On Sunday 28th June, foodies across South Dorset raised over £1,700 for Weldmar Hospicecare by taking part in ‘Give Back Sunday’ a fundraising initiative from Shalims Indian Restaurant, Weymouth.

Earlier in the month Shalim Abs the owner of Shalims asked customers to nominate a local charity that they would like to help and support.

Shalims tells us what happened next, “Over the course of a couple of weeks, 100’s of our customers nominated Weldmar Hospicecare through our website, as the local charity they would like us to help.”

‘Give Back Sunday’ was a way for Shalims Indian Restaurant to say thank you for all the support that their customers have given them since the start of the Coronavirus crisis. By giving something tangible back to the community, 50% of their takings on a Sunday night at the end of June. On the night, their customers dug deep, the phone rang off the hook and orders flew in on their online ordering platform.

Shalims talks more about what happened on the night, “We were so busy that we ran out of chicken and pilau rice, that has never ever happened before. When the dust settled and the staff and I sat down at the end of the night, we couldn’t believe what had just happened. Then when our delivery drivers returned they were so taken aback from all the kind words and generosity from our customers that they donated their wages from the night too. I would like to say a big thank you to them, Soloman Matthias, Tahin Ahmed, Andrew Cooke and Shamim Abdul.”

When the takings and drivers donations were totalled up the customers and drivers from Shalims Indian Restaurant had raised over £1,700 for Weldmar Hospicecare.

On receiving the cheque James O’Neill Weldmar Hospicecare said, “Thank you so much to everyone who nominated Weldmar to be the local charity that would benefit from ‘Give Back Sunday’, and of course to Shalim and his team for raising an incredible amount of money for Weldmar Hospicecare.  This will help us continue to provide vital end of life care for patients, both at our IPU in Dorchester and in the community across Dorset, and also the family support and counselling that we provide to loved ones.  We’re facing very difficult times as our regular fundraising events are cancelled, so innovative ideas like this can really help us stay resilient during the ongoing pandemic.” 

Find out more about Weldmar Hospice Care here www.weld-hospice.org.uk