A mum-of-five from Chester felt so touched by the plight of young children involved in the Syrian Orphan Crisis she made it her mission to raise £10,000 to help fund their survival.

Sureya Noor, a biomedical scientist at The Countess of Chester Hospital, gave up all her dinner hours to run bucket collections in aid of the cause and hosted countless fundraising events in her home in a bid to reach her goal.

She was thrilled when she managed to raise £5,000 in the first eight weeks.

Sureya, who lives in Mickle Trafford, said it made her feel emotional when she saw footage of the crisis in Syria and felt ‘heartless’ to sit there and not do anything about it.

“Raising these funds is the least I can do,” she told The Chronicle. “For me, it’s just a case of making the effort and making the time to collect money and raise awareness of all those innocent children stuck in the middle of all that terrible conflict. It is those children who are most deeply affected.

“As a mother, when I saw the faces of all those children affected by the conflict on TV, I felt heartless by not doing anything. I personally felt it was a test of me; it challenged me to really think of what I should and could do to help and I felt compelled to do everything in my power to try and make a difference to their lives.

“But really, it’s the generosity and kindness of the businesses and people who are donating prizes and giving support that is helping me reach my targets,”

If the funds reach £10,000, it will provide enough food to feed 5,000 children, build safe shelters to house up to 14 people and fund a fully-equipped operating theatre as well as refurbish and equip five classrooms.

Sureya, with the help of her family, friends and neighbours, is now hoping to exceed her £10,000 target and hopes her next fundraiser, a murder mystery themed charity dinner at the Chester Crowne Plaza early next year, will help her do that.

“I think changing a child’s life is the best thing you can do,” explained Sureya. “I would love to exceed my target of £10,000 and with the amazing support I’ve had so far I really hope I will.

“At the beginning, I had thought it might take me a year to raise this kind of money but have been amazed at all the big hearts in our community helping me raise so much so quickly.

“This has been a great eye opener for all of us, it really makes you take a step back into reality and look on the world with a new perspective. I think this has had a massive impact on all of us as a family,”

To help Sureya and her family raise the lifesaving funds, visit her Just Giving page.