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Teachers hope to raise £500 for Cardiff Foodbank joining Muslim students on a Ramadan fast - after reading about it in on WalesOnline.

They will go 19 hours without eating or drinking anything during day light on July 3 to raise awareness of Islam as well as helping local people.

The three teachers at the Celtic English Academy in Park Place said they wanted to take part in Ramadan for a day after reading about how the city’s Dar Ul-Isra Mosque will feed 400 people, including homeless people, every night throughout the 30 days of the religious festival.

They also want to show support for their many Muslim students who observe strict daylight fasting for the whole of Ramadan.

Andrew Bodgin, Jon Letson and Jennifer John will be joined on the fast by the school’s marketing director Shoko Morimoto.

'A way to connect with our Muslim students'

After going without food or water from 3am, the four will go to Cardiff’s Dar Ul-Isra Mosque at sundown at 9.30pm to share the traditional three course iftar meal which marks the end of the daily Ramadan fast.

Teacher Andrew Bodgin said: “We are doing this as a way to connect with our Muslim students and to raise money for the food bank.

“Many of our international students are Muslim. By participating in the fast, we hope to show solidarity with them as well as those in our local community.

RELATED: Food bank use has soared in Wales as more people seek help putting meals on the table

“Many of our Muslim students are from the Middle East. Seeing the efforts they make to study while doing Ramadan, we wanted to show we empathise and want to show that there is community support within the community here when Muslims are sometimes needlessly vilified.

“I want to show the people and their culture are nothing to be afraid of. The more we can connect with different peoples and their cultures the better.”

He has chosen a hard year to do it

Andrew, 33, admitted he would find it hard to go without food or drink for 19 hours.

“I will miss my morning French pastry from Allen’s Bakery in Roath. I will miss the cake which is always in the staff room and I will miss my morning coffee. But I’m sure I can manage for a day.”

He has chosen a hard year to do it. The date of Ramadan is calculated by the lunar calendar and goes back 10 days each year.

This year it falls in midsummer, meaning the longest hours of daylight during which fasting must take place.

Friday, July 3, is one of three nights that the Dar Ul-Isra mosque is welcoming anyone, regardless of faith, to join them for a three-course meal.

The other dates are Friday, June 26, and Monday, June 29.

Some of its members are trained chefs

The mosque, in Wyeverne Road, Cathays, estimates it will serve the meal to 400 people, including local homeless people, every night throughout Ramadan which runs from June 30 to July 30 this year.

The building has industrial kitchens and some of its members are trained chefs said mosque community outreach manager Mohammed Alamgir Ahmed.

To sponsor Andrew, Jon, Jennifer and Shoko, visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/fastingforfoodpoverty

Anyone wanting to visit the mosque or share the meals is asked to contact Mr Ahmed on m.alamgir@darulisra.org.uk