Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ahmadiyya Muslim community lead annual New Year street clean

More than 480 bags of litter were collected across 76 UK towns and cities on New Year’s Day.

Lynn Rusk
Wednesday 01 January 2025 12:33 EST
Imam Adeel Shah (far left) led the clean up in East Hampshire (Imam Adeel Shah/PA)
Imam Adeel Shah (far left) led the clean up in East Hampshire (Imam Adeel Shah/PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community collected hundreds of bags of litter in towns and cities across the UK as part of an annual New Year clean-up.

More than 1,700 people took part in the event organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA), in major UK cities including London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.

The organisation hosts several community service projects throughout the year, including tree planting, fundraising, blood donations and street cleaning.

Imam Adeel Shah, who led the community litter pick in east Hampshire, said a number of non-Muslims also joined in.

“It’s not only limited to just members of the Ahmadiyya community,” Imam Shah told the PA news agency.

“If the general public, if the locals, want to join as well, they’re more than welcome to.”

Imam Shah, who is involved in leading worship at the largest mosque in western Europe – Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden, south London – is one of an estimated 30,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims based in the UK.

He said despite some of the difficulties his community faced during the riots in the summer of 2024, they remain committed to unity and service.

“Even after the riots earlier last year, we never lost hope, we never stopped giving back.

“We’re all going to stand together always.

“That’s the kind of sentiment and community cohesion that we are trying to replicate across the UK.”

“In recent times, some voices have wrongly suggested that Islam is incompatible with British values,” said Abdul Quddus Arif, AMYA UK’s national president.

“The New Year Street Clean-Up is just one example of the initiatives the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association has been organising for over a decade to serve the community and country we proudly call home.

“From street clean-ups to various charitable efforts, our youth are committed to giving back.

“Over the past two years alone, our volunteers have dedicated more than 57,000 hours to serving people across the nation.

“Additionally, we have raised over £84 million for British charities and donated more than 4.6 million meals to those in need—further demonstrating our commitment to the welfare of our fellow citizens.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in