British Asian Christian Association’s local food bank in Ilford survived last week thanks to the generosity of a local bakers, who were forced to close down due to the pronouncement of a lockdown by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Daile Bakes who are based on Plashet Road, East Ham, have been providing unsold cakes, bread, blocks of butter and cookies for distribution to our regular homeless and financially hard-up visitors to Clements Wood Community Centre. The small gift was a welcome respite to local residents struggling to make ends meet normally but under extreme financial pressure during the outbreak of COVID-19.…
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Image taken from a Tesco Metro Store last night British Asian Christian Association is warning the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that something must be done to brace an unnecessary food crises. Today an email has been sent to both calling for improved measures to calm the disastrous panic-buying of recent weeks that threatens our economy. The recent panic-buying across the country has now dissipated to some extent, with queues in shops noticeably smaller. However a lack of workers in distribution factories has meant that their is still limited stocks for many food and sanitary essentials in stores…
A young Christian servant was beaten to near death after he refused to continue work for a wealthy Muslim who was paying below what was agreed between them and forcing him to clean toilets which was not part of the original job description. Shaan Masih (21) a resident of Chak number 15/125L district Mian Chanu worked for Chowdhry Kashif Nadeem in a role that had previously been undertaken by his father and grandparents, who had all been servants to the same family. When Shaan’s father died he was working elsewhere as a farmhand and refused to work for the local…
Pakistan has only had relatively few infections of Coronavirus but even then the Government has begun a lockdown in provinces most affected. The number of Coronavirus infections in Pakistan rose to 646 after the country reported 160 new cases over the last 24 hours. Pakistan has registered its 4th death from COVID-19 today which is the third from the province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KPK). Provincial governments have announced the closure of public spaces, educational institutions, public transports, market, malls and playgrounds for at least three weeks, while section 144 has been imposed and strict action is being taken against those…
Thursday (19th March) saw the strangest but most necessary development since we began our ‘Meals for the Homeless’ project in Ilford. For months we have been trying to provide a safe atmosphere for London’s homeless to meet, share fellowship and enjoy a hearty meal. However, this week we planned to take the service out into the open to ensure our practice was ‘COVID-19 compliant’. Social-distancing has become a buzzword commonly used to describe the introduction of a new temporary culture in global society, no longer to the British shake hands or the French and Italian kiss cheeks to welcome one…
A Redbridge-based charity has called for changes to the local shopping regime to enable charities essential NHS and other emergency staff to get their essential shopping done to maximise their efficiency at work. British Asian Christian Association has warned that to feed the regular homeless visitors that attend their centre in Ilford has become nigh on impossible due to exaggerated shopping queues and panic buying, that leave them having to visit at least 6 stores to provide their services legally. Yesterday at Costco Walthamstow a sign that was up before shoppers began at 9.30 warned that over 10 items had…
Frightened people have been soul-searching and looking for answers to the threat of COVID-19 across the country. However with Churches throughout Britain being asked not to hold services on Sunday, many citizens of the UK are left with the dilemma of not being able to go to the usual bastion of peace and hope that is a natural go to when seeking some divine inspiration. We spoke to several Pastors across the country to see what was on offer to their local communities and what help local churches were doing in response to COVID-19. Revd Paula Preston who is Acting…
A homeless people’s support group in Ilford is raising deep concern over the lack of advice and support for charities working with these vulnerable people through the current COVID-19 Pandemic. British Asian Christian Association has been supporting over 26 people through a ‘Meals for the Homeless’ project. They have also been helping some of the same individuals and other deprived families in the borough with a foodbank facility (click here). However, in recent weeks the food being received via Tesco under a ‘Fareshare’ Charitable distribution has reduced due to the selfish hoarding of a few, that has resulted in panic-buying…
Yesterday BACA began to share details of their COVID-19 community volunteer group for Ilford and Chigwell, for which we have partnered with various groups including All Saint’s Church (Chigwell), East Ilford Betterment Partnership and Chigwell Row Residents Association. Today after a call to our office from a man known to BACA we were able to provide our first community needs response. Joel Kyari who lives not too far from our offices and was aware of our foodbank, asked if there was any food available for him. Joel has been a local resident for some years and due to poor kidney…
Here is an encouraging video from Brother Leighton our Missionary to Pakistan, who reminds us that the church during the Coronavirus pandemic.