British-Pakistani barber raises money for NHS by selling rainbow stickers

MANCHESTER: The coronavirus outbreak is one of the worst public health crises in the world, which has affected over 2.5 million people and has killed more than 172,900.

The UK is the sixth worst-hit nation where 124,743 people have been infected and over 16,000 have died after contracting the virus.

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), the publicly-funded healthcare service, is under immense pressure as doctors complain of a lack of essential medical gear as they fight the deadly virus.

To help them, individuals around Britain are raising money to help support the NHS during this difficult time.

A British Pakistani, Sohail Ashfaq, who is a barber by trade in Halifax, has set a target of raising £10,000 for the doctors.

So far, he has managed to raise £500 with support from his community.

“Everyone is stressed nowadays due to the coronavirus outbreak. Key workers including medical staff are under pressure as they don’t have enough safety gear or protective masks,” Ashfaq told Geo.tv.

“They are putting their lives at risk just for us, for the community. So, I didn't just want to sit at home doing nothing. We all live in this community and need to do our bit to help key workers during this difficult time. Whether you’re a business owner donating food to the wards or just giving 50p to an NHS charity, every little bit counts,” he told Halifax Courier.

Ashfaq said he has started a campaign of rainbow stickers and has had an overwhelming response from the community. 

“I am overwhelmed with the support from the community but it is still a lot of money we need to raise. I urge people to join and help me raise this money so that our key workers can have the safety gears they really need. It’s been great to see so many people interested; I have seen the stickers on people’s cars, in businesses’ and house windows,” he shared.

Community and businesses can pay anything to help support Ashfaq’s campaign.

Other campaigners who have raised money for NHS include Captain Tom Moore the 99-year-old war veteran who has raised more than £27 million.