Record breaking 150 guests attend fifth Palace for Life Iftar
150 South Londoners came together to break-fast at our fifth annual community Iftar held at Selhurst Park.
On Friday 6th March, we held our fifth annual Iftar event at Selhurst Park Stadium as part of this year’s Ramadan celebrations. Iftar is the main meal of the fasting day throughout Ramadan and is traditionally shared at sunset.
Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and is considered a sacred period for many Muslims worldwide. It involves a strict daily fast from dawn until sunset, and Iftar is the meal that breaks the fast at sunset – many Muslims break their fast with their community.
One of our key goals at Palace for Life is to make football more inclusive, so this event was part of our ongoing mission to welcome more people to the game, especially our local Asian and Muslim community, the latter of which makes up 11% of the community in Croydon.
On the evening, a record breaking 150 South Londoners joined together in its usual popular format, kicking off with some workshops for children and stadium tours.
Ayoub, a participant on our Get Involved programme gave a recital before Akram, a participant-turned coach welcomed Sky News reporter, host and Palace for Life Patron Saima Mohsin to the stage who was joined on a panel by Diana Ghafori a volunteer turned casual coach and Raya Ahmed and Hazmi Bahrin who both built our girls specific Get Involved sessions since the beginning. This year’s panel was an update on the subject of last year’s, which was all about increasing our provision of football for women and girls.
Also in attendance was Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire Sarah Jones MP, MP for Croydon East Natasha Irons and Croydon Major Jason Perry.
Then came the call to prayer, the annual pitch-side photo and of course, the food.
Hazmi Bahrin, Community Development Coordinator who leads on our Get Involved programme said:
“It was a special evening bringing together around 150 people from across our diverse community during the holy month of Ramadan. We were proud to welcome representatives from our local mosques, participants from our Get Involved sessions, local MPs, and community leaders including Vicar Tomos Reed. The evening was a celebration of diversity, unity and togetherness, and it was wonderful to see so many different parts of our community sharing the space and breaking bread together.”
We’re immensely grateful for the incredible turnout and support from our local community. Our Iftar’s are a key part of our mission to make football more inclusive for groups that haven’t always had a big presence in the game.
Funded by the Premier League and the Professional Footballers’ Association, our Get Involved programme aims to increase weekly engagement in physical activity, specifically from those of Asian backgrounds. We address the barriers to participation in grassroots football by maintaining dialogue with the local community so we can ensure spaces are truly inclusive. This includes separate male and female sessions, different age groups, and sessions for those of different abilities.