Bristol man who cooks and gives out 20,000 free meals to those in need praised as 'unsung hero'
Mehmoo Aktar has been giving the home-cooked meals to people at the M32 underpass off Stapleton Road for two and a half years.Credit: BPM media
A Bristol man who has cooked and given out 20,000 free meals to people in need in the city is being praised as an "unsung hero" by the people he has helped.
Mehmoo Aktar has been giving home-cooked meals to people at the M32 underpass off Stapleton Road for two and a half years.
Mr Aktar, who owns a carpet business, buys all the ingredients and cooks the meals at home to give out every Friday and Sunday evening, throughout the year.
He makes an average of 200 meals a week and sometimes gets help from his son.
Mehmoo said: “We started before coronavirus because in this area there are a lot of poor people, needy people and some people who don’t know how to cook or time is very tight.
"The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. It’s not equal.”
Twice a week he puts the food in large pots in the boot of his car, then lays them out on a table in takeaway boxes and gives them to anyone who approaches him.
Vicky, who lives nearby, found out about the free meals two years ago. She takes her children there occasionally and has found it really helpful.
She said: “My children absolutely love the food and it has been a massive help when I have been low on funds or food.
"It’s amazing how he shows up every week without fail on Fridays and Sundays, offering food to those in need.
“And it’s a big portion so it definitely fills you up. Sometimes you see regular faces and you can tell some people have come to really rely on his food.
"He is giving to some people who possibly wouldn’t otherwise have a cooked meal twice a week. He is an unsung hero in my eyes."
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I’m a diversity consultant and a design and communications consultant. I help people and organisations develop vision, communicate and deliver cultural change.