Wolves Foundation: Great month of sport during Ramadan
Wolves Foundation organised weekly football and cricket sessions during Ramadan, staged late in the day to tie in with the breaking of the fast and evening prayer for Muslims during their holy month of reflection.
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Following on from the success of a single session held during Ramadan last year, the more regular activities have not only built up some fun and healthy competition but also offered people getting the chance to meet with those from different mosques during what is such an important time of year.
And the successful month of sport will culminate with a finals evening staged at the Aldersley Arena later this week.
In stepping up to provide weekly sessions for this Ramadan, the Foundation were able to count on the expertise of Tariq Ali MBE, an inspirational figure in the local community who is also a volunteer cricket coach with Staffordshire Cricket.
“After doing a little bit last year, the Foundation got in touch this time and said they wanted to make the activities a little bit bigger,” said Tariq.
“Me being me, I decided to get the local mosques involved, and within 24 hours we’d got four or five interested and it all took off from there.
“So, we’ve had cricket on a Monday and football on a Thursday, and it’s been a busy few weeks!”
Rachel Smith, Head of Programmes for Health Improvement and Community Sport at the Foundation, added: “We want all of our sessions to be inclusive and for as many people as possible to be involved.
“We know this is such an important time of the year for the Muslim community, and, within the Foundation, we wanted to put something on that would work around their fasting and prayer time.”
Nadeem, one of the participants who also helped Tariq with the organisation, has spoken of the positives of the whole experience.
“When we are fasting all day, it’s really good to come out and enjoy a bit of exercise and meet people from different mosques and different areas,” he said.
“We are really grateful to Wolves Foundation for thinking about us and are privileged to get these opportunities,” added another participant, Sabba.
And Ali added: “We are grateful to the Foundation for allowing us to use their facilities and for all the mosques in Wolverhampton to come and congregate and plays some sport – it’s been fantastic.”
