The Sewa volunteers helping to feed the homeless during Diwali
VOLUNTEERS delivered hundreds of kilos of essential goods to homeless charities in the city during Diwali last week.
When Covid hit last year, Sanjay Sampit coordinated with the Bristol Hindu Temple to distribute emergency food parcels and hot meals.
Sanjay and co-organiser Preash Patel decided to start a Bristol branch of the national charity Sewa, donating food to homeless shelters in Bristol for Diwali and Christmas.
On Friday morning, volunteers Sanjay, Preash and Arti Patel donated food and toiletries to Help Bristol’s Homeless (HBH) in Bedminster and The Julian Trust in St Paul’s.
They delivered an estimated 500kg of donations, collected through their networks.
Sanjay said: “The majority have come from the Hindu community in Bristol and across the UK, but we have also received donations from neighbours and local shops
“Giving to the needy is one of our tenets, we all do it in little pockets.
“As Hindus we always do charity, we can all work together and make an impact.
“My view was why don’t we do it as a community and make an impact for one organisation or another?”
Sewa is a Sanskrit word and is embedded in the Dharmic traditions of ancient India. It means to sacrifice your time and resources for the benefit of others without wanting anything in return.
HBH CEO Jasper Thomas said: “It’s fantastic that we are having donations like this. It’s that time of the year when we start cooking for the street homeless, we will be doing 60 hot meals twice a week.”
HBH was founded to provide temporary accommodation to rough sleepers and help get them back into work and in permanent accommodation.
The temporary accommodation consists of shipping containers which are rented at a discounted rate with all expenses and cooked meals included in the price.
The volunteers then stopped off at The Julian Trust Homeless Shelter in St Paul’s with toiletries for their guests.
They plan to return for Christmas where they will not only drop donations but will cook hot vegetarian Indian meals for the two charities.
And the group want to reach out to more homeless charities in Bristol this Christmas so they can give even more donations.
My view was why don’t we do it as a community and make an impact for one organisation or another
Sanjay Sampit