Emdad Rahman
“A third of homeless people have been refused work because of their living condition” – Shelter
Tonight at Booth House I was joined by youth from the Splash Life Skills Project – better known as Amzy’s Angels. They were total stars, the lot of them – and straight after my briefing finished each took to their roles like ducks to water.
“They’re like Angels, they don’t judge and I don’t feel bad or embarrassed looking them in the eye when they give me food,” said Sharon, one of our homeless guests.
She’s right is our Shazza. Young people are easiest to work with – they’re not prejudiced and rarely have hang ups. They get on with it. They don’t stare. These kids chose to be here and it was really interesting to watch them. They were polite and full of beans. They smiled and engaged in banter with ever homeless guest who graced us with their presence tonight. All I could do was tell them they were amazing and had done so much to break down barriers, misconceptions and stereotypes.
Anyway, I met a Rangers and Celtic fan tonight. With me wearing the famous hoops it wasn’t difficult I guess. We had a chat about the season ahead and how Rangers’ presence back in the top flight will liven things in the Scottish Premiership.
The biriani was gone in no time and the youngsters served juice, soft drinks and cakes. We are all very grateful to Emma Coles for the delicious cup cakes. If I hadn’t been fasting I would have caved in and devoured one pronto.
Thank you Jamie, Tahmina, Shahel, Niyaz, Mahib, Sadi, Abid and Hamza for your fantastic help tonight. A special one is reserved for my compadre Amrana for arranging all the food.
If you’d like to support us in person or by providing food for a shift then please get in touch: Twitter @emdad07
•Read “Ramadan 2016 with One Third soup kitchen”: http://eastlondonnews.co.uk/ramadan-2016-with-one-third-soup-kitchen/
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