This latest opportunity arose following on from a number of initiatives that Darkhana CIVIC volunteers have undertaken with Glass Door since August 2020, including a project where over 300 reusable face coverings were sewn and donated by the Jamat as well as the Darkhana’s Winter Donations drive, when over 250kg of non perishable foods, 11 boxes of hygiene items and 15 boxes of books and entertainment goods were donated by the Jamat to Glass Door.
In December 2020, Glass Door reached out for volunteers on Christmas day to cook and serve dinner at Richmond, one of their four community dinner venues, so that their regular staff and volunteers could be with their families. At short notice, Ismaili CIVIC Darkhana volunteers stepped up to the request and after cooking and serving tasty food to Glass Door’s guests on Christmas Day, several more requests for volunteers to cook and serve dinners began to roll in!
Ismaili CIVIC Darkhana is grateful for these opportunities with Glass Door in recent months, to cook and serve dinner to support those affected by homelessness and food poverty. Glass Door’s winter shelter and community dinner services run annually between November and April and Ismaili CIVIC Darkhana look forward to more opportunities next winter to contribute to the great work they do.
Ismaili CIVIC are working with several organisations around the country to provide similar services in local areas including Ealing Soup Kitchen and London’s Community Kitchen.
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On the importance of the Richmond service, one Glass Door volunteer said, “for many, the dinner service is the one place in a day that a warm meal, a dry space and human connection can be found.”
Hugh Pym, BBC Broadcaster and Glass Door volunteer said, “The difference for me about this charity is the fact their doors are open to anyone, regardless of where they’re from or why they’re there. It’s a fabulous example of a community joining together and supporting those in a vulnerable chapter of their lives, giving them a route out of homelessness.”
To get involved in this worthwhile cause, register as an Ismaili CIVIC volunteer on IIUK.org.
