Jalsa Salana: On-site factory provides thousands of roti breads to UK food banks

A campaign to provide thousands of roti breads to food banks across the country has been introduced at the UK’s largest Islamic convention.

Held annually at Oakland Farm in Alton, Hampshire, the Jalsa Salana attracts more than 40,000 participants of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community from across the world.

The three-day convention allows its members to come together to share values in “neighbourhood”, “love” and “spirit”, and to reflect on their faith.

The on-site pop-up kitchen serves three cooked meals a day to guests throughout the course of event, which began on Friday, while its roti plant produces around 10,000 fresh roti breads an hour.

This year, organisers at the convention have introduced a campaign named Bread for Britain, which will see 10 packs of 20 roti breads distributed to more than 50 food banks across the UK.

Zaki Ahmedi, 22, from Manchester, delivered roti breads to a food bank in Bordon, East Hampshire, on Saturday, saying “at times like this, we all have to support each other”.

“Being part of this campaign is really important to me because I know that people are going through a cost-of-living crisis and my faith teaches (me) to always serve humanity,” Mr Ahmedi, a paralegal, said.

“At times like this, we all have to support each other, regardless of our religious beliefs or backgrounds.”

The campaign aims to address the issues of food insecurity to support those who are users of food banks.

Faraz Sethi, a 38-year-old chartered physiotherapist from Hampshire, has been working at the roti factory since he was five years old and said it is a “phenomenal responsibility”.

“It’s a family tradition upheld by my brother and also my uncles, so it’s a very close-knit family kind of environment – we provide food for sometimes up to 50-60,000 people,” he said.

“It’s important to come (to the Jalsa Salana) to share neighbourhood, share community, love, spirit.

“We love seeing people from all walks of life, different countries, different backgrounds, come here.

“To be able to feed them three times a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, with hot rotis is a phenomenal responsibility and I’ll continue to do it until the day I die, I think.”

His son, Zachariah Sethi, 10, has marked his second year working at the roti factory at the Jalsa Salana.

“I’ve made a couple of friends there and it’s been really fun working in the roti plant,” he said.

“We want to help and we want to make every Jalsa the best Jalsa.”

Iffat Mirza Rashid, a 25-year-old student at the University of Cambridge who volunteers in the press and media department at the convention, said the campaign is a way to “unite the country together”.

“Jalsa is important to me because it is an entirely volunteer-led event, which I believe really shows the power of humanity when we come together to selflessly work towards a united cause,” she said.

“In this case, the cause is to promote peace and justice and community, which are all incredibly important values for me as a Muslim and as a British person.

“Bread for Britain, this campaign, to distribute 10 packs of 20 rotis to food banks across Britain, from north to south, is really a way to unite the country together.”