LONDON – Sikhs in the UK are taking the concept of langar (free meals served in gurdwaras) to the streets of Britain to feed the country’s growing homeless population.
The Sikh Welfare and Awareness Team (SWAT), a relatively new British charity, decided to take the concept of donated produce prepared into vegetarian dishes out of its traditional gurdwara setting to address the growing problem of homelessness in the UK.
The Sikh langars are popular here not just because the food is free, but because the delicious meals served in langars are considered as a luxury by many. “We come here because we get food… A hot meal. It’s a luxury for me,” a 55-year-old homeless man told the BBC during filming of one such pop-up kitchen over the weekend.
Nearly 250 others were handed out hot soup, drinks, chocolate bars and other supplies from the SWAT van parked up on the Strand in central London on Sunday evening.
The SWAT team, as they’re known, park at the same spot every week so a group of volunteers from the Sikh community can hand out supplies. The homeless people, an overwhelming majority of whom are not Sikhs, patiently wait in the queue to be served.
Many Sikh temples in the UK have also reported a surge in the numbers of non-Sikhs coming in for free langar after the 2008 recession.
