Islamic Relief’s Cakes4Syria campaign raises £76,000
Howard Lake | 24 July 2014 | News
Islamic Relief’s Cakes4Syria campaign has seen over 15,000 cakes bought and delivered to raise £76,705. Starting from the beginning of Ramadan, the campaign raised £26,455 in its first week.
The campaign began in Bradford during Ramadan last year, the idea of an Islamic Relief volunteer, 23-year-old Sibbat e Noor, a trainee solicitor from Bradford. This year the delivery operation has expanded from a few volunteers with four dedicated mobiles to a call centre (01274 952144) with 30 staff and 130 drivers across the country, all of whom are volunteers.
The final total will be higher as it closes tomorrow, with the order line closing at 5pm.
The cakes cost £10 – the same as from other retailers – but £5 of this is donated to Islamic Relief’s Syria appeal. Deliveries take place on Sundays and Thursdays until the end of Ramadan.
Zia Salik, Islamic Relief’s Community Fundraising and Volunteer Manager, said:
“This is an idea that came from the grassroots, from our volunteers, and the response has been just fantastic. The team of volunteers have done an amazing job in the last few weeks and their efforts have helped raise thousands for one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.”
The volunteers have been delivering the cake while they fasted for Ramadan.
Their fundraising efforts come as British imams have called for Muslims to help Syrians peacefully from the UK.
[youtube height=”450″ width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=culIP61oPaU[/youtube]
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Cake sale ranks
The North East of England has raised the most by selling 4,192 cakes, followed by London and the South East at 3,647 cakes.
London is the top city too, with 2,336 cakes sold, followed by Birmingham at 2,192 and Bradford at 1,968.
Sibbat said:
“It’s just brilliant. I can’t believe it’s gone national. The response we’ve had this year has been almost overwhelming. The atmosphere on the team here in Bradford is excellent, we are really pulling together to do something for the people of Syria.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.