Sufra (charity)

Sufra NW London is a community "Food Bank & Kitchen", based in the London Borough of Brent. It aims to support families suffering food poverty in its neighborhood. Sufra was founded by Mohammed Mamdani; its name comes from an Arabic term, ''sufra'', associated with communal eating. It was officially founded in April, 2013 when the London Borough of Brent's council funded the charity in Raphael's Estate, one of the poorest estates in that area.

Sufra provides local people with food, basic necessities and toiletries. Since 2014, it has run "Food Academies". It also became a local community centre aiming to bring the community together through the food academies including cooking lessons. The food bank expanded its services in 2017, with the launch of St. Raphael's Edible Garden. The charity officially launched the project in March, 2017 and runs a "Growing Club" for four hours each mid-week and weekend.

History

2011–2013: ''Initial Idea and Start up''

In 2011, Sufra was proposed by Mohammed Mamdani, a social entrepreneur, who founded Muslim Youth Helpline and Ansar Youth Project and Al-Mizan Charitable Trust, Mamdani used his connections in Al-Mizan to initially fund and launch the Sufra project in 2012, until eventually it was officially founded in April, 2013. Sufra is an Arabic term meaning "Come to the table". The aim of the charity was to provide local people with food and even basic necessities and toiletries.

Sufra moved into new premises at Carlton Kitchen in Kilburn in September 2013 on a 3-month lease. Operationally, food collections had been successful with regular donations from key supermarkets and schools. Since start of operations, Sufra has distributed food parcels to over 300 people in need. These clients have come through local referral agencies. in April 2013 by the local London Borough of Brent to relocate in St Raphael's Estate as this was one of the poorest estate in the local area.

2014–2015: ''Food Academies and Welfare Surgeries''

In June 2014, Sufra began to run Food Academies, alongside being a charity, it also became a local community centre aiming to bring the community together by running food academies and teaching people to cook. The main aim was to train young people between the ages of 16–25 years in basic cookery skills. Over 5 weeks and 10 intensive sessions it hopes to teach people to cook 10 home-cooked meals, understand nutrition and how to maintain a healthy diet. In addition to this, they run a master-chef competition and learn to manage weekly budgets with an accredited qualification, which can be used to apply for an apprenticeship or employment in the catering industry.
In January 2015, Sufra joined a partnership with Aston Business School. It launched a recruitment drive for their first Business Enterprise Project which was sponsored by Segro. The project was aimed between 16 and 25 years, who've got a business idea and help them get it off the ground. The Business Enterprise Project includes a free 5-day residential at Aston University’s Business School where candidates will learn everything they need to know about setting up their business, followed by personal mentoring, a grant of £500 and free office space.

During this time, Sufra also began to provide Welfare Surgeries for existing users. Users who already have a food bank voucher or are taking part in any other programme or activity, are able to request additional support from the lead staff member or volunteers. The Food Bank states that they do not support every case and that only a limited number of cases are taken on a weekly basis. Generally, they began providing the following; assistance with CVs and job applications, assistance with online benefit forms, guidance on issues relating to benefits, housing or employment and even arranging for specialist help and support.

2016–2017: ''Food Academy Plus & St. Raphael's Edible Garden''

Sufra expanded their kitchen in the beginnings of 2016, allowing them to provide a hot-meals service to individuals and families every Friday between 6:30pm and 9:00pm. The service is open to all members of the community and they encourage members of the public to join them and eat alongside the most disadvantaged in the community, providing informal peer-support and a listening service. In April 2016, Sufra held a ”Rich Man, Poor Man” fundraising gala dinner. It was held in Brent Civic Centre and the charity managed to raise £60,000 from the event, the yearly operational costs of the organisation.

During the summer of 2016, Sufra decided to launch a more sophisticated approach with Food Academy and launched Food Academy Plus. This programme aimed to recruit, train and find employment for 20 adults in the catering industry. Across the programme, participants learn professional cooking skills, project management skills and customer service. There is also compulsory study sessions in numeracy, literacy and ICT, work experience in a professional restaurant at the London Designer Outlet, as well as the support of a mentor and employment coach throughout. The programme includes setting up a pop-up restaurant at Sufra NW London, where the charity invites local employers to see the skills of our graduates first-hand and head-hunt for new chefs, waiters and restaurant staff. As an incentive, participants receive a free chef’s uniform, 3-month bus pass and access to all in-house support and opportunities available at Sufra NW London. That includes a discretionary fund, which is used to financially support vulnerable and/or low-income volunteers.

