- May 5, 2020
BBC highlights Malayalee Association of UK (MAUK)’s efforts to help stranded Asian students in UK (News Video)
By A Staff Reporter from www.ukmalayalee.com
LONDON May 5: Malayalee Association of UK (MAUK), a London based organisation has been in the forefront in helping out the stranded students following the Covid-19 pandemic. Students were the most affected as they lost their part time jobs to fund for their studies which resulted in them not being able to pay the fees, rent and pay for food. It was this time MAUK came forward to begin the charity works which resulted in hundreds getting hep through food bags and food kits.
The Guardian newspaper too had highlighted the issues faced the Asian students in regards to job, stay and them living on food parcels.
Now BBC One has highlighted this in the 6pm news on 5th May 2020 and will be repeat telecast at 9pm on 5th May 2020.
MAUK COVID-19 Response Team Released The Below Press Note Today
As usual, our regular check-ins on our around 80 elderly service users are continuing.
Our directors have been calling them for a friendly chat and to check if we can do anything to improve their mental and physical wellbeing while in isolation. We are continuing to do shopping for those self-isolating and don’t have family members nearby to help.
Our work with Loka Kerala Sabha and other major Malayalee organisations across the UK to support international students and undocumented migrants continues at strength.
On Monday, we distributed 250 food kits containing non-perishable items such as rice, lentils along with vegetables, bread, milk and juice to deserving members of the local community. We are seeing an increase in the number of international students, especially from other states of India and Bangladesh making use of this service. The cost of providing the food kit is constantly increasing each week with number growing of people relying on this MAUK service to survive through this crisis. We thank all compassionate individuals and businesses who came forward to support our humble endeavour. We also thank Amarjit Singh Soora and other members of the Lions Club of Fairlop who delivered orange juice for our distribution. Mr Soora has promised their continued support.
We are grateful to Annie Gonzales and the staff of East London branches of Barclays Bank, who have been raising funds for our service. Annie also took time out of her busy schedule to help us distribute the food kit on Monday. On Wednesday, Senior Management Team of MAUK met with the manager and staff of the Hainault branch of Barclays to receive a donation of £500 collected from the staff. This amount will be match-funded by Barclays.
We are working closely with LBN to meet the growing needs of our community. On Wednesday, MAUK Chair attended Zoom meeting with One Newham’s COVID-19 Coordinator Radhika Bynon and Phil Veasey from council’s social services along with 18 other local charities. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss social welfare support to Newham residents experiencing financial hardship. We are also in regular contact with Ajitha Sajeev, Head of Newham Homeless Unit, who is advising and assisting us in dealing with the current situation.
Our services were reported by one of UK’s leading Malayalam news portal ukmalayalee.com and on Kerala’s leading news channel News 18. We are grateful for their support.
In the past week, MAUK volunteers have been training those Elders Services users who have smart phones to download and install Zoom (the video communication app) and have since conducted group video calls and held talks on mental wellbeing led by Dr Hena Vijayan.
On Friday, MAUK served 370 Iftar Kit containing Ghee Rice, Chicken/Veg Korma, Fruits and Juice. We also distributed bread with short BBE date that we received from the Carpenters and Docklands Centre. We are grateful for their continued support and thank them sincerely. We also thank Smitha and Renjith who have donated the cost of this kit to celebrate their wedding anniversary. We wish them all the very best for a beautiful future and welcome them as our member and volunteer. Smitha, a keyworker has been helping us from behind the scenes since we started distributing food from Thattukada. We also extend our gratitude to Biju and Preethi for giving us unlimited access to the restaurant, including the kitchen and cold room.
Their support has enabled us to operate efficiently and meet the statutory requirements that are needed when serving food. We also thank M I Thaslivala and Abdul Lathif for preparing and cooking our Iftar kit.
This week, MAUK’s services have got a boost from the London Sports League (LSL), who came forward with an offer of weekly financial support raised from their members. We thank LSL officials, teams and members for their kind gesture.
We are glad to have been able to serve our community from the frontline during this needy time. We thank all our members for giving us the strength and motivation to do so. We pay homage to the large numbers of great individuals who have built and strengthened MAUK over the years. The foundation they laid and the ethos they set out enabled MAUK to swiftly change course and serve the changing needs of our community in this dynamic situation.