LONDON – As part of a national effort to help more people in the community, a British Muslim Zakat foundation has kicked off a new campaign to encourage Muslims to donate their Zakat money locally in the UK rather than sending it overseas.

The new campaign was declared in a video shared by Ilmfeed on Monday, April 9, which was shot in the middle of London at Oxford Circus station.

The issue of Zakat-spending was raised during the first big conference in Britain for mosques to share expertise on how to improve governance, outreach, and security that was held in London on Saturday.

Iqbal Nasim, chief executive of the National Zakat Foundation, said British Muslims gave up to £300 million in Zakat each year.

He said that more than 98 percent was sent for overseas aid, adding that Islam taught that Zakat should support the donor’s local community.

In other efforts to encourage Muslims to donate locally, the Foundation published a video in cooperation with OnePath Natwork in which it listed five reasons for prioritizing Zakat local distribution.

The campaign comes only just weeks before Ramadan, in which British Muslims donate around £100 million in Zakat.

The 2.5 percent Zakat rate is owed on wealth above a threshold, usually equivalent to 600g of silver, worth about £250. In 2016 an estimated £100 million was donated by British Muslims in the month of Ramadan alone.