Kind-hearted curry house staff help to raise £5,000 for Doncaster flood victims

When the flood hit in November 2019 the Shimla restaurant in Armthorpe supplied hot food to the victims but they decided they wanted to do more for the community so they held a Bollywood themed evening on December 2.

The owner of Shimla, Sheb Miah, said: “We are part of the community and felt like we had to help people.

“I saw a five-year-old girl crying that she was hungry at a flooded street and it hit me hard as I have children that age.

“People should not be suffering like that and I knew I had to do something about it.”

The restaurant, which won the title of Free Press Curry House of the Year in 2018, started as a take away in 2004, before opening as a restaurant in 2010.

The evening included Bollywood dancing and Punjabi Roots music as well as a range of curries.

“It’s in my nature to help those suffering - it’s what my parents taught me and we always try our best to help people,” Sheb continued.

“I wasn’t expecting the positive reaction online - to me it was second nature to do what we did.”

Tony Walton, aged 55, from Armthorpe runs the Armthorpe Wolves JFC and helped the restaurant with their fundraising.

He said: “We felt it was important to do something for the local community after the floods.

“We’re all about the community at the football club and decided to hold raffles to help those who were affected.

“We wanted to give something back and this felt like a great way to do so.”

A combination of Tony’s raffles and the sale of tickets to the Bollywood evening raised £5000.

Tony said: “We have just donated the whole amount to Refurbish a Doncaster charity who are supply white goods such as cookers washers and fridges to the flood victims.”