Residents at YMCA Housing’s UASC project in Nottingham enjoyed a fantastic time at an Eid Party hosted in partnership with local community movement NAD GRILL.
The event was held in the evening when most YMCA young residents were back from college and benefitted from care packages prepared by NAD GRILL, run by local couple Roxy and Nadeem who own a takeaway in Carrington, who kindly donated pizza, chips, chicken, chocolate, and a variety of fruit and juices to help make the evening special.
Organiser Jaymee Russell, YMCA Housing’s Youth/UASC Tenancy Sustainment Officer (16-25), first met the owners of NAD GRILL during lockdown as, when the pandemic hit, the takeaway was forced to close and the duo wanted to do more to help vulnerable people in Nottingham. NAD GRILL therefore started creating food parcels and have since grown to become an established CIC, going on to win numerous local hero awards for their community efforts. They now support hundreds of vulnerable people every week with everything from food all the way up to furnishing their homes and helping find suitable accommodation.
Jaymee explained: “NAD GRILL do all this amazing work by themselves and around the clock with the help of a few loyal volunteers. I engaged NAD GRILL during one of the lockdowns to open up avenues of bespoke support for residents in our transitional homes and they were brilliant. It is wonderful that, if our residents need to access their services, they can do this themselves or ask a YMCA staff member to help them by contacting ‘NAD GRILL HELPING OTHERS CIC’ on Facebook where the team will assist with their query. Eid was a great opportunity to further our engagement with this local movement. It turned out to be a wonderful event – here’s to a positive relationship!”
Roxy, from NAD GRILL, said: “Thank you for letting us do this, we are looking forward to working together more and making a difference.”
As Eid marks a period of religious celebration, YMCA Tenancy Support Officers (TSOs) also created activity packs for each resident who attended to raise awareness of this festival. Residents enjoyed mindfulness Eid colouring sheets and brain teasers such as an Eid wordsearch and crossword.
The team also delivered some engaging activities ranging from singing together to sofa dancing! Music featured traditional tunes of the residents’ choosing and the afternoon concluded with residents storming the karaoke to Little Mix.
