Cardiff Taxi and Private Hire alongside Unite Wales have raised £3000 for Al-Ikhlas food bank, located in Adamsdown, Cardiff. Taxi drivers Gareth Carter and Abdul Hie, with Unite Wales Taxi branch secretary Yusef Jama, presented the cheque to the volunteers of Al-Ikhlas, joined by Cardiff MS Jenny Rathbone, on what happened to be Random Acts of Kindness Day.

‘’It was all driven and motivated by the community … Not all taxi drivers can afford it, with many of them leaning on foodbanks themselves, but it’s in their hearts because it’s the people of Cardiff who we work for, we work with and we see them every day and it really hits home,” said Gareth Carter

“We just wanted to pay our thanks, because at the end of the day the local people, without them, we wouldn’t have a job, we wouldn’t have any money to pay our bills or feed our families, but as you know, they come to visit you [the foodbank] for help, so this is our way of paying back to the local community and say thank you for what they’ve done for us in the past,” said Yusef Jama

Following the presentation, Jenny Rathbone MS, praised the generosity of the fundraisers.

She said: “I just want to say that this is a classic example of how the poorest people are the most generous because taxi drivers have been so badly hit by the pandemic.

“It’s such a dangerous occupation to be in at the moment, that it’s quite extraordinary and heart-warming that despite all the difficulties that you’ve faced, putting food on the tables for your families, that nevertheless, you’ve given all this money to Al-Ikhlas so that they can continue to do the work that they do every week.”

The Al-Ikhlas foodbank has been running from the mosque since 2019 and has been supported by Ms Rathbone since the beginning. Last week it helped 140 people.

Al-Ikhlas is open every Tuesday at 92 Broadway, Adamsdown, CF24 1NH from 10am-12pm.

Pictures and words by Lily Watts