Donation appeal as Afruz Miah gears up to visit Morocco

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake stretched from the High Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakesh when it struck on Friday, September 8.

Afruz Miah BEM had been planning a fundraising trip to climb Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa, in October.

The trip was planned to raise money for a blind school in Kashmir.

The Oldhamer was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for his charity work last year, and he was one of just 2,000 people from across the world invited to Westminster Abbey to witness the coronation of King Charles III.

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Now, Afruz plans to help out in the region while he visits.

He said: “We’re planning to Morocco on 10 to 16 October. We’ve already got the challenge ready and the sponsorship in place, I’ve got 10 people registered to travel with me to raise funds for a blind school in Pakistan, it’s a unique project.

“Then all of a sudden the earthquake happened in Morocco. We’re going to extend our stay after the climb and distribute whatever needs to be distributed whilst we’re there. It makes sense that whilst we’re there we might as well do something.

“That wasn’t in the plan, it just fell on us. We’ve got team on the ground already which are active and distributing aid as we speak.”

Afruz also plans to do street collections, cake sales, and a car wash to raise money as part of work to help those affected by the disaster.

Just months ago, Afruz was appealing for donations following the devastating earthquake which hit Turkey and Syria.

Afruz Miah (Image: Global Relief Trust)

Now another earthquake has hit, Afruz says it’s like ‘going through the same cycle again’.

He added: “It’s heartbreaking, generations being wiped out, people sleeping rough on the floors, they’ve lost everything.

“In that sense, we, especially working in the charity sector, have seen it before. You can never prepare for things like this, you just have to get on with it. We’ve got a team on the ground working 24 hours to support those affected with hot meals, hygiene, medical aid, and sanitary items.”

The team working on the ground in the country is a partner of the Global Relief Trust, the charity Afruz fundraises for, with organisations required to get approval from the Moroccan government to supply aid.

Afruz added: “We’ve got approval through working with our partners. We work directly in 12 countries but Morocco is not one of the countries we directly work in, but one of our partners that works with us in another country. We’re going through our partners and hopefully we can do what we can.

“It’s not just us, there’s loads of charities out there supporting and responding, and doing phenomenal work.

“We’re planning to send a few people over in the next couple of days. More than before, it’s not about people going there, it’s about people sending the funds there, which is what is needed, there’s a lot of charities already out there and people are on the ground anyway.

“Because we’re travelling on 10 October anyway, that’s going to be an addition to what we’re going to be doing, we might as well complete the trek. We’re giving people the opportunity to donate to the blind school or the earthquake campaign as well.”

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Those who wish to donate through the Global Relief Trust can do so through its website.

The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people were affected by the earthquake, the most powerful to hit Morocco in 120 years and made more dangerous by its relatively shallow depth.

Spain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are among the nations whose government-offered aid has so far been accepted by Moroccan officials, with some foreign rescue teams claiming they are awaiting permission to deploy.

Morocco’s interior ministry has said officials want to avoid a lack of co-ordination which “would be counter-productive”.