Group joins '˜Big Street Clean' event

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) Spen Valley celebrated the New Year by waking at the crack of dawn offering communal prayers for a prosperous 2018.

After Morning Prayer they took to the streets, brooms and bin bags in hand, as part of the ‘Big Street Clean’. The campaign is one of many charitable and community initiatives carried out by the AMYA across the winter break.

The group also organised blood donation sessions, charity collections, children’s hospital and nursing home visits and homeless feeding sessions.

Manzoor Ahmad, head of AMYA Spen Valley, said: “Our members have enjoyed living in Spen Valley for decades and so any opportunity to help our local community is much welcome.

“Cleaning the streets of Batley Town centre also presents us with an opportunity to become better Muslims as cleanliness is an integral part of our faith.

“We are peace loving British Muslims and will continue to do all we can to serve our local community as best we can and wherever there is a need.”

AMYA is an auxiliary body of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a religious and charitable Muslim organisation.

The organisation focuses on helping young Muslims become better citizens and fulfil their religious obligations of serving God and humanity.

In 2017, AMYA raised more than £600,000 for various British charities, planted 25,000 trees, fed 14,000 people living in poverty and visited over 6000 people in care homes and hospitals to counter loneliness.