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Heartwarming stories from the UK riots

In the worst riots since Brixton in 1981, five people were killed, shops and businesses were ransacked by looters, buildings were burnt down and general disorder wreaked havoc on the streets of the UK.

But amongst all the madness, here are a few stories which have shown solidarity amongst the British public and have touched the hearts of people all over the world.

1. Messages of peace

Hundreds of people covered a boarded up window of a Poundland store in Peckham, south London, with notes of peace. The wall bore a resemblance to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem as hordes of positive messages appeared on the board after the worst night of violence on Monday calling for peace and tolerance in the capital.


2. Woman confronts rioters

A West-Indian born woman living in Hackney became a viral hit after a video of her lambasting the rioters in the middle of the chaos appeared on Twitter. The brave woman holding a walking stick in one hand branded them as “dirty thiefs” and urged them to “get it real” to their faces.

During the video taken in a riot-hit street and surrounded by violent looters, she screams: “This is about a man who got shot in Tottenham, this isn’t about having fun. Get it real black people, if we are going to fight for a cause, let’s fight for a cause.”

3. People protect their streets

After the unprecedented level of violence on the streets of London on Monday night, Tuesday night saw members of local communities taking to the streets to stop vandals getting to their shops and homes.  In Southall, 700 Sikhs gathered to protect their temples from potential rioters. People as old as 80 worked alongside a limited number of police officers to defend their places of worship.

Similarly, Kurds and Turks together joined forces in Hackney- the worst-hit borough of the London riots - to ward off looters with bricks, snooker cues and baseball bats. George Eaton referred to them as “a true English Defence League” in The New Statesman.

[In pictures: UK riots]


4. Charity page for injured boy

A charity has been set up online to support injured Malaysian student Ashraf Rossli. His story melted the hearts of people around the globe after a video of him being mugged appeared on the Web. The JustGiving page entitled ‘somethingniceforashraf’ was set up to pay for dental treatment for the teeth he lost in the attack and the belongings he lost in the mugging, which included his bike, phone and PSP.

In response to the page, the Kuala-Lumpur-born victim thanked contributers, saying: “It is very nice of you all to help me.” Despite the terrible incident, he plans on staying in London to complete his accountancy studies. At the time of writing, the charity has reached over £22,000 in donations.

5. Clean-up campaigns


Celebrities and normal people alike turned out to volunteer in a nationwide clean-up campaign in the aftermath of the riots. Armed with brooms, binbags and rubber gloves, Mancunians and Londoners got stuck in helping clean up the damage caused by the rioters. Facebook and Twitter have been instrumental in spreading the word and getting people motivated in mass clean-up operations.


A Twitpic showed the immense efforts of the public who offered their services free-of-charge. A photograph of hundreds of people holding up brooms in Clapham Junction went viral on Tuesday. Before the picture was tweeted, user Andy B wrote: 'at clapham junction to help with clean up - great turn out.’ He then posted the picture with just the words 'we're ready'. It got 100,000 views within the hour. Later he wrote: 'Very proud of everyone in clapham right now - keep it up.’

[Story: Details emerge behind 'that' riot photo]


6.  Memorials

The fifth person whose life was claimed in the riots was 68-year-old Richard Mannington Bowes who died when he was set upon by a gang while trying to stamp out fires in two industrial wheelie bins started by rioters on Tuesday evening. Ealing Council has since set up the Richard Mannington Bowes Relief Fund to help local businesses and the community to return to normal in the wake of the riots. The Union flag was also flown at half mast from Ealing Town Hall on Friday in the pensioner’s memory.


A Peace Rally and Walk is also due to take place on Sunday afternoon in Birmingham in memory of brothers Shahzad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, and their friend Haroon Jahan, 21. The trio died in the early hours of Wednesday after they were knocked down by a car in Winson Green as they reportedly protected property from looters. Thousands of people are expected to turn up to the event.