Al-Suffa Homeless Outreach volunteers came to the rescue of the elderly residents when their homes had their water supply cut (Photo: Al-Suffa Home less Out reach)

Ahmed J Versi

Young Muslims came to the rescue of the elderly residents when their homes had their water supply cut. They delivered hundreds of bottles of water to needy.

On 19 July, water supply was cut to 18,000 homes in Bolton. The next day, four young Muslim volunteers from the charity Al-Suffa Homeless Outreach, took it upon themselves to go and help the elderly who were not able to go out to designated areas to get water.

They were aware that there were water bottles in their mosque, Zakariyya Jaame Mosque in Daubhill, which were left over from Ramadan. So they approached President of the mosque, Idris Musa Seth, who gladly gave all the water bottles they had. “We had left over water bottles donated by Muslim Aid during Ramadan. When the youngsters approached us we did not hesitate and gave all the water we had,” Seth told The Muslim News. “I feel proud we had the opportunity to serve the needy in the community,” he added.

One of the volunteers, Rizwan Gharda, said they distributed 1,500 water bottles in different areas in Bolton, especially the Johnson Fold which are full of the elderly.

“We went in a van to the area. This was a no-go area for us, but we still went as we wanted to help the elderly. We left the bottles outside the doors. However, when they saw what we were doing they came out to meet us and were very appreciative,” Gharda related to The Muslim News. “Alhamdulillah, Praise be to God, this simple act of giving water changed how Muslims were viewed. We hope this will bring people together and help community cohesion.”

Al-Suffa regularly deliver food to the homeless people in the city. “Every Sunday evening we provide upto 90 meals [biryani and soft drink] to four hostels in the town centre,” he said.

For more details of the work of Al-Suffa visit their facebook: AsSuffa Homeless Outreach Bolton.