A 100-year-old Muslim man, Dabirul Islam Choudhury, has been made the OBE (Order of British Empire) for raising £420,000 during Ramzan for COVID relief funds, on the occasion of Queen’s birthday, reported The Independent on Friday.
He said he raised the money by walking 970 laps of his garden in Bow in East London. The man said he drew inspiration from Captain Sir Tom Moore and set a challenge of walking 100 laps. Choudhury is a British-Bangleshi who has been settled in the UK since 1957. He was born in British Assam on January 1, 1921 and moved to London to study English Literature.
“I feel proud they have honoured me for the efforts I have done. I thank everybody from the bottom of my heart,” said Choudhury.
Choudhury donated £116,000 to NHS and the rest of the amount was sent to 30 charities in 52 countries as part of Ramadan Family Commitment COVID-19 crisis initiative, run by British-Bangladeshi Channel S.
Choudhury’s son, Atique, also spoke about his father’s achievement. He said: ”Where we are from in Bangladesh, we don’t get much recognition for the work that we do, so this is for all the people who contributed towards my dad’s success and all the victims of Covid-19.
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“He said his work hasn’t finished and he’s going to carry on working and raising money for people affected by Covid.”
Since then he has been leading several fundraising projects and activities. He is also a poet who has written and published thousands of his own poems.
Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer lauded Choudhury for his achievement.
On behalf of @UKLabour, I would like to thank Dabirul Islam Choudhury for his incredible fundraising effort.
I know he has now raised well over £150,000 for those affected by coronavirus in the UK and Bangladesh.
He is an inspiration to us all.https://t.co/yPyLYVglT3
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 21, 2020
“On behalf of @UKLabour, I would like to thank Dabirul Islam Choudhury for his incredible fundraising effort.”
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“I know he has now raised well over £150,000 for those affected by coronavirus in the UK and Bangladesh. He is an inspiration to us all,” he added further.