South Yorkshire women raise money for Pakistan school

Over 210 women from across Yorkshire attended a dinner last month, including Labour MPs Yvette Cooper, Melanie Onn, Holly Lynch, and Paula Sherriff with guest speaker Marina Lewycka.

The guests gathered to mark International Women’s Day and donated money which will be sent to Tasibeh Girls School in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Linda said: ‘This is the sixth International Women’s Dinner I have hosted in the past 10 years. I am delighted that between the dinner, a women’s lunch in Rotherham and bake sale in the European Parliament we have raised well over £7,000 for Tasibeh.

“Tasibeh Girls School has strong local links to the Tassibee project which provides excellent support to BME women in Rotherham.

“In 2004, Tassibee worker Khalida Luqman visited Pindi and found there was no provision for educating girls.

“Since then she and her family have worked with local communities across South Yorkshire to raise funds to build a school, which now provides education for nearly 100 girls, as well as giving practical and financial support for many of the girls’ families.

Linda, who also chairs the European Parliament’s International Development Committee, added: “Education is one of the ways we can tackle the root causes of poverty, and educating girls is important.

“That’s why I wanted to support this school, which owes its existence to the generosity and determination of the Luqman family and local people.”