KBS team fundraising creates access to clean water

KBS Corporate team members recently raised money during Ramadan for SKT Welfare, a Muslim charity organisation that provides aid and sustainable relief to millions of disadvantaged people across the globe.

We helped to install a water hand pump in the Kot Adu District of South Punjab, Pakistan. Fundraising was led by our Head of Research, Julie Greenfield, who explained the wider efforts of the research team during Ramadan.

“We had two team members preparing for Ramadan in 2023, and we decided as a team on the back of general conversation to take the opportunity to educate the wider research team and to fundraise for a good cause,” explained Julie.

“Shazaman Ali and Shamima Akhtar were the two team members observing Ramadan for religious reasons. They built an infographic to share with the team to show the wider significance of Ramadan and Eid al Fitr to the Muslim community.

“They explained that whilst the main thing people see is the fasting that people do, Ramadan is much more about charity and community, remembering that there are some people in the world without access to food and clean water, and of course studying the Quran.

“At the time, we had a snack station which we would refill every week and anyone could use for breakfast, or a general pick-me-up throughout the day. We decided as a team that we would forego this for the month of Ramadan.

“Shaz and Shamima challenged the team to fast with them, making a competition of whoever held the longest fasted hours on the team would win the contents of the snack station.

“We posted weekly updates on LinkedIn to give insight into the experience of Ramadan for those trying to fast for the first time and we tried to be as informative as possible too.

“Throughout the month, it raised conversations across the team about religion and faith, charity and community. It was, in the wider sense, a really positive team-building experience for us.

“I was personally inspired to go back to Church and the winner of the challenge was Drixie Espiritu, who fasted with Shamima and Shaz for at least half a day almost every day of Ramadan.

“On the first working day after Eid al Fitr, we held a dress-down day and a bake sale to raise money. We chose the charity SKT Welfare, as the foundations of the charity are embedded in the Islamic faith.

“We spent the month contemplating on what it might be like to not have the everyday things we take for granted, and so felt a donation to a charity that represented this was the best way to go.

“We were thrilled to learn our donation would be used to build a water hand pump in Pakistan, giving access to clean water to an entire household and family.

“Shaz is particularly proud of this, taking the pack home to share with his family when we got confirmation that the pump had been finished.”

From KBS Corporate, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone that donated and the stellar efforts by the entire team involved.