Mosques in Britain, Ireland turn into shelters for homeless

Several mosques in Britain and Ireland are inviting the homeless for warm food and shelter as the rough sleepers continue to find themselves the most vulnerable in the face-off with the unexpected blizzard. Concerns for the homeless population grew as the unusual blizzard — being called Beast of the East — pounded much of eastern of Europe, 

Several mosques in Britain and Ireland are inviting the homeless for warm food and shelter as the rough sleepers continue to find themselves the most vulnerable in the face-off with the unexpected blizzard. Concerns for the homeless population grew as the unusual blizzard — being called Beast of the East — pounded much of eastern of Europe, claiming more than 60 lives, most of whom were rough sleepers. Additionally, Storm Emma has further caused the thaw to set in, thereby sustaining the sub-zero conditions and prompting the UK Met Office on Friday to issue a red alert for snow — the highest level of warning. The red alert stands as of now with icy weather continuing to bite. “The temperature is pretty severe, so we thought, ‘Why don’t we do something to help?’” Rabnawaz Akbar, a trustee of Makki Masjid in the northern city of Manchester, said. Volunteers from the community have been camping out at the mosque to facilitate Manchester’s homeless, providing them with food and shelter as well as shower facilities. As the mosque is located in a predominately South Asian area, the menu includes mostly traditional Bangladeshi and Pakistani dishes such as rice and curried chicken. UK’s neighbor on the east are also implementing similar strategies to help out the most vulnerable with mosques under the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland also opening their doors to the homeless.