Caring young Muslims help struggling people in Milton Keynes to have a happy Christmas - even though they don't celebrate the day themselves

Young people from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) put smiles on the faces of dozens of lonely people in Milton Keynes on Christmas Day.

In collaboration with the Marie Curie charity, they launched a caring campaign to deliver a free gift basket to anyone who was celebrating the festive period alone or going through a tough period.

Inside each gift basket was a selection of items such as chocolates, festive food, scented candles, a winter scarf, toys, stationary and a card. The contents were tailored depending on whether it was for a child or an adult.

Members of the Muslim community do not officially celebrate Christmas. Instead they will celebrate Eid, a religious holiday in April to mark the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.

An AMYA spokesman said this week: “Due to the current cost-of-living crisis, there are many people going through a difficult time at the moment.”

AMYA volunteers spent weeks preparing the baskets and on Christmas day they mobilised volunteers to personally deliver them to all the individuals nominated by their friends, family members, colleagues and neighbours.

“Everyone that received the gift basket was extremely grateful and many sent personal messages to AMYA via email and social media expressing their appreciation and emotions,” said the spokesman.

The Regional Youth Leader of AMYA, Saeed Nazir said: “The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said that every act of goodness is a

charity. There is a real need to help those that are going through a difficult time so we decided to run a gift basket initiative this year in the hope that this will bring some joy to those who deserve it during this festive period.

"This has been a very challenging but equally rewarding experience and we hope that we can continue with similar initiatives in the future.”

AMYA has more than 9000 members spread across 150 chapters in the UK and they work tirelessly to help communities. The organisation focuses on helping young Muslims to become better citizens and fulfil their religious obligations of serving God and humanity.