How the doctrine of an Indian saint is helping feed the hungry in Milton Keynes

Dreamsai Milton Keynes was launched by local members of the Indian community in 2018 and has carried out an impressive list of projects ever since.

Its Food For Sai scheme sees dozens of meals cooked in members' kitchens every Saturday.

The food is packed by volunteers and delivered to the needy and homeless people across Milton Keynes, said charity chair Laxman Kastala.

Last year the charity served 3000 meals.

It is planning this year to launch Breakfast For Sai, to help young schoolchildren who may be going hungry.

“Breakfast is often described as the most important meal of the day. We are currently finalising plans to initiate a new project in 2020 to supply on-the-go breakfast packs to the local primary schools,” said Mr Kastala.

Members also place collection boxes in Morrisons supermarket, asking for donations of sanitary items, toiletries, warm clothing and toys for Christmas and Diwali. The thousands of items are made up into Winter Essential Packs, which are distributed to the needy.

Mr Kastala said: “These projects are an example of how givers in the community can support the needy in the community. Hundreds of members who are either homeless or in temporary refuge in Milton Keynes are building hope from this project, irrespective of their origins, nationality, gender, race etc.”

The caring ethos is based the teachings of Indian Saint Saibaba, whose doctrine was “Sab ka Malik Ek” - which translates to 'all gods are one'.

Another project is a major blood donation campaign to help fill the shortfall in blood and organ donation from ethnic minorities.

“Ethnic minorities constitute 14 per cent of the population in England but only five per cent donate blood. There is huge awareness exercise run by DREAMSAI to take the message of scarcity of blood donation from ethnic minorities,” said Mr Kastala.

Last year Dreamsai organised a successful 'blood donation camp' to encourage Indian community members coming forward to donate blood for the first time.

The charity is holding another camp this month, on January 29, and already it is fully booked. Discussions are in progress to expand this to other ethnic minority groups - mainly African at this stage, said Mr Kastala.

Dreamsai members hold Guru Days every Thursday at the MK Hindu Association community centre to celebrate their spiritual activities and Indian festivals

The charity is on the lookout for a light industrial warehouse in Milton Keynes to enable it to centralise the services it offers and expand into launching a drop-in service in the future.

For more details of Dreamsai visit its Facebook page @dreamsaiMK, @dreamsaiMK on Twitter and Instagram, or the charity's website.