Over the past weekend I was back in England for a two day trip to attend the “Iftar for Pakistan” charity dinner events for the flood victims. My first stop was Luton on Saturday where I was joined by hard working Islamic Relief volunteers with our two guests of honour Pakistani cricket players Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq.
 

The Luton dinner was organised and led by the owner of Nadeem Plaza, Mr Nadeem

 

I was pleased to see different organisations attending the event in Luton which was branded under the banner of “United Luton”. Others who attended were from different backgrounds and nationalities and again under one roof this showed how the generosity hasn’t come to a standstill.
 

I was in the presence of 500 people at Venue Central in Luton. The love for humanity was definitely felt at this event as we managed to raise a total of £100.000. Luton’s target is to raise £250k and I am happy to say they are well on there way to reaching their target.
 

After the Luton event I headed north to Manchester on Sunday for another evening dinner at the Nawaab (International Restaurant and Banqueting Hall). Again I had Afridi and Razzaq helping on stage and another cricketer Fawad Alam who also joined us at the last minute. With the help of these three sportsmen, the Manchester volunteers and the 500+ people who attended, we were able to raise an incredible £130.000. Well done Manchester!

Manchester was my 9^th fundraiser for the Pakistan floods and each time I have witnessed tremendous generosity and the compassion for Pakistan flood victims. “We all want to make a difference” is what people were telling me at the entrance to the venue and this was clearly evident in the people’s eyes and through their huge amounts of donations.

I have not seen any any signs of donor fatigue, and I do sincerely hope that this generosity continues. Whilst the news coverage of the floods in Pakistan fades out I really hope that the world does not forget the pain and sufferings of Pakistan flood victims. The pain and agony will be felt by flood victims for a long time to come.

I have one remaining fundraising dinner to attend which is today in Bristol. After that I am heading back to Pakistan where I will be visiting Kyhber Paktoonkhwa, Southern Punjab and Baluchistan. The main purpose of my trip this time will be to review the impact of Islamic Relief support and relief efforts.

Please look out for my tweets (www.twitter.com/habib_malik)  and  my video blogs from the flood zones!