A fish and chip shop in Cardiff is opening up on Christmas Day purely to feed the homeless for free. Is that isn’t the best way to spread Christmas cheer (other than singing loud for all to hear), then I don’t know what is.
Kind-hearted employees of The Victoria Fish Bar in Whitchurch, Cardiff, will open their shop for three hours on December 25 to feed those in need.
The local take away took to Facebook to announce their festive intentions.
The post read:
The ‘A’ team at Victoria Fish Bar in Whitchurch have decided to be open on Christmas day, this however will not be for usual service. Homelessness has been on a rise in Cardiff and we think we need to make a difference as influential members of this community. Hence on Christmas day 12-3pm, we shall be open for all homeless, elderly and vulnerable people, providing free meals to all those who come.
We realise that not everybody has the luxury to have a nice warm meal at a loved one’s house with family and friends, so we will try very hard on the day to emulate such an experience. So to those who are homeless, elderly or vulnerable, come and join us and we can experience this great time together.
The social media post has naturally received lots of positive feedback, and has been shared a whopping 14,000 times.
One Facebook user commented:
Its lovely to see that some shops think of people instead of profit well done to you all… It not all about money it shows that there are good , kind & special people in this world. To help the homeless & vulnerable & not gain money from it. What kind hearted genuine people who should be with their familys on xmas day is amazing. I hope you all get something special for xmas… you deserve it [sic]
The restaurant has a rating off 4.5/5 on Google, based off 202 reviews, with many people commenting on how lovely the staff are.
A study by the charity Shelter estimated that 280,000 people in England are homeless, up 23,000 from 2016.
It includes 4,677 people sleeping rough, 254,927 living in temporary accommodation arranged by themselves or the council, 3,937 being accommodated by social services, 14,684 living in hostels and a further 2,292 not being accommodated by councils.
And a review of government data shows a further 220,000 were threatened with homelessness in the last year.
Small acts of kindness, such as this from the Victoria Fish Bar, can at least go some way to help those in need.
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Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.