Milton father and son take on 200km cycle challenge to raise hundreds for charity rescuing Bangladeshi street children

Ebadur Chowdhury, a GP from Milton, is joining his 10-year-old son Amaan for a fundraising challenge aiming to rescue vulnerable children from the streets.

The pair’s efforts have already raised more than £1,500 for Muslim Charity, which aims to help the children living on the streets of Dhaka.

According to the UN, there is an estimated 600,000 children on the streets in the Bangladesh capital – about three times the population of Portsmouth.

Started during Ramadan, the challenge has seen Ebadur and Amaan cycling around their area to rack up both the miles achieved and their fundraising total.

Amaan, who has visited Bangladesh and seen the street children in real life, said: ‘I always wanted to help poor children in Bangladesh. I feel very proud that I have been able to raise this much money.’

They hope to finish their challenge by the end of the month, and the funds already raised look set to help more than 60 children access Muslim Charity’s shelter, where they can be helped with food, clothes and education.

The challenge was partly inspired by a heartbreaking video which Ebadur and Amaan watched, detailing the challenges street children face on a daily basis including violence, abuse and trafficking.

Ebadur said: ‘I found this quite heartbreaking. Amaan watched the video and he was crying a lot.

‘He went to Bangladesh and saw the street children, so he’s always wanted to do something. Two years ago, he said he wanted to be a scientist so he could make a money machine to help the poor.’

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The kind duo have enjoyed taking on the challenge at weekends, sometimes joined by Amaan’s siblings six-year-old Liyana and four-year-old Farhaan.

Ebadur added: ‘We’re very fortunate we live here, our children are raised here and they don’t realise how lucky they are. Amaan will appreciate what he has more, that’s my main aim, to make him a good person.

‘I love to spend time with Amaan and he loves to spend time with me. It’s great and hopefully we can reach his goal of £2,000, he will be very proud.’

Visit justgiving.com/200km4streetchildren to learn more and donate.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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