My Name Is Haroon 

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My Name Is...: My Name Is Haroon

My Name Is Haroon

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Haroon Mota is a man on a mission, finding new ways to encourage his community to get fit.

Once labelled 'The Muslim Marathon Man' Haroon is used to standing out in his community, but now his pleas to others that they take exercise more seriously are gaining traction.

Haroon Mota aims to encourage, coax and cajole others in his community when it comes to getting fit and he's a man who doesn't easily take no for an answer!

In this edition of My Name Is, Haroon tackles the reasons why there is such a big gulf when it comes to fitness levels in the UK's South Asian community and he tackles the issue with those in a position to act, including Government and religious leaders who he believes could do more.

The inspiration for his approach has its seeds in his own sporting background: he was the European kickboxing champion at 17 and has a long history in sport and fitness, which he says is rooted in his DNA. Whilst at university he began volunteering for Islamic Relief and raised thousands of pounds through his first charity hike to the Everest base camp. He's gone on to lead many other charity hikes in recent years, including one to Peru.

The need to encourage greater uptake in his community when it comes to accessing outside pursuits was underlined in last year’s countryside charity CPRE data, which showed that ethnic minorities have, on average, 11 times less access to green spaces than their white counterparts. It also found that only 20 per cent of BAME children who visit natural environments go to the countryside, compared with 40 per cent of white children. 

Haroon takes this issue up with officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - their recent report highlighted the level of exclusion people from ethnic minorities feel when it comes to natural environments, with some saying they felt hyper-visible in what they see as an 'exclusively English environment.'

In conversations with some of the women now involved in one of his many hiking groups, Haroon discusses what impact they feel has come from their greater fitness levels. They talk about attitudes towards them and hurtful online attacks which followed a recent walk in the Peak District: one white woman wrote underneath the images they'd posted that it was akin to the 'migration of the wildebeests in the Serengeti.'

There is a lot of work to do when it comes to changing attitudes and Haroon is tackling things one day at a time: "When I started running marathons, I automatically became the 'Muslim marathon man,' When I started climbing mountains, I automatically became the 'Muslim mountain man,' I want to change attitudes so that Muslim people doing physical activities becomes the new norm and not a cause for comment at all."

Producer: Sue Mitchell

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