AdminA local community group is launching a free hot curry service for vulnerable people in Bedford. The Bedford Langar Project will launch its first curry night on Saturday, April 6, 2014 at 6pm in Pigeon Square. Langar is the Sikh term for kitchen. The service is run by volunteers from the Akaal Seva group which […]
A local community group is launching a free hot curry service for vulnerable people in Bedford.
The Bedford Langar Project will launch its first curry night on Saturday, April 6, 2014 at 6pm in Pigeon Square. Langar is the Sikh term for kitchen. The service is run by volunteers from the Akaal Seva group which aims to improve the quality of life for Bedford people.
The Sikh community is supporting the project. The group is working in partnership with Bedfords three gurdwaras, and housing charity Bedfordshire Housing Link. The Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Queens Park, Ramgarhia Gurdwara, Amphtill Road, and Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara, Kempston are taking food donations, making the vegetarian curries, and providing storage facilities.
Ravi Gill, 36, Akaal Seva member from Bedford, said,” I do a lot of volunteering with the homeless of Bedfordshire anyway. I’d been talking to them for a while. They love curry, absolutely love curry, but they don’t really get it. The project is a combination of the Sikh concept of seva selfless service aimed at improving the community, and a soup run.”
He added [said], “The people that need it get a warm meal. Families who can’t afford to have a night out, or people who want a takeaway can come, and we can give them a takeaway.”
Bedfordshire Housing Link will provide drinks, and a bus with a kitchen facility for the day. The charity provides supported accommodation for single homeless, and other vulnerable people, they also provide education, and training services.
Janet Prince, CEO of Bedfordshire Housing Link said homelessness in Bedford is increasing, and added, “We’re doing the best that we can to support individuals, because we have accommodation, we support single homeless people to work towards independence, that’s where the Langar Project came on board with us, because their aim is the same. We’re all doing a wonderful job. There are so many people in need out there, not just single, but families of all sorts.”
The meals service will continue to run once a month, the group hopes to expand to twice a month, then weekly.
Originally published by bedfordtoday.co.uk