Tower of London moat filled with Ahmadiyya fun-runners for Jubilee

Thousands of runners and walkers did the rounds of the Tower of London moat yesterday to raise funds for the Queen’s chosen charities.

The event began with a 10k run by serious competitors, but was followed by 2,500 fun-runners turning up, some in fancy dress, to raise up to �500,000.

It was staged by the UK branch of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community in a national display of patriotism to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Its national president Rafiq Hayat said: “We share in the pride at the Jubilee and feel duty bound to serve Queen and country and regard this as an important act of faith and sense of duty to Queen and country.”

The Ahmadiyya community is also waving the flag for the Jubilee with the launch of a promotion on a fleet of 100 London double-deckers with a message of congratulations on the side and the motto ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’. It kicks off a series of Jubilee celebrations including a letter to the Queen from the worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Community, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, inter-faith peace symposiums and jubilee dinners, with mosques lit up and decorated with the Union flag and prayers for the Queen.

Charities and causes being supported are Save the Children, Gt Ormond St Children’s Hospital, Macmillan Cancer, British Heart Foundation, Royal British Legion, NSPCC, Royal Hospital of Neuron Disability, Leukaemia Cancer Support and British Heart Foundation.