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Oxford Homeless Project celebrates four years

The Oxford Homeless Project celebrated its fourth anniversary on Monday (November 11) at the Asian Cultural Centre in Cowley.

The Muslim community project, led by Shabnam Sabir and Tayyaba Hameed, is dedicated to providing fortnightly meals for the homeless, as well as other necessities such as sleeping bags, clothing, tents, and haircuts. Food donated by the community is served every other Monday lunchtime at the Asian Cultural Centre.

Sabir founded the enterprise in 2015 after her experience serving dishes to the homeless during Ramadan. Sabir and and her friends gathered at Gloucester Green in the evening when breaking their daily fast, inviting homeless people from across the city to celebrate Iftar.

Following this, Sabir was inspired to do even more to help those without a roof over their heads, and decided to gather a group of volunteers to create a long-term project. Since its formation, the project has served home-cooked meals to the homeless every two weeks. The project continues to be run by volunteers and has now amassed more than four thousand likes on its Facebook page.

Sabir told Cherwell: “It’s always very humbling to know the city of Oxford has no shortage of care or compassion. Whilst such a service shouldn’t be needed we believe it’s important for our guests to know they’re not alone and the community does care.”

Over a hundred people attended the anniversary lunch, from families and residents to college and university students. Children from St. Francis Primary School helped to decorate tables and creating posters with messages of solidarity for the event, while a group of pupils gave a choir performance. Students from EMBS Community College also got involved, cooking, serving and setting up, with volunteers also sharing pizza round at the event.

The event was also attended by Lord Mayor of Oxford, Craig Simmons, as well as Labour and Cooperative politician Anneliese Dodds, who has served as the MPfor Oxford East since the 2017 election.

Sabir added: “We are here not only to give rough sleepers a hot meal; anyone in need is welcome to a community style lunch. We want to ensure going forward that people always have a place they can eat and feel welcome.”

Discussing the future of homelessness activism in the city in a statement ahead of their anniversary, the project said: “Whilst we still feel worried about our friends we do however feel things will be better for our rough sleepers this year. We do feel Oxford City Council have made some exceptional progress in tackling and addressing homelessness in Oxford.”

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