LONDON: A British Pakistani who serves free meals to low-income families has been given the British Empire Medal for his services to the residents of the Hounslow area of London.

Ehsan Shahid Choudhry, the co-founder of Muslim Hands — The Open Kitchen, was included in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2023. He will be awarded the Order of the British Empire.

The award was established by King George V in 1917 to honour those who had served in a non-combative role and made contributions to arts, sciences, charitable work and public service. The Order also includes the British Empire Medal presented to those who have contributed to service in their community.

Muslim Hands started in Nottingham in 1993 when, in the wake of the Bosnian war, Muslims in the UK began to collect donations and charity for people in Bosnia.

In 2018, Mr Choudhry launched The Open Kitchen, a service through which low-income families can get free lunch meals throughout the year.

Mr Choudhry’s charity focuses on both London and Nottingham, home to some of the most deprived communities in the country, according to the website.

Through the food kitchen, the charity is able to serve 500 meals a day to needy families.

With a team of almost 30 volunteers, The Open Kitchen runs across the week in both cities.

Food poverty has become a growing problem in the UK with many now struggling to put food on the table, said a report presented in the UK parliament last week.

It stated that in 2021/22, 4.7 million people, or 7pc of the UK population were in food poverty, including 12pc children.

The situation has been aggravated due to rising food prices which have gone up by 19pc between April 2022 and 2023, according to the report.

An earlier survey by the Food Foundation think tank reported the number of UK children in food poverty has nearly doubled in the last year to almost four million.

The survey reported that one in five households was skipping meals, going hungry or not eating for a whole day in January, up from 12pc at the same time in 2022.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2023