Saadia is not unknown to volunteering. Although a full time teacher by day, Saadia works with an educational trust in her spare time and often helps with fundraisers for causes close to her heart.
With all this going on Saadia was still extremely keen to get involved in the annual Muslim Youth Helpline prison packing day which sends gifts to local Muslim prisoners during Ramadhan.
Saadia Siddiqui
Saadia explains why she got involved for the second year running:
“We go about our daily lives and forget about people less fortunate than ourselves. The prisoners are often shunned by their families and feel cut off from society. By volunteering for this project we’re letting them know that we haven’t forgotten them.”
Saadia was one of a number of volunteers who spent a day helping to pack the gifts. The time and thought that went into this doesn’t go unnoticed. One prisoner who received a gift said:
“Thank you for all the support and thinking of everyone Muslim in the prison. We got the message and the gift as well and that make me so happy and thinking I have brothers and sisters thinking of me as I used to think I've no one to celebrate the Eid with.”
Saadia continues to volunteer and would encourage others to do so too, she says:
“Getting involved with volunteering such as the prison packing project gives you a chance to interact with other like-minded people whilst understanding more about the prisoners and how we can help. It really isn’t a huge amount of time to spend considering the huge difference it makes.”