Generous support for floods victims in Cumbria

A volunteer helps the Army with the flood relief effort.

People from Dewsbury, Batley and Wakefield worked alongside Army personnel in the Keswick area on December 12 and last Saturday as part of relief efforts following brutal storms which left thousands of homes flooded.

North Kirklees community groups Kumon Y’all, One Nation, Al Mubarak Foundation and Savile Town mosque attendees waded through thick mud and chest-high water to clear people’s homes and possessions.

Kumon Y’all group leader Farook Yunus said: “When I got there I looked at the mess and thought ‘Oh my God we will be here for two weeks’.

“It was really, really bad. We went into one property and it was almost chest high, the water. And the mud, oh my God there was so much mud there.”

The volunteers helped the Army to pull down ruined outbuildings and sheds, clear gardens and pile up debris which was taken away by a relief vehicles.

“In one of the properties we were clearing, I was talking to the occupant and thanking him for giving us the  opportunity to come and he started crying,” said Mr  Yunus.

On the first outing, 20 volunteers from Batley and Dewsbury joined around 180 others from connected organisations across the country, while about 50 locals turned out to help the second time.

Thornhill Lees dad-of-six Ish Hussain attended the clean-up alongside colleagues Akhtar Chatta and Baz Hussain.

Friends and customers of his restaurant Arkaans, on Doncaster Road, Wakefield, contributed two cars-worth of toiletries, nappies, other essentials and cash after seeing his appeal on Facebook.

Staff from Tesco in Hemsworth also contributed essentials.

Mr Hussain, of Providence Court, said: “It was a humbling experience. I’m very proud but we had to go and do something.”

Mr Yunus said: “These volunteers were like angels. They just got into the job, they kept on working for hours in very dirty, filthy, raining, snowing, windy conditions. They just kept on going and going.”