Ahmadiyya Youth Clean the Streets of Epsom to Welcome the New Year
By Luqman Ahmed
Leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association Epsom
As the first light of the new year stretched across the horizon, a group of volunteers from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) in Epsom began their day armed not with party hats or confetti, but with gloves, litter picking sticks, and determination. While others were still nestled in beds, dreaming of resolutions, this remarkable group was out in the cold, rainy and windy morning, embodying their motto: Love for All, Hatred for None.
The volunteers worked in harmony to breathe new life into their community. With every littered bottle picked up and every forgotten candy wrapper swept away, the streets seemed to exhale a sigh of relief. It was as if the city, shedding its New Year’s Eve revelry, was donning a fresh, clean cloak to greet 2025.
The act itself was simple but profound. “We do this every year,” said 30-year-old volunteer Ahmad Iqbal Ch, a doctor by profession. “It’s our way of giving back and starting the year with positivity.”
For the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Organisation, the clean-up event is more than just an exercise in tidiness; it finds its roots in the teachings of Islam, where the Holy Prophet (pbuh) told his followers that half of their faith is cleanliness and that removing even a stone out of someone’s way is considered charity.
Members of the public, on their way to work in the wet and windy weather, stopped to thank the volunteers and wished them all a happy new year.
Three core principles guided the AMYA team that morning: humility, selflessness, and service. The humility to pick up after others, the selflessness to sacrifice a warm morning at home, and the service to a community they loved deeply. Their efforts painted a vivid picture of the human spirit at its best—undaunted by chill or challenge.
As the volunteers finished, one could almost hear the streets murmuring in gratitude, the trees nodding in approval, and the winds carrying their story to distant corners. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association had done more than clean up—they had planted seeds of hope, showing that even small acts of service can sweep away the remnants of the past and make way for a brighter, better future.
Indeed, as the Borough slept through its hangover, a group of quiet heroes ensured that its awakening would be one of cleanliness, care, and community—a new year, truly renewed.