A great turnout at our community picnic in Leeds

Yesterday, we met our friends at Golden Acre park in Leeds for a picnic in the sunshine and to bring some gifts for the start of Ramadan.

Earlier in the week, they’d had a visit from a far right hate group. It was great to see the volunteers show them how welcoming and generous most people in the UK really are.

We met Ahmad, who is originally from Baghdad. He comes from a family of tailors whose skills go back generations. He wants to help his friends to repair their clothes and make them fit better – they often have donated clothes which aren’t always the perfect size It is Ahmad’s dream to be able to set up his own business as a tailor. We put a call out on a local community group for a sewing machine and in less than half an hour we had multiple offers of great equipment for him.

Speaking to volunteer supremo Sally, she said that what was amazing was that at the picnic, every time the table with treats and juice was emptied, more friends arrived with even more things to share. Around 40 asylum seekers came to see us throughout the day to share cakes and treats that volunteers had baked themselves. We had friends from Leeds Stand Up To Racism, the National Education Union and Leeds TUC come to show their support at the picnic too.

A special mention has to go to our friends at The Akhirah Project in Rochdale, who travelled over with 50 Ramadan packs containing dates for Iftar, Qur’ans, prayers mats and more. The The Akhirah Team do beautiful work across Yorkshire, Lancashire and internationally, providing food and support to those in need. We are so proud to collaborate with them.

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