Campaign raises £6,500 in a day for family of tragic Sadia

After a fire in Oldham tragically took the life of a mother-of-three last month, the local community is raising funds for the surviving family after they lost everything.

A staggering £6,500 of a £20,000 target was raised in just one day.

By today (Monday), more than £10,000 has been raised.

The community was shaken after the incident last month, as Sadia Shafiq, a single mother aged 42, died during the fire on St Thomas Street.

The tragedy has left her two sons and daughter grieving and homeless.

The sons are aged 17 and 21 and her daughter is 15-years-old and is presently still in a critical condition in hospital.

The survivors lost not only their mother, but have lost all their assets, belongings and their home.

They have been left with nothing. 

The community are currently arranging the following events to raise funds:

A bike ride from Oldham to Halifax and back (85km) via the canal route

A half marathon run

A car wash event with a BBQ and family activities

A walk from Oldham - where the fire started - via Hollins Road fire station to a fire station in Manchester

One of the fund-raiser organisers is Afruz Miah, Oldham’s very own running man and champion fundraiser.

He said: “The aim of fundraising is to help rebuild their lives and help them continue with their education.

"Contributions will go directly towards providing them with a safe and stable living environment ensuring they have access to essentials.

“We support families and communities abroad when a humanitarian catastrophe strikes, but this time we need to respond rapidly and do our bit as the incident happened on our doorstep.

“I was contacted by Mohammed Naveed to discuss ways we can support the children during theses testing times.

"We met with the family members and were given the green light to go ahead.

“Our target is to raise enough funds to give the children peace of mind so they can continue living without having to worry about financial problems."

People can join with the above activities and raise funds, secure sponsorships or they can donate on the link here

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