Muslim-owned restaurant offering elderly free meals on Christmas Day so ‘no one eats alone’ reveals inspiration behind gesture

A manager at a Muslim-owned restaurant promising to give elderly and homeless people a free three-course dinner on Christmas Day has revealed that staff were motivated to do the good deed after an older woman asked the restaurant staff for help.

Irfan Genc, 20, told The Independent that the idea was born out of an unexpected meeting with the elderly lady who turned up at the Shish Restaurant in Sidcup late one cold night. She told staff that the open windows in her home were too high for her to reach and she was too scared to get on a chair to try and close them, he said.

After she asked them for help, staff made the two minute journey to her home, receiving a hug and a thank you after they closed the windows and stopped the cold air drafting in.

By way of a thank you, the following day, the lady returned to eat at the restaurant. Staff became “emotional” after she admitted she was lonely, Mr Genc said.

“She said that she had nothing else to do other than wait for death because her husband died years ago and there was no one to care for her. She said she was also going to be alone on Christmas Day,” he added. “The old lady’s story really hit us. No matter what religion we’re from or language we speak, we’re here to help each other and support each other on a special day. We don’t want anyone to be left out.”

Her story inspired the Christmas Day meal plan and after Mr Genc and the restaurant’s other manager took the idea to its owners, they immediately gave them the go-ahead. The free three-course meal, available between 12pm and 6pm, includes a soup and Cacik as a starter, a choice of chicken casserole, vegetable casserole or a chicken shish as a main dish and rice pudding for dessert.

The reception from residents and social media users has been overwhelmingly positive, resulting in messages of support and praise from all over the world. Local residents have also inundated staff with offers to volunteer on the day while taxi drivers have promised to transport people to and from the restaurant for free.

Mr Genc predicts the restaurant will be catering for at least 50 people. One woman called up to donate money to the restaurant for the food being served, but the manager said he respectfully declined as “we want to do it out of our own pocket”.

Shish will be footing the bill for the Christmas Day meals, but depending on demand, it could turn the initiative into a monthly occurrence. “If we carry it on we might do a fundraiser where we ask customers to put in a pound or two to contribute to what we’re doing with the homeless,” Mr Genc said. “Hopefully we’ll lead this and other people will do the same.”