A PANCAKE party in Bradford helped raise awareness and money for a rural health project in Pakistan.

The traditional Asian pancakes, called Paratha and normally eaten for breakfast, were being sold at an event being organised by Bradford's British Muslim Women Forum (BMWF).

Its chairman Sabiya Khan hoped the women-only paratha party at All Alone Road in Bradford on Saturday would mobilise women from the city to get more involved in helping others in need.

Money made at the party will be given to Bradford-based Healthcare4all International project which has been up and running for the past 12 months in Azad Kashmir connecting people in remote villages and areas to health workers using modern technology and innovation.

So far, the project has helped hundreds of people via a telemedicine link and apps putting them in touch with doctors and health workers at a hospital, said Ms Khan.

As well as working to help prevent illnesses, the project is also focusing particularly on mums and children who would otherwise find health services hard to reach.

Telemedicine bridges distances by allowing health professionals to see patients, diagnose ailments and prescribe treatment without them having to leave wherever they are based.

Bradford businesswoman Tazim Swaiz of Taza Spices was just one of the women involved in Saturday's event by sponsoring it.

Organiser Ms Khan said she hoped the social gathering would now be the first of many events and activities that women will come together and get behind in aid of the project.

"Azad Kashmi is the area where most of the Bradford Kashmiri people come from so it's really relevant that our city gives help. The concept of the work being done out there has been in the making for about two years. Airedale Hospital has vital experience of telemedicine and has been a big help to the project and so has the city clinical commissioning group," she said.

And she added: "There are a lot of rural communities out there who are not connected to health centres because of distance and circumstances so telemedicine is a life-line and can get them access to help and advice that otherwise they would struggle to get."

Ms Khan said if the project in Pakistan continued to be a success, it was hoped the model of how it works could then be rolled out to any other remote communities anywhere in the world where provision of health care is are not easily accessible and there is a lack proper health care.

Any donations can be sent to Health Care 4 All International, Willow House, 107 All Alone Road, Bradford, BD10 8TR or online to givey.com/HC4AI