Do we raise another Homeless Appeal? Should we look at crowd funding for more people to donate to the Homeless? How do we stand out from the crowd of other homeless Birmingham Charities? Or are we just another Birmingham Homeless Charity?  These questions always are a cause for a lot of debate amongst the team and don’t get me started on the angry exchanges we have on the Causes of homelessness in the UK.

The weather forecast today in Birmingham UK is a yellow warning for heavy snow showers across the UK and it was on one of these bitterly cold nights I find myself being driven around Birmingham City in a musty old van with a poor van heater, thinking to myself why didn’t I wear more layers?  my feet are numb with cold and I can hardly feel my fingers as I step out of the van pick up some sandwiches and hand over these measly rations to the homeless and rough sleepers who will spend the night with only a blanket and not much else in this weather. The wind is whipping my face and I am having difficulty seeing further than a few feet, we repeat this process several times though the night until we reach the NCP Car park in Dale End Birmingham.

My first thoughts were something was wrong, there appeared in front a crowd of almost 100 people all jostling, queuing, standing around many appeared to be eating from plastic boxes. My brother parked his van slightly out of sight so we could watch this spectacle. There were homeless people and rough sleepers some of whom we recognised a few people were in smarter clothing all braved the weather and made rag tag queues as only the British can.

I strained to see who was responsible and I must be honest I was slightly envious as before us on four separate sections of the road were organised tables, the two stations were on my immediate left both had roughly four tables on top of which were strewnclothing allowing homeless and rough sleepers to gain an extra layer of well needed protection to brave the cold the wind and the rain.

I left the van to take a closer look and realised that there was a large crowd of about 60 people shuffling past another station of about 3 large tables, here they were serving hot food, high energy snacks and water. As I came closer I realised that these tables were manned by the now legendary Midland Langar Seva Society. I used the word legendary with all its conations and baggage this is the only word to describe these guys and gals and I make no excuses they are legendary and in case you are smirking to yourself, ask yourself or better still try to put yourself in the shoes of some of our homeless most vulnerable citizens who will be sleeping  hungry or without a bed or adequate shelter this coming winter, these guys and gals are here every day of the week at the same spot supporting some of Birmingham’s most vulnerable and needy in a selfless-sense of duty. I walked closer and noticed several larger than real life figures the turbans easily make the stand out and they were all braving the weather,some shuffling on their feet to stay warm, all had smiles that belied their warrior spirit. I approached a very noble looking gentleman. I have Sikh friends but this group stood out for me, I personally believe if their founder Guru NanakJee had a vision of what his followers should look like and stand for, then here this group fitted that vision. I reached forward and helped myself to a warm cup of tea and asked a young man, noticinghow his eyes, as he spoke with passion and zeal glowed he  had an eternal wisdom that belied his age, He stood in front of me and gladly spoke about the self- less duty that binds all Sikhs to serve the homeless, the vulnerable, the needy and explained how Sikhs need to act and behave to serve Humanity (For more details do check out the YouTube video where I recorded this encounter) I left shortly after, the queues of homeless and hungry people had grown. I sat back in the van looked at my half- frozen brother, motioning him to drive. My mind was too busy in deep thought to talk. I was working on a new strategy.