Barking and Scintilla partner up for Coronavirus aid

Muhammad Hamza

A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN local sports rivals and businesses has proven particularly fruitful as members of the community have come together to deliver local aid to homeless residents.

The Coronavirus pandemic has hit rough sleepers in Barking & Dagenham particularly hard, with many in isolation and struggling to cope with lockdown and social distancing rules.

Barking CC, Scintilla CC and food donors from the local Nisa store in Dagenham were in attendance at a food collection point at Barking Cricket Club. The iconic local organisations got together to collect donations at an organised food collection point. These will be delivered to the local homeless hostel.

The idea to do this came from Barking coach Kanan Thiyagarajah. He said, “We are a community club and it was hugely important that we did something for the vulnerable. Thanks to Nisa, Woodward Road, for the food. It really is a great gesture which will go some way in helping out during difficult times.”

Club Chair Marlon King added, “We are committed sports people and our pledge to support our community is assured. It’s satisfying to know that we can pool our resources together to achieve positive outcomes like this. Our thanks to Nisa for the generous food donation. They will benefit people who are struggling more than the average person during lockdown.”

Last week the Government announced that £6 million of the Coronavirus funding for frontline charities would be ring fenced to support homelessness services as they work to protect people sleeping rough.

On behalf of the One Third Homeless Soup Kitchen, Scintilla Cricket Club Chair Emdad Rahman commented, “I’m really pleased we are using the power of cricket to spread positivity. With the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic leaving whole nations suffering, we may never see a period of history like this again. Credit goes to Kanan and Nisa for arranging this. It was great to see Marlon and Brian too.”

Also in attendance were Jayesh Patel and Vipinbhai Gohil from Nisa Local, Woodward Road, Dagenham.

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