Bilal Bin Saqib receives MBE in King Charles Honour List

LONDON: The Pakistan entrepreneur has been granted the Honour of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his humanitarian services during Covid-19 in the UK for his initiative, One Million Meals.

The award comes after Bilal Bin Saqib’s efforts to deliver fresh, hot meals to the frontline workers of the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic through his initiative One Million Meals with two other Pakistanis.

Bilal Bin Saqib said, “I am honoured to be part of the King’s Birthday List and I am excited to be awarded with a MBE for my contribution for the charitable work I have done. I am truly honoured. I will continue to do my best to make a difference to the lives of ordinary people, that’s the mission of my life and I am thankful to His Majesty for his recognition.”

During the lockdown in 2020, over 100,000 meals were sent to the National Health Service (NHS) and key workers, the homeless, and people in need. The campaign, which received support from sporting stars such as former footballer David Beckham and boxer Amir Khan, inspired hundreds of volunteers to help with communications and deliveries. Local companies donated food and healthy drinks. Operating in more than 200 locations through 47 hospitals, trusts and food banks, the initiative aimed to continue providing nutritious meals whilst the nation recovered from Covid-19.

Bilal Bin Saqib, an alumnus of London School of Economics with a Master’s in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is also a Forbes 30 Under 30 member. Bilal is currently working on Blockchain adoption and education in Pakistan.

He founded NGO Tayaba Organisation which works to ease access to water in deprived communities. He was also recognised in the Pakistani Foreign Minister’s Honours List in 2021 for his service to the community in the UK.

When Pakistan declared a state of emergency as the recent floods wreaked havoc across the nation, Bilal co-founded the SavePakistan.Crypto initiative through which he raised funds from the global crypto community. Through this initiative, Bilal also revolutionised fundraising by creating the first-ever NFTs tied to real-world humanitarian goods.