Hundreds attend maiden Open Iftar event at Accrington Stanley's Wham Stadium

More than 200 people attended Accrington Stanley’s first Open Iftar event, which took place at the Wham Stadium on Sunday 16th March.

People from all areas of the local community came together to enjoy a fantastic evening in Accrington Stanley’s world class hospitality venue.

After breaking their fast with water and dates, guests enjoyed delicious Asian cuisine from Waheeds and dessert from MyLahore in the 1968 Lounge.

Alongside the food, those attending the free event also heard pitch side from Hafiz Abdul Alim of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, who announced the call to prayer, recited a Surat and spoke about the community coming together.

Other guest speakers included MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden, Sarah Smith and Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw.

International charity ‘Islamic Relief UK’ also attended the Wham Stadium event with a special stand which provided more information on their work, while fellow charity ‘Anthony Nolan’ also showcased the work they do in the areas of leukaemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Special prayer rooms were also installed in Coley’s for those wanting to pray at the Iftar event.

The Open Iftar was the grand finale to an exciting few weeks of activities for Accrington Stanley, which has seen them deliver community cohesion workshops in local secondary schools, as well as hosting a ‘walk to the match’ and smaller Iftar initiative on Tuesday 4th March, which saw over 150 students and family members enjoying Iftar food boxes before heading to the Wham Stadium.

Robert Houseman, Accrington Stanley EDI Officer, said: “It was a real pleasure to host our first ever Open Iftar as a club, and it was amazing to see so many people from all areas of the community coming together as one here at Accrington Stanley.”

Hafiz Abdul Alim of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, said: “It has been an absolute privilege and honour to be at the first ever Iftar at Accrington Stanley. I would like to say a massive thank you to all the organisers, especially Accrington Stanley for hosting us.

“It just brings people together and this is what we need going forward and let’s hope this is the first of many.”

Shabnam from Islamic Relief Northwest region, said: “I would like to say thank you so much to Accrington Stanley for this wonderful Open Iftar, you should be very proud of yourselves, this was outstanding. From the community, to the speakers, I was truly blown away.”

BBC Lancashire’s Stephen Lowe, who has been an Accrington Stanley supporter for over 40 years, said: “This is the first time that I have been to an Accrington Stanley Iftar here at the Wham Stadium and what an amazing event it has been. I have learned so much tonight about parts of the community that I have never asked the questions about before, and it has been superb to see everyone coming together.

“One of the things I love about being from Accrington and Hyndburn is that I grew up playing cricket and football with lads who are Muslim on the terraced streets of Accrington, there was a unity then and there is a unity now, that where others try to divide us… the strength that we have in community binds us together here in Accrington, which is one of the very special things about the town that I call home.”

Accrington Stanley Football Club represents communities from a wide variety of diverse backgrounds and has achieved a Bronze level in the EFL’s Equality Code of Practice, due to their ongoing work and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

The community Iftar was funded by a grant from Hyndburn Borough Council, who made community cohesion grants totalling over £87,000 to organisations across the borough earlier this year.

Funding was provided to the Council by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, and is part of the £2.5million Integrated Security Fund (ISF), to provide support to local areas to bring communities together, strengthen social connections, and counter harmful narratives that drive divisions.