From the Library of Birmingham, basically a museum of books that gives you access to unrivalled panoramic views from its Skyline Viewpoint, to the Jewellery Quarter, an industry hub filled with bars, art galleries, restaurants and more, this city is home to wide array of must-see sights.
I was born and bred in Walsall. In 2010 I started focusing on my faith. I was a doorman, and I decided to turn my life around. Charity work is a must in Sikhism. Langar is a free kitchen open to all, regardless of colour, creed or caste. It was started by our founder Guru Nanak 500 years ago – ‘Seva’ means selfless service, without asking for a reward.
I teamed up with one of my lifetime school friends, Parmjit Singh Bahia, who I’ve known since nursery. In October 2013 we decided to start taking hot meals to one of the soup kitchens in Walsall. We started with just 15 of them, but then we realised how bad the situation was. The more we did, the more we wanted to do. Today we do about 82,000 meals a month worldwide.
In just five years it’s gone huge. We have around 600 volunteers aged from five to 75. We’ve got teams in Germany, India, Bangkok... and we’re building a home in Thailand for a lady with a disabled son whose house blew away in a typhoon. We have a school in Rajasthan, which is free for 150 children who wouldn’t otherwise have had a chance to study.
In the UK, our main location is Carrs Lane in Birmingham city centre. We’re open seven nights a week. The beauty of our organisation is that we don’t take donations of money, only food. We have volunteers from all faiths – Christians, Hindus, Muslims – and everybody is welcome.
According to the government there were only 91 rough sleepers – using a single-night snapshot – in the city last year (up from 57 in 2017). But on a typical evening we have about 200 come to us. We see them with their blankets and rucksacks. Some lost everything overnight. One gentleman is a qualified mechanic who used to work for the RAC and is now on the streets. Another guy was a millionaire who had his own printing factory. Overnight, boom! He was on the streets.
We had Emile Heskey help us in Birmingham one night. The WBA super-flyweight champion boxer Khalid Yafai and his brothers, and the kickboxers Barrington Patterson and Kash ‘The Flash’ Gill have all helped us. When Heskey was here he got a phone call from Rio Ferdinand who was gutted he couldn’t come and help out.
We won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. We went to the tea party at Buckingham Palace. And we got a Point Of Light award from Theresa May as well. We met her and she was all right. I won’t say too much, though! They put up a mural of myself on a wall round the corner from New Street station. That was for Pride of Birmingham, for which we won the TSB Community Partner Award. When I see it I have to pinch myself. They’re knocking it down soon though!
We’ve helped save lives in Birmingham. But it’s not just homeless people. It’s those with severe mental health issues, and people who have got nobody. We’re like a second family. Of our 15 volunteers, we’ll have ten serving food, while the other five mingle and chat. That interaction means a lot. We’ve been able to point suicidal people in the right direction. Some have actually got jobs now. We helped one homeless guy get back on his feet. He got a flat and then started volunteering with us. That’s priceless.
Interview by James Brennan
