Muslim Community Raises £1 million for Penny Appeal
Penny Appeal raises £1 million to help desperate orphans around the world, thanks to the exclusive American Sharia film tour.
The new Muslim comedy movie was screened 23 times up and down the country and helped to raise over £1 million in donations and commitments, which will go towards building orphanages and supporting orphans worldwide.
This means vulnerable orphans in Bangladesh, The Gambia, India, Pakistan, Palestine and Sudan can be given a route out of poverty through the sponsorships raised. Each Penny Appeal orphan sponsorship, costing just 50 pence a day, goes on to provide food, clothes, healthcare, education and a dedicated foster mother – all in a loving and caring home.
The film tour was a huge success and was part of Smile Relief, the charity’s extravaganza month to raise money for orphans. Smile Relief also saw fundraising from volunteers, along with a live, comedy-enriched appeal telethon on British Muslim TV.
The American Sharia movie premiered at Hackney Empire on February 11th before being shown around the UK at special screenings in towns and cities up and down the UK including Manchester, Luton, Birmingham, Liverpool, Derby, Bristol, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Omar Regan, who wrote, directed and starred in the film, attended every screening to introduce the movie and speak to the audience about future plans for his production company, Halalywood Entertainment. He was joined by many of the cast and crew during the tour, including Baba Ali, Nadine Abu Jubara, Yasmine Kanar, Quadir Lateef, Preacher Moss, executive producer Couni Young and director’s assistant Takeya Bell.
The screenings, hosted by Penny Appeal, attracted large audiences who were keen to see the action-comedy, which told the story about a Muslim Detective and how he dealt with prejudices against Islam. In total, over 10,000 people came out to watch the American Sharia during the month-long tour.
Hosted by Penny Appeal’s Wasim Akhtar and Teenie Vision presenter Jawad Sarwar, the shows highlighted the OrphanKind sponsorship programme and featured comedy specials of a host of British Muslim TV shows.
Aamer Naeem, Penny Appeal CEO, said: “Smile Relief’s aim was to ‘raise smiles whilst raising money’ and it has been a huge success on both counts.
“The generosity of people across the UK has been amazing and we are delighted to be able to transform the lives of so many vulnerable orphans.
“American Sharia has also been a huge hit and we are proud to have brought it to the UK for its premiere.
“It has been really heartwarming to see so many people laughing and donating to help orphans. The smiles will continue as more children can now look forward to a brighter future.”
