Gajia and Haroon Alibhai
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| Preparing for Fun day |
During
our initial meetings in February our plan was to simply travel
to Gambia on a cultural visit. However the project evolved in to
a humanitarian visit thanks to the zeal and ambition of NLMCC youth. The group suggested we fund raise
and set a small target of five thousand pounds to support one needy
village.
However with the help of hundreds of our community members we surpassed our
target by over 400% and raised £21,845.61
This was achieved by organising a Fun Day, Car Wash Day, working in partnership with Tawhid Boys School to encourage the students to raise funds for the project, set up a fundraising appeal in Masjid-e-Quba, and setting individual fundraising targets for G2G group member. You can find a detailed break-down of all the funds raised and spent on the Finance page.
I
would like to take this opportunity to thanks all the Sisters and Brothers and
Young People that helped throughout all these different events and made donations,
may Allah reward them all Ameen.
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| Some of the Young volunteers using initiative without instructions for the marquee. |
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| Inflating the bouncy castle, morning of the event |
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| Brothers selling BBQ and home made dishes |
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| Another Stall selling books and other materials to raise money for Gambia |
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| “New Manor Valet” company offering 100% donations on all cars |
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| Raising money for Gambia by washing cars |
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Final preparations for
the trip were now being concluded. We left the UK on the 23rd of
March 2012 to experience a once in a lifetime epic adventure...
