A Muslim-owned Cardiff restaurant opened its doors especially on Christmas Day to provide free food for homeless, vulnerable, and old people, 5Pillars UK reported.
“Christmas Day is a special day and me and my team all decided to open to make a special day with homeless people, because there’s more and more of them now,” Muhammad Nazakat, the owner of Victoria Fish Bar told Wales at Six.
“We enjoy our day as well with them. My team is always behind me and I want to especially say thank you to them.”
The fish restaurant opened between 12-3 pm Wednesday to give out warm meals and to bring people together to “experience a great time.”
“The ‘A’ team at Victoria Fish Bar in Whitchurch has decided to be open on Christmas day, this, however, will not be for usual service. Homelessness has been on a rise in Cardiff and we think we need to make a difference as influential members of this community,” the staff wrote on a Facebook post.
The response to the invitation was enormous, with many coming to share a meal together on Christmas day.
“The response has been absolutely phenomenal – all the staff, me, my dad, my brothers were so shocked,” Muhammad’s son Jawad said.
“Homelessness has been on the rise in Cardiff as well as everywhere else. When you go into the city center, your heart drops. You see a bunch of people sitting in front of abandoned shops and we feel it’s our responsibility as people of Great Britain to help them.”
Season of Giving
Christmas is the main festival on the Christian calendar. Its celebrations reach their peak at 12:00 PM on December 24 of every year.
Though Muslims do not celebrate Christmas, they usually extend hands to help patients, less fortunate, and homeless people to celebrate the season.
On Tuesday, Dec 24, a local mosque in West London city of Stanmore opened its doors to welcome the local community wishing to help wrap Christmas presents.
A group of Ahmadiyya Muslim youth also teamed up this week to deliver 10,000 meals to rough sleepers before December 31, vowing to clean up after New Year parties.
Earlier, a group of Muslim volunteers from Lancashire Council of Mosques (LCM) paid a special visit to patients at Blackburn Royal Hospital, putting a smile on their faces before the holiday season.
Britain’s oldest mosque also opened its doors on Wednesday, December 25, to host the needy, homeless, lonely, and elderly people for a Christmas lunch.