A man dubbed the ‘Running Man’ of Oldham is set to walk to Bradford in aid of the flood relief efforts in Pakistan.

Afruz Miah, 49, will work with the charity Global Relief Trust (GRT) on mini campaigns to be held throughout September.

It will conclude with a big fun-fair to be held at the Eastern Pavilion who will not charge for the venue. The 30-mile walk from Oldham to Bradford will also take place and is expected to take 12 hours non-stop.The overall target for the campaign is £50,000.

Working in partnership with Ashton Hiking Club, local charities and businesses, Afruz said: “We will have people joining us from Ashton, Hyde, Rochdale and Manchester and even as far as Birmingham for the walk. 

"At least 20 to 30 people will be taking part. Everyone is welcome to join for whatever distance they are comfortable with. The target for the walk is £10,000.

“The objective of the campaign is to help people in Pakistan by providing food and temporary shelter such as tents. We aim to attract people from various towns and organisations and want to engage with 4000-5000 donors or above throughout the whole campaign.

“Just the fun fair we have planned will attract more than 3000 people.” He added.

More than 33 million people have been affected by the flooding.

The ex-tutor stated: “We have people on the ground in Pakistan and some GRT volunteers have already  flown out.

“I will be flying over to Pakistan myself after the campaign is completed in the first week of October at my own cost with other volunteers to help distribute aid.

“We will focus on the worst hit areas and GRT has already started working in Pakistan.” Afruz said.

“This campaign isn’t all about me and my running.  So I thought about what is the next best thing that others can also join. In our community people are not used to running or mountaineering. Whereas walking is natural and can potentially engage everybody.

Afruz continued: “Anyone can join this flood relief effort, whether they are Bangladeshi or Pakistani or Muslim or non Muslim. It is a humanitarian effort. There is no nationalism involved.

“Future activities sometimes have to be set aside when disasters happen. I have plans in the pipeline for next Ramadan. It isn’t fully confirmed yet but we will be releasing details before Christmas. The Kilimanjaro climb is coming up soon for people who want to learn mountaineering and climbing.

“Everybody needs to come forward as we are in a better position than majority of people. If the tables were turned we would be relying on generous donors.

"So we need to make that small sacrifice by maybe not buying that cup of tea or coffee and donating the money saved. Even a small donation will impact on their lives.

“The Pakistani flood campaign has started and will conclude on 25 September with the walk to Bradford.

“Everyone is welcome to get in touch with me for sponsorship opportunities. People have two options –one is to take part physically on the walk - the second is to donate generously.” Afruz said.

GRT is a charity established in 2016 by Shaheed ur Rahman after visiting the Gaza Strip. It raised a staggering £7 milllion in 2021.

Shaheed said: “It’s easy to raise the money but it is hard to distribute the money. So we started to develop our teams.  In every single country we work in, we have a team on the ground.

“Our teams in Pakistan are assessing the situation and are distributing aid every single day and going to areas that have been hit badly.” He said.

To donate and support the fundraising efforts click here