Ten years ago when Hasnath Mia was homeless, someone gave him a free meal on Christmas day.
A decade, and 10,000 free food packages later, he said he is still repaying the favour.
Mr Miah, who runs Indian Dream in Didcot, started giving away free meals at the start of the pandemic.
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After first starting on dedicated days, Mr Miah will now give food to anyone who needs it, seven days a week.
And Christmas day will be no different.
The business owner used to be homeless, and 10 years ago a woman called Anne gave him a free meal when he was sleeping rough.
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“I promised myself, if I ever had a restaurant or any position, I would do the same thing to help people.
“So I keep my promise.”
Amid the soaring cost of living, Hasnath said he doesn’t want people to feel embarrassed if they need free food.
“I tell them to come in, we will act like you have paid and you can take the food,” he said.
“We can do it completely privately.”
And despite the impact of inflation on his own business – with the cost of food and energy on the rise – Mr Miah said he has no plans of stopping his free food.
“I don’t see any way I am going to stop,” he said.
“Because we don’t need a million pounds for living. We just need basic things – food, a cup of tea, maybe once a year you have a holiday.
“That’s what we need. We don’t need millions in our bank, or a posh car or posh house.
“I don’t believe we need this.”
