Ahmadi Muslims of Newham give £500k to charities

Muslim elders raised £500,000 for charities, with more than £16,000 being handed over to help home-grown groups.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Elders Association (AMEA) donated £10,000 to the Newham People’s Trust, £4,000 to the West Ham United Foundation and £2,313 to Richard House Children’s Hospice in a presentation at the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Funds were donated after the AMEA raised the £250,000 at its Charity Walk for Peace at the Royal Docks on November 30 and match-funded the total in what AMEA Newham president Samiullah Tariq said was a call for unity in the face of suffering.

“Our motto is ‘love for all, hatred for none’,” he said. “This was the very essence of the Charity Walk for Peace, where people from different religions and race came together under one umbrella

for a common cause – to help the needy.”

Though the walk was held in Newham, Ahmadi Muslims from across the UK attended, with money also being donated to national and international charities.

At Wednesday’s presentation, which was attended by Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales, the AMEA’s biggest donation was to the Royal British Legion, which received £92,590.

The group also donated £4,000 to home schooling projects in Newham and £1,000 to the European Union-led The Sheba Project, which works for social cohesion across the EU.

The Charity Walk for Peace was part of the AMEA’s national campaign against terrorism – United Against Extremism – which promotes a peaceful interpretation of Islam in a move to combat radicalisation.

The group, which originated in Pakistan, has been forced to flee to Britain in droves over the last 60 years due to state-sponsored persecution in the country, whose legal system regards them as non-Muslims.

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