NEW JOURNAL CHRISTMAS HAMPER APPEAL 2010 - Sky's the limit this year as councillors set for parachute jump

Published: 09 December 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY

BA cabin crew members’ restaurant boosts fund as councillors prepare to jump out of plane

IT’S a big week for the New Journal’s Christmas hamper appeal! 

Everyone can support our attempts to raise as much money as possible to pay for festive hampers for those who often feel forgotten at this time of year by going along to the Sheephaven Bay pub in Mornington Street, Camden Town, on Tuesday night for their annual charity pub quiz.

The fun and games kick off at 8pm and there will be plenty of chances to make a donation.

Before then, four Camden councillors are attempting to raise one of the biggest ever collections for the appeal, which has now been running for 30 years.

Thomas Neumark, Awale Olad, Tulip Siddiq and Camden’s Mayor Jonathan Simpson are set to leap out of a plane in a sponsored parachute jump. They are expected to make an astonishing £4,000 for the fund with their daredevil antics.  Coverage of both those events will be in next week’s New Journal.

Meanwhile, the appeal was given another boost on Saturday night at the opening of a new restaurant for the “jet set” in Camden Town.

When they’re not flying in planes, Sabir and Aneela Karim – who met while working as cabin crew for British Airways – run restaurants and have opened up an eyecatching Indian eaterie on Camden’s food mecca, Parkway.

They welcomed hundreds of guests including Labour MP Frank Dobson and leader of Camden Council, Nasim Ali, to their second restaurant, Namaaste Kitchen, on Saturday night, raising more than £250 for the hamper appeal.

The Kitchen will specialise in grilled food from India and Pakistan, serving mouth-watering dishes cooked in its tandor clay oven.

Mr Karim, who was born in Bangladesh and also runs Bloomsbury  Namaste with his wife, said: “We got the taste for the restaurant business because of all the travelling we do, eating in amazing places all over the world. Camden makes sense because it has very few top-class restaurants and I think there’s a market for it.”

The New Journal distributes hampers to those struggling to get by at this time of year, including the elderly and single parent families. 

• Where to send your donation:
Please send donations to: The Camden Journal Christmas Hamper Fund, 40, Camden Road, London NW1 9DR –
and let those less fortunate know that others are thinking of them.