For the Muslim community, Eid al-Fitr – which marks the end of Ramadan on 4 June – is a time to celebrate, feast and exchange gifts. Families will meet, best clothes will be worn and homes will be decorated lavishly. Yet a portion of society won’t get to enjoy the festivities today and throughout the week, simply because they cannot afford to.
One couple on a mission to change this is Phil and Karen Boulding, both 59, from Blackburn who devised a project called Secret Sheikh to give toys to Muslim children.
With the help of local community group One Voice, which aims to promote community cohesion, they’ve delivered over 500 gift bags to kids who would otherwise go without.
Explaining where the idea came from, Phil told HuffPost UK: “We give every single underprivileged child in Blackburn and Darwen a sack of seven presents to open on Christmas day – and that’s all done via children’s services.
“At Christmas time we found we had quite a few Muslims that would come along and pack the presents into the sacks and also the odd Muslim business that would donate money.”
Warmed by the response from the Muslim community, a few weeks before Ramadan began, the couple devised a project that would pay it forward. “I thought it would be nice to repay the favour and give disadvantaged Muslim children some presents at a time of the year that means something to them,” Phil, who previously worked as a project manager, explains.
In the space of six weeks, Phil and Karen came up with Secret Sheikh which has three main aims. The first is to give Eid gift bags to 300 underprivileged Muslim children at various schools and youth centres across Blackburn.
The presents are brand new – some have been donated by kind strangers while others have been bought by companies. Each bag contains a main present and then secondary items like colouring books. Some of the presents Phil has seen include Lego, dolls, dustbin trucks, build-your-own robot kits and smart cameras.
Another part of the project sees them dropping off Eid gift bags to the children’s ward at Blackburn Infirmary, where recipients include children from all religious backgrounds. “We make sure each child has a teddy – the power of a teddy is unbelievable,” says Phil. “You give them some presents and their faces light up. The world just becomes, for a little while, so much nicer.”
And lastly, the pair will throw two parties for refugees and asylum seekers in Blackburn towards the end of the week, where children in attendance will also receive an Eid gift bag. All of this has been made possible through fundraising events and crowdfunding online.
In total, 520 Eid gift bags have been distributed to kids in need. The pair are also distributing 50 shoeboxes filled with gifts for elderly Muslim people who are spending Eid alone.
While lots of media coverage focuses on community divisions in places like Blackburn, Phil says it’s not his experience at all. In the first year of their Secret Santa venture they managed to raise enough money and accept enough donations to fill 805 sacks for children, while in the second year they managed 100 more.
Six weeks ago Secret Sheikh didn’t even exist but, with the kindness of strangers, they’ve been able to deliver hundreds of toys to children across the town. When asked why they do it, Phil replies: “It’s just a nice way to repay the Muslim community for their kindness.”