A BRADFORD man has returned from a fourth aid mission to the Turkish-Syrian border, taking winter aid to desperate refugees.

Careers' adviser Nazim Ali, 36, has spent six days handing out food, clothing and blankets to people in camps and other makeshift settlements in and around the border town of Reyhanli.

He self-funded the trip, travelling with the Dewsbury-based SKT Welfare Charity, just before Christmas and raised more than £15,000 to buy essential aid which included food packs, blankets and winter survival kits. Altogether the 19-strong team he was with from across England, made more than £100,000.

Over the past decade Mr Ali, who lives in Manningham and works at Connexions in the city, has raised more than £90,000 for charities including the Curry Circle Project in Bradford, which he also volunteers for, serving warm food to the homeless and destitute.

Last year he completed the Great North 10k in Gateshead after fasting for more than 19 hours, completing the run in 58 minutes and 54 seconds and raising more than £12,000 for an orphanage and family centre in Reyhanli.

In July he was pounding the streets again and completed the Leeds 10k, making more than £1,100 for a clean water desalination plant in Gaza in the Middle East.

It was Mr Ali’s fourth trip to the border in three years . Throughout the six-day mission he worked up to 16 hours a day delivering humanitarian aid round the clock.

“We packed and distributed almost 3,000 food parcels weighing 18kg each which would last a Syrian family of five people about one week," he said.

"We also supplied almost 2,000 blankets, 2,000 Winter Kits made up of thermal clothing, gloves, socks and hats. I also took a suitcase full of toys for Syrian refugee children which I handed out.”

As well as the area of Rehyanli, Mr Ali took aid into mountainous villages and went to a number of rehabilitation centres in the region where many injured children were staying.

“It was distressing to see at first hand the horrific injuries sustained, particularly to children. There was snow and rain which meant we delivered aid just in time.

“We also visited Syrian refugees living in tents with mud all over the floors and refugees living in partially built homes. Nothing has improved in terms of the living conditions of Syrian refugees since my first visit three years ago.

“What sticks in my mind, and is the reason I keep going back, is when refugees tell me they don’t feel alone or forgotten because aid keeps coming.”

Mr Ali said his aid work was a religious obligation as a devout British Muslim and added: “I am grateful to the on-going support of the public, as it’s through their kind support and generosity that I am able to do what I do on the ground.”

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