For many of us who work Monday to Friday, the weekend represents a precious time to unwind and spend cherished moments with loved ones. However, the staff at Bradford’s largest award-winning bakery chose to dedicate their Friday night to a selfless cause.
On a recent Friday, 21 July, the entire senior management and office staff at Regal Foods gathered at Campbell House on Sunbridge Road after work. Their mission: to provide hot meals and support for the homeless in partnership with Bradford Community Kitchen.
Regal Foods sponsored a spread of hot food, deliciously prepared by Pakistan Catering, along with refreshing fruits, drinks, and their delectable cakes and bakery items. These provisions were distributed to numerous individuals grappling with food poverty.
The event attracted not only local residents but also families who travelled from as far as Batley to benefit from the warm meals and compassionate support.
Rebecca Ward, Housing Manager at Campbell House, where currently 52 people have been given shelter and housing expressed her gratitude at the collaboration. She told Asian Standard: “Essentially, we are an emergency accommodation provider, and we get many referrals directly from Bradford Council to help those needing shelter. We do rely on food banks to help people and we also send people to the Bradford Community Kitchen.
“This is our fourth event with the Bradford Community Kitchen, which is sponsored by Regal Foods. These guys are absolutely amazing. Every time we feed around 100 to 120 people. Anything that is left at the end of the night, we distribute to our other places, to make sure no one gets missed. We also have these events opened to the public so that other people struggling can also come and get a nice hot meal, because they can’t elsewhere. Sadly, we’ve seen a spike in the number of referrals so, we want to continue working with these guys [Bradford Community Kitchen and Regal Foods] as much as we can and continue to feed the homeless.”
Abdul Satar, Co-founder and Trustee of Bradford Community Kitchen emphasised the
importance of partnership in their efforts to alleviate hunger. He thanked Rebecca and her team for providing their facilities and Regal Foods for their generous sponsorship and volunteers.
“We are very grateful to Rebecca and her team for letting us use their facilities so we can distribute our hot meals and to Regal Foods for their generous donation, sponsoring it all and more importantly to all at Regal Foods for volunteering here on a Friday night, giving up their time, to serve the food to those in need.”
Despite his humility, Regal Foods Group Sales Marketing Director, Faisel Ali, acknowledged the importance of combating food poverty and expressed pride in his team’s dedication to the cause and their commitment to giving back to the community.
Faisel said: “It’s really disheartening to see so many people struggle with the basic of a hot meal. As an organisation we feel it is our duty to help and do what we can to eliminate food poverty. I am very proud of our team at Regal Foods who share our company values of giving back and that’s testament as my team are here on a Friday night with some even travelling in from Leeds to come to Bradford and help feed the homeless. They’ve done this selflessly and given their own time up to do this. I guess it’s true what they say, you have to lead by example and at Regal Foods, we want to continue leading in the fight to end food poverty”.
Due to high demand the Bradford Community Kitchen are desperately seeking volunteers. So if you wish to join this noble cause, donate, or volunteer, reach out to Bradford Community Kitchen on WhatsApp or call 07888693196.
In a world where compassion and action can make a difference, Regal Foods sets an inspiring example, leading the fight to end food poverty in Bradford.
