Tuesday, June 24, 2014

One Third Homeless Soup Kitchen



Saturday’s soup kitchen was the busiest I have been involved with since I started volunteering with One Third. It wasn’t just busy serving soup, but there were a lot of people who wanted to have a chat. A nice lady and her two daughters from Middlesbrough popped by and the two little ones helped me serve a few of the homeless people and also posed for photos. Their kind hearted Ma even donated £5 for the next pot.

We also had three Italian visitors and a well-known local DJ offered us free use of his studio if we ever wanted to record any promos. I had a fella shout out that Muslims never did charity so why we were doing this. I told him this wasn’t a “religious” stall and we were simply trying to reach out to as many people as possible before adding that his annoying ignorance did make him look a right idiot. He didn’t engage further.

Greek Michael popped along and had a bowl of soup and Amanda cycled over on her Boris Bike. She had a bowl and left early as she had places to visit. Virtorria is from Hungary and she said she wasn’t hungry, but she did stay and chat for a while before the friend she was meeting arrived and they went off to enjoy the rest of the evening. A cyclist from Warsaw enjoyed the soup. He hadn’t ate for almost 24 hours; “Fantastic”, he said.

The pot and bread doesn’t cost much but the happiness on the faces we serve is priceless. Well done to the team for making it happen. One Third will be running throughout Ramadan. It would be great if any readers in the Stratford area pop in and say hello whilst we are there.

When I got home my lovely missus presented me with a plate of mouth-watering Biriani. I thought about this and the plans for Sunday, where I would be attending my mate Misfah’s wedding to the enchanting Nadia, where we would be savouring the best culinary delights. I would have lost count of all the blessings had I continued that train of thought. Not everyone is so fortunate I thought.

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