Sufra NW London
Sufra Ramadan Emergency Appeal 2023: Share Your Blessings
This Ramadan, we are asking you to stand in solidarity with Sufra NW London, share your blessings, and help us support thousands of local people who are struggling to survive.
Story
***Update***
We are pleased to announce that the Beta Charitable Trust have agreed to match-fund up to £10,000 of donations for the remainder of the Month of Ramadan so every £1 you give will continue to be doubled. This is on top of the Lady Fatemah Trust's (LTF) initial £10K match-funding.
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Crisis is all around us and millions are suffering in countries across the world. This Ramadan, we are acknowledging our shared struggles and responsibilities as members of an extended human family and we are counting (and sharing) our blessings for living in relative peace and security.
Our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters affected by the tragic events in Syria and Turkey, as well as those living with conflict and war in Yemen, Ukraine and elsewhere. At Sufra, we see the devastating impact of these disasters on those we support every day such as the many refugees and asylum seekers we support who are fleeing conflict and facing an extremely hostile environment in the UK.
Unsurprisingly, our migrant guests struggle to build a new life in a country where a fifth of the population now live in poverty, 7 million families are skipping meals, and the cost of living is impossibly high even for the average family.
It's no wonder our refugee and advice services are at bursting point and our social media posts are littered with requests to help top up our food bank shelves with essentials that have run dry.
It doesn't have to be this way. If we act together in a spirit of love and selfless giving, our combined effort can make a lasting impact on the lives of thousands of people.
This Ramadan, we are asking you to stand in solidarity with Sufra NW London, to share your blessings, and to help us support thousands of local people who are struggling to survive.
There is always goodness in giving no matter how little. - Ali Ibn Abi Talib (RA)
Double Your Donations with the Lady Fatemah Trust (LFT)
We are very grateful once again to have £10,000 of initial match funding from LFT for our Ramadan Appeal, which means every penny you give will automatically be doubled and have twice the impact for vulnerable guests. Our fundraising target this year is £60,000.
Every pound you give is a blessing for those we support:
£5 will provide one of our guests with a hot and freshly cooked 3-course meal.
£50 will provide a family of 4 with a weeks worth of food and essentials, as well as a consultation with a Welfare Advisor.
£100 will provide an Advice Service Drop-in session to help deal with housing, benefits, immigration and other issues.
£250 will sponsor one of our Community Kitchens, providing delicious free meals for over 50 people.
£1000 will sponsor a Community Kitchen for a month.
Samira's Story
These interconnected crises are the reason we are seeing more refugees and asylum seekers knocking at our door, desperate for support, alongside more people who can no longer afford to feed their families and have nowhere else to turn for help. People like Samira and her daughter...
Samira attended our Advice Drop-in service recently, exhausted and desperate for help having fallen through the cracks in the system. Samira was forced to come to the UK from Syria without her children. She was pregnant whilst travelling and give birth to a child with down-syndrome after she arrived. Whilst she has now been reunited with her children, the family has been forced into living in mouldy, overcrowded housing conditions. After asking her landlord to fix the issues, Samira was issued an eviction notice and now faces the prospect of becoming homeless. To worsen the situation, the benefit cap means she is unable to afford to rent in a new property. As you will know, we are doing everything we can to support Samira and countless others like her.
Our Impact
This Ramadan we expect to support over 1,000 people a week struggling to afford food and other essentials - most of them on multiple occasions. 43% of those who have received food parcels for us are aged 18 or under.
We do this through our network of food banks hubs and community kitchens, as well as our advice services and our new Community Wellbeing Project, which includes a community shop, café and restaurant.
Our OpenARMS programme is particularly busy at the moment supporting asylum seekers, refugees and migrants we have had to expand our Advice Team to keep up. In the year ahead, we expect to support hundreds of refugees, asylum seekers or migrants and soon our Advice Team will be accredited by the Office of the Immigration Commissioner (OISC) to provide in depth and specialist immigration advice.
Zakat al-Mal and Zakat al-Fitr
Sufra NW London can distribute Zakat al-Mal and Zakat al-Fitr on behalf of observant Muslims to needy individuals and families living in Northwest London.
All Zakat funds are restricted to providing emergency aid (including food, clothing and hostel accommodation). No zakat funds are used for the general running costs of the organisation.
You can find our Zakat Policy here. To pay Zakat al-Mal (2.5% of annual savings restricted to emergency aid)use this link. To pay Fidya, Kaffarah or Zakat al-Fitr (£5/person 100% restricted to food)use this link.
Other ways to support Sufra this Ramadan
This Ramadan you can also help Sufra combat food poverty by helping to fill our shelves:
Ramadan Giving Calendar: It's a great way to get family, friends, colleagues involved. The Ramadan Giving Calendar has a list of essential items we need. Each day of Ramadan, you will place one of those items (or more) in a box, and at the end of the month, families will have a box full of items to donate to our guests. Download theRamadan Giving Calendar here!
Community Collections: You can run a food drive in your religious/community centre, workplace, school or neighbourhood. We can provide you with collection bins, leaflets and other support just email fahim@sufra-nwlondon.org.uk (Last year one amazing supporter collected over 4 tonnes in her house over the course of the month)
Supermarket deliveries: Order a supermarket delivery directly to Sufra at 160 Pitfield Way, NW10 0PW between Mon-Fri 9am-5pm to ensure we are well-stocked for our food bank sessions.