The mayor of one of Britain’s most-deprived boroughs turned up in the cold to be fed at a soup kitchen set up for the homeless in London’s East End.
Tower Hamlets Mayor John Biggs was invited to meet volunteers who were running the temporary kitchen at Whitechapel’s Altab Ali Park to feed and clothe those left on the streets.
It was set up in the park by members of the Muslim Aid charity as part of their ‘Warm Hearts’ winter campaign.
The volunteers received donations of food and clothing from the public at a collection point outside the East London Mosque further along the Whitechapel Road before Christmas.
They were handing out hot meals yesterday lunchtime to 100 homeless people, many of whom sleep rough in the park and the neighbouring streets.
The mayor went along to see the operation for himself, as part of his own budget plans to set up a local poverty fund to help families on the breadline.
The soup kitchen is part of the annual campaign to help the elderly and homeless as a lifeline through the winter months.
The volunteers cooked up a hot meal for Mayor Biggs, too—just to keep out the cold.
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