A dad-of-two has fasted for the whole month of Ramadan to raise funds for two charities.

Phil Heyworth, 35, said he wanted to show solidarity with Muslims who were fasting this month.

Ramadan began on Thursday this week (March 23) and ended this week. Phil fasted alongside his Muslim friends for over 15 hours from sunrise at 5am to sunset at 8pm.

He was raising money for the Pendleside Hospice and the Turkey and Syria Earthquake appeals and had set up two separate Just Giving Pages.

Phil’s son, Henry who aged nine, also fasted on eight days and kept two half fasts!

Asian Image:

Phil was supported by his friends Sharafat and Yasir and (below) the Iftar in Barrowford

Asian Image:

Phil, an engineer from Blackburn was sat with friends Yasir and Sharafat at a restaurant when the idea came about.

After a tricky start when he was left with only minutes to eat something before Sehri (an hour before sunrise), he soon got into the stride.

Phil said: “It has gone really well and I enjoyed the fasts. There were some tough days and some have been good but on the whole I enjoyed the fasts and the Iftar events I have been invited too.”

He said visiting Barrowford School was amongst many highlights.

“Barrowford hosted their first community Iftar and that was brilliant. 

“We visited Sharafat’s house to open the fast which was lovely and being invited to Blackburn Rovers to an Iftar event was great.

“I loved all the food. The pakoras, the curries and the rice.”

Phil added: “Pendleside Hospice looks after our friends, family and people in our community every year, with only a small percentage of its funding coming from the government.

"Pendleside relies heavily on local support to make sure the great work they do continues.

You can support Phil here:
Pendleside Hospice appeal: https://www.justgiving.com/page/phil-hey-ramadan2023

Red Cross Earthquake appeal: https://www.justgiving.com/page/philhey-ramadan2023