In November 2016, Sufra was also featured on episode 1 of BBC's ''The Big Food Rescue''. Which followed two men on a mission to change Britain's food habits by rescuing the fresh food that supermarkets used to bin and getting it to the people who need it.

In 2016, Brent Council approved a growing garden project. The garden project was located just a minute walk away from Sufra's main office and was named St. Raphael’s Edible Garden. The charity officially launched the project in March, 2017 and runs a Growing Club twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays from 10am to 2pm. The garden project featured numerous projects, including a Chicken Club.

On 1 June 2017, Sufra launched an online store on eBay in an attempt to increase donations and funds. The store sells Sufra branded items such as T-shirts, pen holders and trolley coins.

2018–2019: ''Faces of Sufra, Mamdani's resignation''

On 26 April 2018. Sufra released Faces of Sufra. A book which shows what the stakeholders of Sufra have to say about the organisation. Faces of Sufra NW London celebrates the fifth anniversary of the charity by profiling the people behind the organisation; its staff, volunteers and guests, as well as external supporters, faith leaders and corporate sponsors. Through their pictures and stories, the book reveals the defining characteristics of what it means to "give, share and receive", the charity's values. It was compiled Berrun Gur, a graphic's designer who specialises in the non-profit sector.
In November 2018, the food bank was noticed for stockpiling food before the rollout of Universal Credit. The organisation believed that the scheme will bring ‘hardship and acute stress’ for many of those affected. Other London boroughs that have rolled out Universal Credit, had seen a 52% increase in food banks, so Sufra prepared for this and decided to collect as much food as they can The Food Bank Was involved with collecting toiletries, cleaning materials and other less-commonly donated items such as tinned fruit and vegetables. Mamdani went on to state that “Food banks across the UK are calling to tell us that they have suffered significantly, because of increases in demand,” adding that “They’ve suggested that we need to be more prepared than they were.”

On 15 January 2019, Mamdani resigned from Sufra as the director and was replaced by Rajesh Makwana. After five years of developing the charity into a vibrant Community Hub, Mohammed has moved on to his next project based in rural Tanzania, Kijana Kwanza. The country is one which he has a deep personal connection.

In May 2019, the charity hosted a fundraiser in support of Syrian refugees labelled “From Syria, with Love.” The event was held at the Mount Stewart School in Harrow. It wasn’t open to all faiths and all people, and involved a screening of the film After Spring, which depicts the lives of those and working in Zaatari, the world's biggest camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan. All money raised was directly donated to support refugees and asylum seekers.

During refugee week 2019, Sufra released a short film titled “More than Just a Food Bank”.
It was made for the charity by volunteer and professional director, Chris Fowles, with support from the Media Trust and John Lyon’s Charity. It captures the work at Sufra, showing how it helps people of all ages to gain new skills and be part of the solution, by helping themselves and others. In November 2019, Sufra held a "Food-Parcel Challenge" which aimed to shine a light on the current food poverty crisis in Brent where people would have live on a food parcel for five days whilst raising funds for the charity.

2020–present: ''Covid-19 and Islamic Relief collaboration''

Sufra was featured in ''Hello! magazine'''s list of charities you can support during coronavirus and how to help in 2020. The charity was holding a coronavirus emergency appeal during this time of the year. Sufra struggled with food chain crisis during the pandemic. Rajesh Makwana, the director of Sufra, received a British Empire Medal in 2022 for his services to Brent, particularly during the pandemic.

In January 2022, Sufra NW London teamed up with Islamic Relief in which Islamic Relief provided Sufra with over £13,000 to help almost 3,000 recipients with winter food packs. Tufail Hussain of Islamic Relief stated "“Sufra NW is doing vital work in the community to help those in need. We are proud to be working with them to deliver much-needed relief to families during these winter months." During Ramadan 2022, it was reported by the BBC that half of UK Muslims will struggle to provide enough food to break fast during Ramadan, a spokesperson for Sufra stated that they expected a pandemic-level crisis.

Partner Organisations

* Al-Mizan Charitable Trust
* Beta Charitable Trust
* My Community UK (resigned April 2014)
* Shia Ithna’Ashari Community of Middlesex
* Islamic Unity Society

See also

* List of food banks

References

External links

Sufra NW London
Official Website

{{Charity

Food banks
Charities based in London
Charities based in Brent
Islamic relief organizations