A dedicated volunteer who has helped Wolves Foundation build a programme of sporting activities during Ramadan has been named the Premier League Community Icon of the Month for April.
Tariq Ali MBE has worked closely with the Foundation over the last two years to deliver football and cricket sessions during Ramadan, inviting players from local mosques to the Aldersley Arena late at night after breaking their fast.
This is in addition not only to having a full time ‘day job’, but also volunteering for over two decades in coaching from grassroots all the way to the performance pathway at Staffordshire Cricket, and captaining one of the teams at Wolverhampton Cricket Club for over 25 years.
“I’ve been involved in this sort of work for 25 to 30 years now and it has just become part of me,” says Tariq.
“I became involved in cricket in the Eighties and got to a position where I was able to encourage other people, especially around my own community, to give them the opportunity to play.
“There is so much to be done behind the scenes although I’m also a family man with a wife and children and grandchildren – and it sometimes means less time with them.
“But some of my children’s friends have told them that I am a father figure to them as well and can help them out and I think that makes them feel proud.
“This particular programme with Wolves Foundation is run during Ramadan where we invite five or six local mosques to play cricket on a Tuesday and football on a Thursday.
“It’s all about getting the community engaged and meeting different people, and it also gets quite competitive!”
The cricketing element of the programme is part of the Foundation’s Building Brighter Futures programme, funded by the Premier League and City of Wolverhampton Council, one strand of which is to help people become more active.
As the Foundation’s Health Improvement Manager Jade Sutton explains.
“Building Brighter Futures is a project with three strands – financial wellbeing, employability and physical health and wellbeing,” says Jade.
“Tariq has been working with us over two years now and is that link in helping us to engage better with the Muslim community.”
This initiative from Barclays and the Premier League shines a light on individuals who have made a meaningful impact in their community.
The Barclays Community Icon of the Month is a new award that celebrates those who go above and beyond through Premier League-funded programmes to help and inspire others.
“I feel very proud, and being able to have an impact on anyone’s life, however small that may be, is absolutely amazing,” added Tariq.
