Curry For The Homeless Of Cardiff

Every weekend a group of volunteers distribute homemade curries to the homeless on the streets of Cardiff.

The project is the brainchild of Amerpreet Khalfa, of the Midland Langar Seva Society, who began the project in Cardiff after becoming inspired by similar projects across the UK. The 40-year-old said his Sikh faith was the primary reason for his actions and he believed in helping your neighbour regardless of race or religion.

He told Wales Online: “My grandfather back in India used to roast chickpeas and hand them out to the homeless. It is driven into every Sikh person that we should share our wealth with those who are less fortunate. You work hard, remember the Almighty at all times, and share your wealth with others. You can’t spend it all on yourself – you have to give 10% to charity and help anyone who need helping in society. Whatever religion you follow just be a decent person and respect yourself and respect the Almighty.”

The Sikh concept of Langar involves serving free vegetarian meals to people of all backgrounds with volunteers taking part in selfless service, known as Seva. Amerpreet’s team of volunteers is made up of students from Cardiff University, but numbers tend to fluctuate and sometimes Amerpreet is out volunteering on his own.

He said: “It’s about giving something back to the community. The guys in the street, that could be me tomorrow or anyone. I want to let these guys know they’re not on their own and there are people out there who care about them and I am one of them.”

When the project first began, Amerpreet and his volunteers made cheese sandwiches and delivered them to the Huggard Centre but he decided to head to the streets instead to spread the word about what they were doing.

Now they set up camp at 12pm every Saturday outside Cardiff’s Queen Street railway station, where they hand out vegetarian curries or pasta to the homeless in the area. The reason they serve vegetarian dishes is so everyone can enjoy the food even if they don’t eat meat for religious or moral reasons.

Amerpreet said: “Every time people on the streets say thank you for what we do I ask them not to thank me – I say this is all down to the Almighty. I am one of his foot soldiers. He lets me wake up every morning to do this, he gives me the energy. And when you see that smile on the guys’ faces while eating their food it means my day has been worthwhile because I have done something good with it.”