Islamic Relief Worldwide has apologised after dozens of staff and volunteers, including its chief executive, broke Covid-19 rules last month.
Waseem Ahmad, who was named chief executive of the charity in May, admitted that he was among around 30 people who gathered indoors to celebrate the holy festival of Eid.
Under social distancing rules in place at the time, introduced to control the spread of the coronavirus, only six people from two different households were allowed to meet indoors.
No symptoms
Photos taken at the event, first published by the news website Birmingham Live, show Ahmad sharing a meal at the end of Ramadan with colleagues at the charity’s clothes recycling centre.
The pictures show that they are are not observing social distancing.
An IRW spokesperson apologised for what they said was an “isolated incident”, and stressed that all attendees were tested before the event and none showed any symptoms of Covid-19.
Event held as restrictions ‘opened up’
The spokesperson said: “Islamic Relief takes a wide array of measures to implement national Covid-19 rules and protocols in its UK offices, and in its operations and delivery of aid to vulnerable communities across the world.
“In the UK nearly all our staff are working from home, and we have social distancing, masks, sanitiser and one-way systems in place to protect the small number who do come into the office.
“Our teams distributing food packs and other aid across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia are all equipped with personal protective equipment to protect themselves and others from the virus.
“In this context of strict Covid-19 compliance overall, we are sorry to say that sufficient distancing was not observed by all at a post-Eid celebration meal organised for a group of up to 30 staff in Birmingham on 20 May.
“This was shortly after the further relaxation of government rules on 17 May, when guidance signalled a further ‘opening up’ with regard to meeting friends, family and colleagues and placed increased emphasis on the need to exercise personal judgement around risks.
“The staff concerned operate in a working bubble in the West Midlands TIC International office [used for handling clothing donations] where daily temperature checks, social distancing, masks, sanitiser and ventilation are all used routinely in day-to-day working.”
Regret
They added: “All staff at the meal had their temperature checked on arrival at the office and were asymptomatic.
“We regret that some did not sufficiently maintain the routine distancing of the working day during the celebration meal, and we will learn from this isolated incident to redouble our efforts in making sure all our activities are fully Covid-compliant.”
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