1 Apr 2022 Community

Samaira raises funds for The Kirkwood

Samaira, fundraises for The Kirkwood in memory of her dad, Dr Tariq Mahmood with an annual raffle and a host of other activities.  

For the last three years, Samaira has been fundraising with the help of her family and friends for The Kirkwood in memory of her beloved dad Dr Tariq Mahmood. 
 
Tariq, a pillar of the local community, was an emergency doctor, working near to his hometown of Mirfield. After many years of helping his community with their health needs, Tariq was diagnosed with stage 3, bowel cancer in 2018. 

Samaira explains – “We were quite hopeful at the time, but as they started treatment, we realised it wasn’t really working as well as the professionals had hoped.” 
 
Tariq had undergone surgery and was receiving chemotherapy at hospital in the hope to slow down the progression, during his treatment, Tariq caught a nasty infection.  
 
“Having been previously a surgeon and a emergency doctor, my parent's kind of saw what was coming themselves.” 
 
Cared for by his family in the comfort of his own home, surrounded by loved ones, Tariq died March 2019. 

Following the death of her father Samaira and her family wanted to honour Tariq’s life by continuing his work and helping people of the community. They took it upon themselves to begin fundraising. Initially with the first fundraiser for the hospital ward, Tariq had received his care and treatment on, with a Christmas raffle. 

The following year deciding to fundraise for The Kirkwood. 

 Samaira comments: “The work you do is invaluable, you see the support you get from everyone in Kirklees and how important you are, not only for the patients but also for the families too. 

 We were able to look after my dad at home but not everyone has that luxury, we wanted to support a cause that helps people achieve the lasting memories and moments we did as a family.” 

The family will have been fundraising for four years this December. Samaira and her mum have been hosting raffles to raise money towards their target and last year introduced a new way for supporters to get involved. Samaira teamed up with her local gym in Sheffield to host a power week, this would include nine workouts in six days over a course of AM and PM sessions. The group included a mixture of ages and abilities. 

Samaira explains: “We’ve built up a bit of a community down at my gym, our power weeks are normally for different charities, but they agreed to do it for The Kirkwood to help towards our raffle and fundraising goals.” 

The raffle and power week raised a phenomenal £955 this year, but the fundraising did not stop there. During the families fundraising journey, Samaira received an incredibly special anonymous donation a boxing glove signed by Anthony Joshua. With such a unique donation Samaira opened a second Just Giving page writing: 

“All proceeds will go to The Kirkwood in memory of Dr Tariq Mahmood. The Kirkwood provides specialist care, free of charge, to adults with advanced, progressive illnesses at any time from diagnosis to the end of life, respecting their individual needs and wishes. The Kirkwood has helped so many people be there for their last moments with loved ones. That time together is priceless and something the families cannot get back. We hope to raise as much as possible for the great cause.” 

And they did! Raising a further £295 from the raffle of the glove taking their overall total to a huge £1,250 

With plans to continue fundraising for The Kirkwood with a new target in mind of £2,000 their Christmas raffle will be back this December along with additional sponsored events. Samaira and her husband Awais are in touch with The Kirkwood fundraising team developing ideas and gaining support towards their new goal.