LONDON: A “Ramadan Kids Initiative” in the UK has raised nearly £35,000 ($46,000) during the holy month to build a school for orphaned children in Kashmir.
Tahreem Noor, the founder and organizer of the annual initiative, told Arab News that 50 British Muslim children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, including Arab, Pakistani, Bengali, Gujarati and Indian, participated this year, which marked the fifth anniversary of the launch of the initiative.
Youngsters between the ages of 5 and 15 took part in projects and activities including decorating, making prayer mats, cooking, boxing, badminton and Islamic learning to raise the money.
“The fundraising is the icing on the cake,” Noor said. “The main purpose of the initiative is actually to bring British Muslim young children and teenagers together to create friendships and create unity.”
The fasting month of Ramadan concludes this week and will be followed by the three days of Eid Al-Fitr, which is an official holiday in most Muslim countries. The holy month is an important time for British charities and fundraising campaigns, as many Muslims traditionally fulfill their annual obligations for zakat, a form of charitable giving that is one of the five pillars of Islam.
Tahreem Noor, the founder of the Ramadan Kids Initiative, speaks during the 5th anniversary iftar at Saffron Gallery in East London, Feb. 21, 2026. (Supplied)
The Ramadan Kids Initiative partnered this year with the READ Foundation charity, which plans to use money raised to build a school in Kashmir for nearly 140 orphans. The mountainous region has been contested by India and Pakistan since 1947, and as a result of decades of conflict and poverty, an estimated 200,000 orphans live in the area, according to Save the Children.
The READ (Rural Education and Development) Foundation was established in 1994. In addition to building educational facilities, it provides young people in disaster-stricken or conflict-affected countries with clothing, meals and transportation.
“These children in Kashmir have to walk for miles just to get to school,” said Noor. “They have no clothes, no shoes, no food, no accessories. At a READ Foundation school they will get education, clothes, stationery, shoes and clean water.”
The 50 children taking part in the Ramadan Kids Initiative this year were each committed to raising £750 during Ramadan by cooking meals and partnering with local restaurants. They also hosted a flagship fundraising event at the Saffron Gallery in East London last month. However, the financial targets are not strict, Noor said, as the primary goal is to nurture young Muslims, strengthen community bonds, and instill in them the values of compassion, service and faith.
Youngsters and parents took part in a decorating workshop organized by the Ramadan Kids Initiative 2026. (Supplied)
Since it began in 2021, the focus of the initiative has been on helping children to raise money for other children. In the first year, Noor and her son, who was 10 years old at the time, cooked meals and raised more $6,000 to help the Human Appeal charity provide food parcels.
Since then, dozens of British Muslim children have taken part and the initiative has raised money to help children in Palestine, Syria and Turkiye, in partnership with several UK-registered charities, sponsors and restaurants.
The primary message from the initiative to children worldwide is that they are not alone, Noor said.
“We are thinking of them,” she added. “And we are uniting here as Muslims, so we can stand together and be there for them. We are not divided; and together we stand and together we will succeed … We are just Muslims, and we are all one ummah (community).”
