A pizza shop in West Belfast has been hailed for the support it has given local homeless shelters, children with additional needs and youth clubs.
Ciaran Kelly owns Pizza Guyz, which first opened on the Andersonstown Road in 2017. Five years down the line, and his team are continuing to help out in the community with daily acts of kindness and positive social action projects.
They have given over 1,000 meals to the homeless and recently provided 500 pizza kits to the summer schemes of various schools that look after young people with special needs. As schools begin to open again for the new term, the team at Pizza Guyz will also be bringing their services to the school hall - free of charge.
Read more: The families behind some of Belfast's community businesses
Speaking to Belfast Live, Ciaran says he will always have a place in his heart for the local community and will do all he can to help out those most in need.
"I started making pizzas when I was a teenager, working on the Shaw's Road and that is when I fell in love with it," he said.
"I went across to a few shows in America and really loved what they were doing there with their pizzas and didn't think there was anywhere in Belfast doing that. We would have done pizza workshops with local special needs schools and one time me and my wife were on holiday and at the time we had the new shop and it was kitted out, but we didn't have a name yet.
"I was in a queue and a young child who had Down's Syndrome was shouting over to me 'pizza guy, pizza guy'. He had remembered me from our pizza workshops.
"At that point, I went back to my wife and said 'we have our name' and our children's names begin with Z so we thought it would be fitting to let them have a bit of the name. That is how Pizza Guyz came about. We created a model, the Pizza Guyz model, which is basically pizzas with a very small selection of sides and it was a no brainer for me to come to Andersonstown because it's where I spent most of my time as a kid.
"We have been here for five years now and it's been so enjoyable. All the businesses on this road are here for one another too. We are all friendly, yes we are in competition in a sense, but if we need a bag of cheese, I know I can phone a pizza shop up the road and they throw one down, and we would do the same."
Ciaran also praised his staff, who have been with him since day one of Pizza Guyz. Not only are they working behind the counter, but if things get quiet in the store, they grab their litter pickers and take to the streets to clean up.
"Our staff really are exceptional," he added.
"Because we don't do a huge menu, they can really focus working hard and delivering brilliant food. The staff in Pizza Guyz are more like family than anything. The craic is brilliant in here too, which makes the atmosphere really enjoyable.
"My big thing is community and we have always been supported by the community, so why wouldn't we give back? We are able to give back more now than we ever have. We want to thank them for supporting us through the good times and the bad times.
"A lot of the things we do wouldn't be posted on social media, because that isn't why we do it. But we are very passionate about helping people. Every Wednesday we would help the homeless and we would do a lot with special needs schools. We'd go once a week and bring Pizza Guyz to the schools, all free of charge.
"We also sponsor sports teams too and are working with the Woodland Trust because obviously we have loads of pizza boxes, but we have now pledged to plant 1,000 tress and our staff would also go out and clean up the streets if things are quiet in the shop. I'd prefer to use money to put into these community projects because the people we help have helped us in the past, or will potentially come to us for food in the future.
"We can't thank our community enough for their support. They have been there through it all, and continue to stay with us, so we will be there for them when they need us."
READ NEXT:
- Belfast man with autism secures a new job at Belfast Zoo
- Meet the Belfast youth workers determined to give young people a chance
- Belfast City Cemetery to get facelift
- Belfast cafe owner struggling to stay open as energy bills rise
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
