Hawzah News Agency-Achieving huge success of the Christmas soup kitchen, a British Muslim charity cooperated with Birmingham Central Mosque to set up a permanent food bank to hold the city homeless all year around.
“Birmingham is an amazing city that thrives on diversity and together as one community we can unite as one to tackle poverty,” organizer and community activist Kasim Choudry told.
The idea of the food bank followed the huge success of a festive soup kitchen launched by Birmingham Central Mosque during the Christmas time in 2015.
The initiative was taken to help the homeless during holidays, a time where many existing services were closed.
“We are open anyway and it’s nice to be able to help when it’s needed most,” Choudry said.
The kitchen was a huge success, offering hot meals and company to around 150 people during Christmas day.
It cost £2,000 to set the kitchen up to run for a week, and needed the help of around 15 volunteers.
In a bid to fight poverty in their community, the Anzal Begum Foundation offered the mosque a permanent Port-a-Cabin from which they can run a soup kitchen all year round.
The permanent goods and food bank was officially opened on Thursday with a ribbon cutting from Lord Mayor Carl Rice.
“Anzal Begum was a mother, grandmother, a businesswoman and challenged the norms of her society and helped those in greatest need,” Choudry said.
“Anzal’s husband left her to support herself and her children, but through her determination she not only supported her children, but ensured they break out of the poverty cycle and ended up setting up a successful business.
“Anzal was not only a role model in her time but a trusted and respected lady that others would approach for advice and assistance. Modesty and humility, a part of Anzal’s upbringing, were shown in her generous attitude to those in poverty.”
Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.8 million according to 2011 census.
A 2013 poll by leading British charity website, JustGiving, found that Muslims top charity givers in the UK.
