Businessman receives MBE at Windsor

Zillur Hussain presented with award by the Princess Royal for his community charity work

A Peterborough charity boss has now officially received his MBE from Princess Anne.

Zillur Hussian MBE, travelled to Windsor Castle to receive his honour from the Princess Royal.

Mr Hussain has been honoured for his services to the community, which he coordinates through his charity the Zi Foundation.

The foundation supports residents from all communities across the city.

Since the start the pandemic, the charity-run foundation has delivered tens thousands of free meals, bottles of hand sanitiser and masks to the most vulnerable around the city.

The charity has also supported residents with a range of problems they may have encountered and are working with several local schools to provide foreign language lessons.

The Zi Foundation is internationally recognisable, having supported people in countries such as Bulgaria, Nepal and Mr Hussain’s native Bangladesh.

The charity has overseen the building of three schools in Bangladesh, as well another in Nepal, each caters for around 300 pupils. All of these are in rural areas where the children there would not normally get access to education.

They have also supported residents in these rural villages with cataract operations, learning IT skills and offering protection against the pandemic.

Mr Hussain plans to travel out to Bangladesh later this month to support victims of famine, which is expected to hit after several rice and crop

fields in the Hoar region, in the north-east of the country.

He said: “It’s a great honour to receive this MBE I wasn’t expecting it. I’ve just been working over the last six years to

help people that need it.

“I’ve had a keen focus on children as I feel it is really important that they have access to opportunities that will help them in life and most importantly, an education.

“All of the great work has been done through the Zi Foundation, with the help of so many local people that have supported me.”

Zillur Hussain and the Princess Royal at the ceremony