More than £3000 has been raised to help victims of floods in Bangladesh by local organisations in Keighley
Eden Community Association (ECA) and 1Vision teamed up to host a charity football tournament at Marley Outdoor Activities Centre in Keighley on Sunday 21 August.
The tournament was in aid of helping victims of the floods in Sylhet, Bangladesh, which swept away houses and roads, resulting in many families being trapped and restricted from buying food or having access to electricity or clean water.
According to media reports an estimated 7.2 million people have been severely affected by the devastating flash floods which began in May 2022 with a second wave starting around the 15 June 2022 in nine northeastern districts of Bangladesh: Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Kishorganj, Netrakona, Brahmanbaria, Mymensing and Sherpur.
The money raised will help those whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. Food parcels will also be distributed to help those in distress.
The charity football tournament titled the Goal4Bangladesh Tournament was organised by Aroj Ali from 1Vision and Fulzar Ahmed and Ashraf Miah from ECA.
Fulzar told Asian Standard: “We are very grateful to all our sponsors and businesses for their generous contribution. We wanted to thank all our volunteers, referees and the teams who participated specially teams from Middlesbrough and Burnley. The tournament ran very smoothly and everyone really enjoyed it.”
The final was played between Danehouse and Mavericks, both teams from Burnley. Mavericks won the tournament on penalties following a 1-1 draw. Saidul Haque from Danehouse was awarded player of the tournament.
Cllr John Kirby, Deputy Mayor of Keighley said “It was a pleasure to attend, massive well done to the organisers for delivery a fabulous football tournament in Keighley, we need more of these tournament to bring our youth and community together.”
Shaid Iqbal, Director of Alexandra Cousins Solicitors based in Leeds and one of the sponsors for the event said, “I’m always supportive of community initiatives that promotes charity work and community engagement.“
