MUSLIMS helped out at East Lancashire Hospice as part of their involvement in this year’s Charity Week.

One volunteer from UK charity Islamic Relief has friends who have received care from the hospice, and wanted to give something back.

Charity Week took place between October 22 and 28 and involved mainly Muslim students and volunteers up and down the country raising funds and doing good deeds in their communities.

Former Pleckgate High School student Hamzah Adam, from Blackburn, is now an IT worker and also volunteers for Islamic Relief.

Five other young volunteers helped out - Samira Hussain, Aamirah Patel, Raisah Sheth, Aysha Abdullah and Hafsah Khan. They helped patients to sort out their gardens, get around during their creative therapy sessions or simply cleaning.

Hamzah Adam said: “I love the idea of communities coming together and mixing, where there is no discrimination. That’s what I wanted to do for Charity Week, to do good deeds, and coming here to the East Lancashire Hospice seemed natural.”

All the money raised during Charity Week goes towards supporting children’s projects run by Islamic Relief in the UK and around the world. The projects include building schools in Mali, refurbishing orphanages in Syria and helping children go to school in Afghanistan.

Beth Shutt, from the hospice, said: “We are so grateful to the team from Islamic Relief for volunteering their time at the hospice. They took on a wide variety of tasks, starting with tidying our gardens to then spending time working on a craft project with our creative and support therapy members and received lots of positive feedback.

"We are very fortunate to be supported by wonderful volunteers such as these and the contribution of their time and talents enhances and supports the work we do at the hospice."