Guru Nanak’s Mission is taking part in helping those less fortunate over the Christmas period by donating hot meals and presents to Nottingham’s local community.
The Sikh charity is a non profit organisation that launched on March 24, 2014.
Members ask for no recognition and nothing in return and are fully inclusive of those from other religions and non religious with the aim to unite the community.
Jatinder Hanspal, the Board Trustee from GNM said: “We have got about 100 volunteers that help us – a lot of these are new people that have just come out for this project.
“People obviously want to help out because its Christmas.
As well as donating food parcels – the charity prepared toy parcels for children to take home for Christmas.
“It is great that we have the opportunity for kids to come in and do something that is really fulfilling.”
Due to the cost of living crisis – this year more people are requiring a hot meal.
Jatinder added: “We have seen an uptake in numbers this year.
“A lot of the homeless are now off the streets because the winter shelters are open – but that doesn’t mean we wont see them.
The charity has also helped provide meals for Nottingham Forest and Notts County.
In preparation the charity has been working hard behind the scenes for some time.
Sangita Bhaker, from the charity said: “We probably started planning this in late September in terms of planning the logistics.
“We could purchase everything but we wanted to involve the community so we needed a couple of weeks to raise the profile of what we are doing and collecting donations.
The event has taken a lot of preparation as the charity also has three cooks a week for the homeless.
“It is great that we have the opportunity for kids to come in and do something that is really fulfilling.”
Jatinder Haspal, Board Trustee, Guru Nanak’s Mission
Guru Nanak’s mission has also partnered up with Nottingham Forest Community Trust so has had to ensure it was fully prepared as it also had many other projects going on.
Sangita said she thinks the community has responded ‘really positively’ to the event.
“There has been a lot of support – a lot of people wanting to donate financially when they know what we are doing.
“I think because of what is happening and we are very aware of the struggles that families have at the moment people want to help but they don’t know.
“GNM can be a bit of a landing page for that so someone who cannot physically donate they may be able to donate £10 and that will go towards a food parcel for example.”
The Sikh charity continues its hardwork beyond the winter with the hope to help those less fortunate.
Ways to donate:
- Donate food items
- Donate toys and gifts
- Donate money to the charity
