Weston takeaway owner awarded for donating thousands of meals in pandemic
Sayd Ahmed, with his family, being presented with a special recognition award from the High Sheriff of Somerset, Mary-Clare Rodwell. - Credit: Sayd Ahmed
The owner of a popular Weston takeaway has been presented with a High Sheriff Special Recognition Award for feeding thousands of vulnerable people and key workers during the pandemic.
Sayd Ahmed, who owns Pappadoms Indian takeaway in Milton Road, has given away more than 14,000 meals to people in need over the past 12 months.
The majority of the meals were donated to homeless people, refugees and asylum seekers. During the third lockdown, Sayd donated 2,800 meals to schools across Weston to feed staff, children of key workers and vulnerable families.
Over the Christmas period, he donated 300 new items of clothing to the homeless, along with 150 boxes of chocolates.
The generous businessman also handed over £5,000 to build two power water wells in Gambia, and £3,000 to families in Bangladesh and Gambia who were suffering from Covid.
The High Sheriff of Somerset from 2020-2021, Mary-Clare Rodwell, paid tribute to ‘caring’ Sayd on Facebook.
She said: “Over three lockdowns, Sayd Ahmed of Pappadoms, has given over 14,000 meals to the vulnerable and key workers.
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“He has guided refugees and succeeded in bringing vaccination to mosque. A HS Special Recognition Award hardly seems enough. Thank you, Sayd.”
Sayd has won numerous awards over the years for his service to the community, including a British Citizen Award in 2019.
He donates all his Boxing Day takings to charity every year, and has raised thousands of pounds for community groups in and around Weston.
Sayd said: “We feel very honoured to receive such an award from a very high profile person. We are very delighted to be recognised for our community work.”
Sayd says he wants to continue with his charitable work and thanked his customers for their support.
He added: “We will continue to do what we have been doing for past 23 years. I am very grateful to our customers, friends, family and my staff for making this possible.
“I would like to thank honourable High Sheriff Mary-Clare Rodwell for taking the extra step to come to my house and present me with an award.
"Also I would like to thank our customers , staff and all members of our community for doing such extraordinary work for our community.”
