Local woman generously donates to soup kitchen in memory of her late husband
The Soup Kitchen set up by Councillor Tauseef Anwar and sponsored by Muslim Hands, runs daily outside the Lewisham Islamic Centre, and helps provide thousands of hot meals to local people.
The woman visited the Soup Kitchen on Wednesday and generously donated the money she and her husband had saved to go away on a long weekend once restrictions were lifted. Sadly, her husband has recently passed away and she told the volunteers “I live close by and see people queuing up every day for food, so I think my husband will surely be happy for it to go to this”.
Since January, hot meals have been provided daily from outside the Lewisham Islamic Centre. The project originally aimed to offer over 3,000 meals until mid-February and deliver meals to local families who were struggling. However due to an overwhelming demand the decision was made to extend the project until 7 March, when lockdown restrictions begin to ease. Now over 4,500 meals have been provided and counting.
Mayor of Lewisham Damien Egan and Lewisham East MP Janet Daby have also volunteered at the Soup Kitchen.
Cllr Tauseef Anwar said:
“Since the start of pandemic, sadly the use of food banks in Lewisham has increased by 300%, and many people are using food banks for the first time in their life. This inspired me to serve the community in this area. I therefore launched this daily hot meal distribution project outside of Lewisham Mosque with the help of the national charity Muslim Hands, my family and friends. Community spirit and cooperation has been amazing throughout.
Now with the help of the community, volunteers and donations, we are also exploring options of extending this as a weekly soup kitchen, beyond the 7 March. It brought tears to my eyes when a women came in and donated £500 in memory of her late husband, I was simply speechless with her kindness, generosity and gesture.”
Mayor of Lewisham, Damien Egan said:
“I’ve seen first-hand the incredible work the volunteers at the Soup Kitchen are doing every day. It’s a brilliant project and is making a huge difference in the community, providing local residents in need with a hot meal. It was a pleasure to volunteer last weekend alongside the team.”