100 Ace Cafe bikers deliver Christmas presents for Sufra foodbank clients. You can help Sufra too.

 

There was some speculation on social media from people who witnessed 100 bikers dressed as Santa and other Christmas characters speeding in convoy across the borough.

 

All was revealed in the Sufra Foodbank's latest Newsletter:

 This is what Christmas at Sufra NW London  is all about: a community of concerned, compassionate people from all backgrounds, faiths and cultures, coming together to give hope and joy (as well as lots of food and professional support) to people in crisis. It’s inspirational to witness.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us so far – including 100 Santas from the Ace Café who delivered presents on their motorbikes at the weekend. What a sight!

As I write this, Fahim, Nina and Prince are rallying our amazing volunteers to start prepping 600 Christmas meals (with free-range chicken and all the trimmings), which will be delivered by another set of speedy volunteers to families in need on Christmas Day (yes, really!) along with Christmas presents for all the family. Many of these will go to isolated asylum seekers confined to tiny rooms in contingency hotels.

Meanwhile, YOU have all stepped up too: we’ve hit the halfway mark in our Winter Appeal, which will unlock the Lady Fatemeh Trust’s match funding. This is brilliant news for our guests – thank you for all your support, especially LFT!

Even more great news: The Beta Charitable Trust have generously agreed to match fund the next £15,000 you donate, which means THEY WILL DOUBLE EVERY PENNY YOU GIVE – so please keep giving so that we can help more people like Adam...

Adam’s Story of Hope

Adam (not his real name) found himself homeless and destitute after a series of unfortunate life events that were not his fault. When he arrived at Sufra – cold, hungry and devoid of hope – he was too embarrassed to ask for food or help. Oddly, he started to fix our broken toilet instead. Turns out he was once an excellent plumber.

We provided him with a regular supply of food and arranged emergency accommodation to get him off the streets and keep him warm and safe. Our Advice Team also applied for a grant to get him the tools he needed to start earning a living wage again. We even found him some paid work.

Adam still volunteers to fix all our dodgy plumbing, but he also has a well-paid job and has just signed a lease on a decent flat.

He called Fahim the other day and told him, “I’ll never forget what everyone at Sufra did for me. I had lost all hope and would have never rebuilt my life without you guys. God bless you all.”

The Tip of the Iceberg

We hear touching stories like this every week at Sufra. It’s what keeps us going.

But Adam is just one of the hundreds of people who will come to Sufra for emergency food and support this winter – and we can’t give them hope without your help. 

Please click here to donate to our Winter Appeal.

Cllr Butt tells 'One Tonne' Walk' marchers from Sufra Foodbank that he will try and find a way of supporting their appeal for a new van to transport food collections

I joined workers, supporters and users from SufraNWLondon foodbank this afternoon as they collected food donations at Asda, Wembley Park and then pushed food bins and carrying trays of food started transporting them to the foodbank on St Rapahel's Estate.

Why were they setting out on walking that distance?

Sufra's van, used for transporting food from collection points all over the borough, has broken down and is a write-off.  They urgently need a new van but the cost is about £20,000. An on-line appeal has raised about £8,000 so far so the walk was aimed at publicising the appeal and at the same time make the point of why the new van is so desperately needed.

At Brent Civic Centre the leader of Brent Council came out to meet the 'One Tonne' marchers.  He said he would spend Monday exploring ways of helping the van appeal.

If you would like to donate on line, please follow this LINK