A convenience store in the heart of Newcastle's West End is giving away thousands of free loaves of bread to families struggling to put food on the table.
Westerhope Convenience Store has handed out a massive 40,000 loaves to the local community since the start of the Covid crisis in March 2020. The idea was the brainchild of store owner Sheraz Awan, 42, the owner after witnessing the struggles of what his customers were going through.
He felt he had to do something to help people who were being hit hard by the pandemic. He said: "In 2020 we were giving away 1,000 loaves of bread a day totalling that to 70,000 loaves of bread a week.
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"It all started when one of the customers came in and said 'I don't know how to feed my kids'. I was so touched by what she said I wanted to do something to give back to the community."
Sheraz has spent almost all his life in Westerhope, where he calls home, and he knows a lot of the people through his job. The connections he has developed with them over the years have made him and the locals into one big 'Westerhope' family.
He added: "So many people I knew had lost their jobs, and I had never seen my 'village' in this state before. I realised how hard the world we were and still are living in, especially with the costs of living crisis, many families are struggling even further."
All of this led him to be inspired in doing a good deed, of buying as many loaves of bread each day with his own money. It was talked about amongst the community and became a vital source of help.
Sheraz wants to continue doing this and doesn't want to stop. In addition, he sponsors local football teams by buying them football kits. He said: "I at the moment sponsor six football teams, on the Facebook page, I announce a random call and ask whoever can come in a short period of time and they get awarded a free bottle of wine. We use raffles to generate the money around for the football teams."
Julia Boyde, 54, who has worked with Sheraz for 13 years, is the store manager of Westerhope Convenience Store. She said: “When the pandemic hit a lot of people lost their jobs. Sheraz wanted to do something, even if it was little.
"He personally went every day to the cash and carry, and he is still doing it even though the pandemic has died down. He is a more privileged person who wants to do something for the people.”
To find out more about the Westerhope Convenience Store, visit their Facebook page, here.
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