Sisters raise £650k to help tackle global poverty

Three sisters who have raised more than £650,000 to help tackle global poverty say they are determined to continue their charity work.

Khadeejah, 8, Haziqah, 13 and Leya, 20, started fundraising four years ago to support the likes of water pump installations and provide thousands of people with hot meals, in countries including Pakistan and Lebanon.

From mosque bucket collections to university sales, the total raised by the trio from Bordesley Green, Birmingham, includes £120,000 during Ramadan this year.

"Once you see poverty, you can't go back to normal life, you've got to stay committed to help them," Leya said, referring to the trio known as Team H&K.

She added Pakistan, her family's home country, was "super-close" to their hearts.

The money Team H&K raises supports the charity Jigsaw, enabling its mission to create positive change around the world.

The team encourages people to donate through posts on their Instagram page, which is filled with videos of the work they carry out to keep donors up to date about how their money is being spent.

"The donors are so supportive, we provide videos of exactly what we do so people know where the money is going," Leya said.

Those living in Pakistan were suffering from the effects of climate change, inflation, food insecurity and poverty, she explained.

"I've seen videos of people crying because they were so happy [to receive aid], because they felt forgotten," she added.

Leya said fundraising keeps her going each day and makes her feel over the moon to provide support.

Their father Yuser not only balances his life at home and his job at Birmingham Airport, but also visits countries like Pakistan and Lebanon to distribute aid.

He also helps set up livelihood projects so people can start small businesses and support their families.

"That one smile on a family's face is everything, all those sleepless nights is 100% worth it," he said.

Team H&K's work will not stop there, as Yuser now has plans to visit Africa on his next deployment to help people on the continent.

The family said Eid would be time to celebrate what they had achieved during the appeal.

Team H&K has a Just Giving page that enables people to make donations.

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