Birmingham Muslims are feeding city’s homeless during Ramadan

A group of Muslims who fed the city’s homeless and hungry over the Christmas period are doing the same again, this time throughout Ramadan.

Volunteers with The Birmingham Outreach Foundation have been meeting in the city centre every week throughout the Islamic holy month to distribute food and drink to those in need.

Distributing freshly cooked hot rice and meat dishes, the group have been setting up near Priory Queensway in Corporation Street and feeding hundreds of individuals every day they have manned their stall.

The Birmingham-based registered charity has a strong focus on assisting and feeding the homeless, vulnerable and needy in the city. Over the Christmas period, they set up a fortnight-long hot and dry foods distribution from the Birmingham Central Mosque in Highgate.

They had partnered with the mosque to set up a marquee and volunteers prepared, donated and handed out hot meals for attendees to eat on site, while also preparing food back fro them to take away.

The foundation also manned the mosque’s external Food Bank, ensuring those in need could take away dry and tinned foods to cook at home; a service which they have continues to provide every Saturday.

As part of Ramadan activities this year, the group has joined forces with fellow charity Let’s Feed Brum for regular food handouts, and have been getting a great response.

Birmingham Outreach Foundation founder Shahed Syed said:

“Thank you to all the volunteers that have helped out in Birmingham City Centre, and a big thank you to Let’s Feed Brum who are an excellent charity that were also working alongside us to help feed the needy and homeless in Birmingham.

There was a queue of people waiting as soon as we arrived yesterday, and Alhamdullilah (praise God), 50 boxes of warm chicken and rice went within 15 minutes of us arriving!”

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and observed by Muslims across the world, as a time for self-reflection, fasting, charity and a spiritual detox. The 30-day period is one of the pillars of the Muslim faith and culminates with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr.

Birmingham Outreach Foundation are out during Ramadan on Fridays and Saturdays, meeting outside The Square Peg at 7.30pm. They give out food to others before they break their own fasts in the late evening.

As part of their mission statement, they “promote social inclusion amongst vulnerable members of the community who are excluded from society because they are unemployed, homeless or who are struggling financially, by the provision of advice in relation to housing, employment and welfare as well as other areas which the trustees deem fit.”

The charity welcome and encourage volunteers and donations, and can be contacted through their Facebook page, Twitter account and website.