Helping homeless became a booming business
SEVEN years ago Manzoor and Aiysha Ali stopped to help a homeless man on Oxford Road.
The encounter left them feeling like they could do more and, astonished by the number of rough sleepers in Manchester, they started handing out non-perishable weekly food packages.
Each Thursday the couple would drive down Oxford Road, through Withington and Rusholme and into the city centre, handing out packages as they went.
Little did they know that it would be the start of a regular volunteering project - and the pathway to launching a food business.
Manzoor, 44, who lives in Whalley Range and at the time was unemployed, said: “Me and my wife wanted to give Manchester’s homeless something extra. Instead of them coming to us, we went to them.”
Week after week Manzoor and his wife continued their small act of kindness - which the M.E.N. is celebrating as part of the #WeStandTogether campaign.
The couple’s three children also pitched in to help. The children Asim, 23, Zara, 19, and AbdulRehman, 18, all helped grow the family-focussed initiative.
Soon the family were producing food so regularly that they decided to spin it out into their own business.
Barakah Foods, the independent business the family runs on Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton, was born when Manzoor decied to ‘sell a few curries to the community’ and it became a business.
At the same time, they decided to launch Barakah Food Aid, a non-registered initiative delivering food to the needy running on donations alone.
As well as helping feed people on the streets, they say they have begun to be approached by people from all walks of life who were struggling to make ends meet.
Manzoor says he and his wife had met mothers considering prostitution to feed their children.
As more people became aware of Manzoor and Aiysha’s good work, the volunteer force swelled to more than 100.
Manzoor said: “I don’t want Barakah Food Aid to grow. The dream would be to wake up one day and realise Barakah Food Aid is no longer needed. The more food banks we have the bigger problem we have in society.”
To help visit facebook.com/ BarakahFoodAid/