A Birmingham mosque is opening its doors to the city’s homeless with hot meals throughout the Christmas period.
Birmingham Central Mosque which already has a regular food bank programme raised £2,000 to set up a special Christmas kitchen this year.
With an estimated 2,500 people who are homeless or living in temporary accommodation, Birmingham has one of the worst rates for homelessness in the UK.
Many of the existing services that homeless people rely on in the city also close for the holidays, Choudry explained:
Organiser and community activist Kasim Choudry said: “That’s why we chose to do it, really. We are open anyway and it’s nice to be able to help when it’s needed most.
“Birmingham is an amazing city that thrives on diversity and together as one community we can unite as one to tackle poverty.”
The mosque is expecting hundreds of people throughout the week and about 150 people to turn up on Christmas Day for a hot meal.
The mosque has partnered with the Birmingham Soup Kitchen to run over the Christmas period, with around 10-15 volunteers from the mosque and other organisations including a nearby church, and help from donations and sponsorship from local businesses.
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