Nine-year-old completes cycling challenge for charity
A determined fundraiser battled through horrendous weather conditions last weekend to complete a near 20-mile bike ride for charity, and she’s only nine-years-old.
Khadija Sarwar, from Methley, set herself a sponsorship challenge in aid of the international charity, Orphans in Needs, after attending a seminar with her mother earlier in the month.
After opting to complete a mammoth cycle as her fundraiser-of-choice, the Wakefield Girl’s School pupil undertook the challenging ride on Saturday 1st August.
Riding from her home to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds – and back again, Khadija was joined along the long route down the Leeds-Liverpool canal by her mother and father – Aneeka and Adeel.
Totalling 18.6 miles, the young fundraiser rounded the distance up to a perfect 20 miles by completing some laps of her neighbourhood last weekend.
“I really enjoyed it even though there was so much rain,” she said. “I got to splash through all the puddles and it was that wet, I thought I saw a fish on the path.”
She added: “I decided to do the bike ride after going to a meeting with my mum about Orphans in Need.
“I kept telling her ways of fundraising and then when we were asked, ‘who will make a pledge?’ my mum put my hand up as well as hers.
“I thought I would raise less than £200 from the bike ride so I was very happy when I heard how much I had raised.”
Despite pledging to raise £350, Khadija has so far seen just short of £900 donated to her JustGiving Page.
Aneeka said she was ‘incredibly proud’ of her daughter’s efforts.
“We are really proud of everything Khadija has done because this whole event was her idea,” she said.
“The money raised will go towards building a children’s centre in Kashmir (Pakistan) and I was so impressed with her determination and caring attitude.
“Since the ride, Khadija’s confidence has grown and she has just shown how caring and compassionate she really is.”
If you would like to sponsor Khadija please visit www.justgiving.com/Khadijah-Sarwar1/
