More than £10,000 was raised at an Oldham mosque’s football fundraiser.
Bilal Jamia Masjid raised a total of £10,008.50 at its charity football tournament on Sunday, August 20.
The event had an estimated turnout of more than 2,000 people, according to one volunteer.
The match was held at Greenhill School and cost £80 for each five-a-side team. Plenty of local businesses lent their support to sponsor the event.
The event included a barbecue and ice cream for those in attendance as part of a ‘family fun day’.
The money raised will go towards Bilal Jamia Masjid, which is looking to buy land to expand its mosque to allow it to accommodate more people.
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Car parking issues affect the mosque’s current location, and the mosque says it needs more space to accommodate everyone.
The mosque previously said it was looking to raise £300,000 in three months in order to buy the land, which is located on Cook Street.
The land the mosque is looking to purchase was previously home to St Annes R.C. Church, which has since been demolished,
However, an agreement with the landowners has now meant they only need to raise £275,000 by 2024, with an interim deadline of £150,000 by the end of August.
The mosque has reached a grand total of around £140,000 so far.
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Oldham Council leader Arooj Shah also donated £450 to the mosque for the cost of the playing pitch for the event.
The event is the latest in a series of fundraising activities, which included the mosque’s congregation climbing Mount Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa.
The mosque plans to carry on the fundraising with a charity cricket tournament set to take place on August 28 at Glodwick Cricket Club.
Volunteer and tournament organiser Azad Hussain said: “They can come and enjoy themselves. It all depends on the weather, to be honest, but we’ll have the same facilities available that day as well: the barbecue, the ice creams.
“Come along for everybody who’s actually playing cricket and support the cause of the tournament. Every penny counts, to be honest, at the moment.
“Come along with your family, friends, kids and enjoy yourselves.”
Cllr Shah, who is also a councillor for St Mary’s ward, said: “I was really happy to be able to support this community initiative, they’re raising funds for something really important to so many people in Oldham and it was a no brainer to fund the pitch hire so they could raise as much money as possible.”
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