Luton Town Football Club were delighted to invite our neighbours from the Madinah Masjid mosque to Kenilworth Road for a Unity Iftar event on Monday evening.
After assistant club secretary Nasreen Afzal introduced the event, Town chairman David Wilkinson, manager Rob Edwards and commercial director Chris Bell all spoke to over 100 people gathered in the Eric Morecambe Lounge, after members of the mosque situated at the top of Oak Road had been pitchside to see the new Bobbers Stand.
During the event, the video above was played of a typical day for Hatters academy player Nassim El Gourja while fasting during Ramadan.
Together with player care officer Wayne Polson, the attacking midfielder then spoke to the room about the support he receives from his team-mates in the Under-15 squad and the club, which includes having a dedicated prayer room and access to food and water to enable him to break his fast during evening training sessions.
Nassim also explained that he takes inspiration from the likes of fellow Muslim footballers Mo Salah and Karim Benzema for managing to perform on the world stage while fasting, before going on to do interviews for Sky Sports News, which you can see on their channel throughout today, and ITV News Anglia on their 6pm evening news programme.
BBC Look East were also present, and you can watch their feature from last night’s news on BBC iPlayer by clicking HERE and scrolling to 18:00
Their online report can be read HERE.
To close the event, Luton FoodBank chair Liz Stringer highlighted the increasing demand for the charity’s services, with 400-500 bags of food going out each week to families in need, at a time when donations are at an all-time low.
URGENT APPEAL
— Luton Foodbank (@LutonFoodbank) March 22, 2024
Our food stocks are their LOWEST EVER levels.
Please help!
Donate food:https://t.co/3hodLOls0a
Donate money:https://t.co/ad4wLbuvuv
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND SUPPORT pic.twitter.com/1OFo0p8NK0
If you are able to help please visit lutonfoodbank.org.uk
