Big thanks from Muslim leaders (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Big thanks from Muslim leaders

Picture Ref: 99807-134SWINDON AND PROUD OF IT: MUSLIM community leaders are saluting Swindonians after residents helped to raise a bumper collection for the Asian earthquake appeal.

Volunteers of all ages took to the streets with collection buckets last weekend, raising more than £10,000 for the Muslim Aid charity in two days.

Saqib Rasul co-ordinated the appeal and was impressed by the weekend's work. He said: "The appeal was a great success. We managed to collect £23,800 in total.

"Collections were held in Reading, Oxford, Gloucester, and Swindon. Swindon raised £10,200, which was one of the largest contributions.

"We would like to say a big thank you to the people of Swindon, to the Council for allowing us to hold the collections, and other groups who made it possible."

"To have collected so much money in just two days is a fantastic achievement and will go a long way towards helping the appeal."

Appeal spokesman Nawaz Khan explained that funds would be sent to a central point before being distributed.

He said: "The money is being donated to Muslim Aid, and will be transferred to London. From there, it will be filtered out to the relief effort currently going on."

Mr Rasul, 31, who runs a property management company and the Mobilink shop on Manchester Road, came up with the idea after realising the true horror of what had happened in Pakistan.

"It was just too much," said Mr Rasul, whose family came originally from Pakistan. "When you wake up in the morning and see that it just hits you.

"Then it just built up and up and up and it wasn't until Sunday night we realised how bad it was.

"We were sitting in my office and saying this is just too much. We wondered what we could do to help.

"We were giving money to people who were going out to Pakistan but that is nothing, so we thought let's get out there."

Later this week Mr Rasul will be travelling to the affected areas of Pakistan with Azim Khan, who is secretary of the Thamesdown Islamic Association. The newsagent from Rodbourne Road lost 20 members of his family in the earthquake disaster, and has been co-ordinating collection efforts in Swindon.

Hundreds of Britons have been granted emergency visas to fly to Pakistan while others remain at home anxious for news. There are around 750,000 people of Pakistani descent in Britain.

Matt Jackson