On Wednesday 1st December, curry fans from in and around Weymouth raised over £1,500 for Weldmar Hospicecare by booking a table at and ordering takeaway from Shalims Indian Restaurant, Weymouth. The event was part of the first ‘British Curry Day’, a fundraising initiative from Mr Enam Ali MBE, one of the leading figures in the British curry industry.
Shalims tells us what happened on the night, “We had realised that it was going to be a busy night when the phone started to ring off the hook at 5.00pm on the night and then customers, many of our regulars, started to walk through the door.”
Shalims continues, “Wednesday nights at the start of December are usually a slow night but not this Wednesday. We were so busy with takeaway orders and restaurant diners, that we were starting to run out of items towards the end of the night. We hoped the night would be popular, but we were taken aback with the level of support for Weldmar Hospicecare ‘British Curry Day’ generated. Whenever we have held a charity night, we have never been let down by the people of Weymouth”.
British Curry Day is a national salute to those who came to this country and innovated the industry. Today this contributes 4.2 billion pounds to the economy (source: Financial Times), with sales of over 2.5 million curries every week throughout the UK (source: British Curry Awards).
On receiving the news about how much Shalims had raised, Fiona Hansford Business Development Fundraiser at Weldmar Hospicecare said, “Thank you, Shalim and to everyone who supported ‘British Curry Day. The money you helped raise will be helping patients and those they love receive the care and support they need. Weldmar Hospicecare relies on donations from our supporters to provide all of our services free of charge. It allows us to provide our patients across Dorset with the highest level of specialist end of life care whilst giving vital support to their loved ones“.
