A man from Harrow has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for more than eight years work at London’s Community Kitchen, based in Wealdstone.
Each week, across Harrow and neighbouring boroughs, the kitchen feed over 15,000 people. This has been literally a life-saver for residents in Harrow who have hailed Taz as a ‘hero’ for his charitable work.
London’s Community Kitchen’s ethos is ‘zero waste, zero hunger’ and Taz has worked hard across the pandemic to ensure that, where possible, nobody has gone hungry
At peak times, and throughout covid, the kitchen takes 50 metric tonnes of food a week, with 75% being surplus food from major supermarkets, restaurants and wholesale suppliers. Taz ensures that, incredibly, none of the food goes to waste.
Taz Khan MBE, said: “I was overwhelmed to receive the Honour, I accepted it on behalf of over 380 Harrow residents who have volunteered with London’s Community Kitchen during the last 3 years.
“It would be wrong of me not to mention these outstanding community heroes from all walks of life, all faiths and ethnicities on every occasion. We truly have a great inclusive representation of what Harrow and London looks and feels like.
”Together we supported the whole of London from Harrow and I can confidently say that we put Harrow in the front of all conversations across London from City Hall to strategic teams working to address food insecurity in Westminster.
“Every council in London knows about our organisation and many of them have contacted us to advise on similar work in their borough’s.
“The amazing work achieved by proud Harrow residents was recognised nationally by Her Majesty The Queen and The Mayor of London.
“We were very grateful as an organisation that came from Harrow to receive many awards and accolades but the Queens honours was the cherry on the cake. Two people from our organisation were recognised in the honours list. I received an M.B.E and Suzy Jakeman was awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal), several other volunteers were awarded appreciation certificates from The Mayor of London.
“And when we thought that was alot, I was extremely fortunate to be invited by Buckingham Palace on the order of Her Majesty to be a part of the morning service at St Paul’s to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.
“Only 400 people from the United Kingdom were invited and I was very fortunate to be included representing Harrow, with the service followed by a reception with the Royal Family at Guildhall.
“A lot has happened over the last few years, and our communities in Harrow have shown other borough’s how to respond in emergencies and especially with the difficult months ahead, I believe we are fortunate to live in Harrow. Not only do we have hundreds of volunteers but we also have the support of loads of local business across the Borough, its a fantastic feeling of true community spirit.
“We have many high profile celebrities coming and volunteering and also wishing to work together to address the real difficult issues that many communities across London are facing. Some amazing people like James May, Tom Kerridge and Kay Burley have paid us a visit to help – just to name a few.”
