The month of Ramadan has arrived, a month where I get asked the question ‘not even water?’ more times than I can count - and yes, not even water.

Ramadan is known to be the month Muslims like myself give up food and drink from sunrise to sunset, but it’s so much more than that.

It’s the month where some form of charity is strongly encouraged and those with gold in their possession are obliged to pay a kind of charity tax on it.

I think about what I can do for charity every year, from donating money to charity, to organising events, baking for neighbours, to something as simple as smiling at a stranger.

The Bolton News:

This year I decided to volunteer with Homeless Aid UK in Bolton, an organisation that feeds and supports the homeless people around Bolton and Manchester.

Five days a week they run a soup kitchen under the arches of Le Mans Crescent, so I joined them on Tuesday, April 4 to complete my Ramadan charity obligations and to learn about what they do.

I was touched by seeing so many young people in the queue for the food, humbly asking for a bar of chocolate and a packet of crisps.

It made me realise in real time why we fast, to really understand what homelessness is in Bolton.

Volunteer Sophia Hashmi told me how she had met a woman in her 20s who had become homeless for the first time and had asked only for a wipe to clean her face.

The Bolton News:

I could tell this had moved Sophia to tears at the time, knowing that anyone could fall into hard times among us, it could even be us.

Ramadan makes you realise that while we fast from dawn to dusk, there are people who are fasting all the time.

Homeless Aid do incredible work around Bolton, and I thank lead volunteer Billa Ahmed for allowing me to attend.

But volunteering to help homeless people in the borough is not just for Ramadan, it’s for every day, so I’ve decided to volunteer every week to help make a difference.