Members from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elders Association North West officially launched the 2019 Charity Walk for Peace at the Pre-Charity Reception at Darul Amaan Mosque on Greenheys Lane on Saturday March 16th to a packed hall of charities and civic dignitaries.

11 charities attended the launch alongside Councillor Ronnie Wilson, the Ceremonial Mayor of Salford. Fundraising through the charity walk is now in its 34th year and the country wide Charity Receptions focus on the aims, objectives and fundraising efforts of the Charity Walk for Peace and the supported charities. A number of guest speakers spoke about their involvement with the Charity Walk for Peace and about the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community North West and their community support initiatives.

Zaheer Ahmad, Chairman of the Charity Walk for Peace, said:
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to attending today and thank you for your support and for participating this evening, so we may work together for humanity and for peace. Members from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elders Association have worked so hard to collect hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity and it’s so encouraging to see.”

Councillor Ronnie Wilson, the Ceremonial Mayor of Salford, said:
“Today has been most enjoyable to meet people who are so keen and work so very hard for the charities.”

Helen Latham, from Graces Place Forget Me Not Children, said:
“Thank you so much for your £750 donation which went towards the Forget Me Not children’s hospital.”

Nader Ahmad, from Kind Charity Liverpool, said:
“I am proud and humbled to have been invited and very impressed with the work of the Ahmadiyya Community.”

Catherine Leech, Community Fundraiser for East Lancashire Hospice, said:
“I have enjoyed every second of this event.”

Rafi Ahmad, Vice Chairman of the Charity Walk for Peace, said:
“We are having this wonderful reception today to officially launch the walk with MK DONS and MK DONS SET. To date we have supported 490 charities, and we hope you will use today’s session to become our friends as we can do so much more together with more people involved. I would like to mention here that this year’s National Walk takes place in Milton Keynes, but we have 18 regions and already 10 of those regions have said they are going to hold regional walks this year for charity.”

Dr. Ijaz ur Rahman, National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elder’s Association, commenting on the Charity Reception, said:
“I am grateful to the charities who joined the North West Charity Reception. Without their support we would not be where we are today, raising millions for UK charities. Our spiritual leader, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, has guided us to work with smaller charities even more so. In the last few years we have supported more and more local charities and the significance to that is the smaller charities benefit much more from the donations and the volunteer support. Thus, moving the National Walk across the country helps us to do this.”

This year’s walk is taking place in association with MK DONS SET on Sunday June 30th, 2019 and promises to break last year’s fundraising record of £1 million pounds for UK charities. Charity Walk for Peace has raised more than £5.2 million for charities, supporting 494 UK registered charities with a staggering £501,000 raised for the 2018 Poppy Appeal.

Charities that attended the launch:

• British Red Cross
• The Christie Charity of Christie Hospital, Manchester
• Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool
• Graces Place, Forget Me Not Children
• Shelters, Manchester
• St. Anne’s Hospice
• East Lancashire Hospice
• Kind Charity, Liverpool
• NSPCC
• The Congolese Association
• St. Mary’s Primary School