Press Release: Muslim Hands distributes record-breaking winter aid worldwide
UK charity Muslim Hands has launched its record-breaking winter appeal, delivering approximately two million pounds in aid to support disadvantaged people worldwide. Over £1 million will go towards supporting those impacted in Gaza to provide them with 1.7 million hot nutritious meals and winter essentials such as clothing and blankets. Distributions will take place in nine locations, including Yemen, Afghanistan, and the UK. Vital relief will be provided to communities affected by war, poverty, and natural disasters, with a particular focus on displaced people, widows, children, and elderly people.
Over the past two years, climate change has influenced extreme weather, creating countless emergencies from earthquakes to mass flooding, impacting millions worldwide and exacerbating existing poverty and food insecurity. In addition, the devastating effects of ongoing conflict and political instability has meant that at least 1.9 million people are now displaced in Gaza with nowhere to go. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some ten times or more – UN.
Fourteen months into the current war in Gaza, millions of people have fled their homes in search of safety. The current heavy rains are estimated to affect over 1.6 million people living in makeshift shelters across the Gaza Strip, and especially families living in tents along the coast in southwest Gaza who are particularly vulnerable to flooding caused by rising seawater level.
Our partners on the ground have echoed the same concerns with harsh winter temperatures compounded by heavy rains and rising sea tides are further exacerbating sewage management, the spread of disease, and risk of collapse of damaged buildings, where many families have sought refuge.
Asiya who is 35 years old, fled Gaza City in October 2023 with her four young children – Musa, Harun, Muhammad and Maryam. Being separated from her husband, who remained in the north, is a constant source of pain for Asiya, and her children desperately miss their father. She wonders if dying together as a family in the north would’ve been better than the slow, agonizing existence they now endure. Like so many mothers in Gaza, Asiya is unable to provide her children with a nutritious diet. She told our partners: ‘We are entirely dependent on aid to survive. I’ve lost half my weight, and the kids keep getting sick. I can’t afford milk, vegetables, or fruits.’
Asiya’s living conditions are terrible. Her shelter is made up of half-torn plastic bags stitched together, unable to protect them from the elements. ‘We sleep on the sand because I don’t have mattresses or blankets.’
It is now a race against time for organisations such as Muslim Hands to ensure vital support reaches the most vulnerable, including women and children, as the winter months pose a very real and serious risk to their lives. Muslim Hands is responding by providing hot meals, warm clothing, and sturdy tents. Last year, the winter relief given by Muslim Hands donors supported children like Ayah who fled bombing in North Gaza with just the clothes on her back.
Ayah said: 'I came [to this UNRWA school] with my family after the building next to our house was hit in an airstrike. We left and took nothing with us. On the way to the south, I saw terrible scenes of dead bodies. My mum told me to close my eyes, but I couldn’t. The other night a building near the school was hit again. I hugged my mum so tight as I was terrified. Here in the school, we have nothing, not even a blanket. At night it is so cold, and I am shivering so much that my teeth are chattering'.
Closer to home, UK food poverty rates continue to rise with food banks across the country expecting their busiest and most difficult winter on record. Skyrocketing inflation on energy bills and food as well as cuts on the winter fuel allowance by the UK government, have had a serious impact on families nationwide.
Muslim Hands has pledged to support local communities in the UK this winter through our Open Kitchens in London, Nottingham and Manchester, with warm nutritious meals daily as well as winter essentials such as sleeping bags and warm clothing. The Open Kitchen opens its doors seven days a week to everyone including those from low-income families, rough sleepers and refugees, Support also extends to finding housing, employment and mental health support. Collectively, our Open Kitchens have provided over half a million meals since their opening.
Waseem Amin, an Open Kitchen service user, told our teams: ‘When I was homeless it was about finding a meal and sorting a place to stay. If I didn’t have a meal, there was nothing else I could do because I was tired throughout the day. Places like the Open Kitchen have helped build me up enough energy to find a place and move forward in my life.
If you don’t have a meal, you can’t do anything after that. Having a meal is connected to my mental health, because during the winter [it] keeps me warm and reduces my anxiety around thinking about whether I will find my next meal. Other services were not frequent so I was always unsure of what I would get that day which was difficult.’
Yasrab Shah, Muslim Hands Fundraising Director said: 'To witness people in such desperation is truly heart-breaking. The scale of devastation we have witnessed this year is unimaginable, and it will take years for many of the countries we are working in to recover. Many of those impacted were already living in poverty and there is no doubt that the harsh winter months will present another difficult challenge. For Muslim Hands to distribute a record-breaking amount of emergency aid, this winter, in our 30-year history, would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors and we continue to be humbled by their outpouring of support.’
Notes to editors
- Established in 1993, Muslim Hands is an international aid agency and NGO dedicated to providing emergency relief and tackling the root causes of poverty around the world.
- Muslim Hands works in over 30 countries worldwide.
- We rely on voluntary donations to continue our vital work. You can donate now by calling 0115 911 7222 or clicking here.
- Press enquiries contact Sahirah Javaid (Senior Press Officer) via email sahirah.javaid@muslimhands.org.uk or 07736344899
