My very first encounter with poverty and hunger was at a very young age. Being from a third world country and having spent several years of my childhood there, I was truly exposed to what the ‘other side of the world’ faces on a day to day basis. In our mission to change the world we tend to ignore the infringements to basic human rights that take place on our doorstep. Ironically we call the United Kingdom a first world country, but should that not raise questions about why there are so many people who live on the streets and can’t even afford a hot meal? The Office for National Statistics released their figures last summer stating that 7.3% of the UK experience persistent poverty. This may not seem like a large figure but when you take away the percentage and replace that with numbers, that's around 4.6 million people - to me that is a lot of the population facing poverty! I volunteered at Rumi’s Soup Kitchen for a fair amount of time, in which I met several people who experienced everything being taken away from them - sadly money is only momentary.

Having held the aim to help beat poverty and hunger from a young age, I made this Ramadan my start line. The money I will raise will be donated to Sufra Food Bank in the hope to change many lives (God willing). They have a range of services from a community kitchen to refugee support; it is a charity whose sole aim is to make a change in our community.

These two social constructs do not need to be conquered only because it is ordained by many religions; rather it should be a problem that all of us aim to defeat as humans with morals. We do not need to be of any religion. Having said that, I would still like to end with the words of a great man who touches the heart of many, the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh). He said, ‘The best of all charities is to feed a hungry person.’

I hope everyone who reads this can join me in this holy month to raise money for the poor.