The 700 total participants hope to raise over £500,000 for various UK charities

Roehampton youth member receives his award

The largest Muslim youth organisation in Britain, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) held its 'Mercy for Mankind' Charity Challenge on Saturday 19th August in Fitz Park, Keswick.

Twenty fours members of the organisation from Putney and Roehampton, joined other youth from across the UK to practice the Islamic teachings of serving humanity by raising funds for British charities in the Half Marathon. The purpose of the event was to help raise funds and dispel myths surrounding Islam by promoting its true values of service to mankind.

Over 700 members of AMYA took part in a half marathon run and walk, hoping to raise more than £500,000 for UK charities, including, The Royal British Legion, Save the Children, NSPCC, Barnardos, CLIC Sargent, UNICEF, British Red Cross, Cumbria Community Foundation and others.

This year welcomed the 33rd Charity Challenge, which first began in 1985 and since its inception, AMYA has raised in excess of £2 million for UK charities. The background to this year’s Mercy4Mankind event is rooted in the floods which hit Cumbria in 2015 and 2016. Hundreds of Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth from across the country spent many days and hundreds of man-hours assisting in the flood relief effort. Since that year, Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth have re-visited the Cumbria area to offer their support and raise money for the Cumbrian Community foundation. Last year Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth cycled over 100 miles in the Ride4Peace effort in the Lake District and also organised a charity hike over 2 days in the area.

A Special plaque as a gift from the town council and people of Keswick was presented to AMYA. The plaque read: “In recognition of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association's work in the aftermath of storm Desmond in 2015 and their continued charitable efforts in raising money for our community in 2016 and 2017.”



The Mayor of Keswick, Susan Leighton (pictured above), said: "The AMYA group have been really helpful in the community of Keswick since the floods, storm Desmond, in 2015. They came back last year and raised money for the Cumbria community foundation. This year their annual event which last year was in Hyde Park in London is here in Keswick. It is the first biggest event we've had in Keswick since Cumbria recieved its UNESCO world heritage status.

Reverend Helen Marshall said:
“This is such a positive heart warming event for us all to participate in and we cannot thank you enough for the way that you travel to our community, raise much needed funds for an excellent charity and then show hospitality to us in our own town.”



Aamer Hafeez, regional youth leader for AMYA Masroor Region (Putney and surroundings) said: “It was great to attend the event from… Given that the event happened just a few days after the attacks in Barcelona and Finland, it had a very clear message that the true message of Islam is of peace and we had the opportunity to show that message through a practical example. Nowadays people have many misconceptions about Islam. We raise hundreds of thousands of pounds every year for British charities because we practice the true teachings of Islam.”


August 21, 2017