| Leicester Mercury 16 August 2010 Syed's halfway to charity total A restaurateur has reached the halfway mark in cooking up £100,000 for charity. Syed Rahman, who runs the Cuisine of India curry house, in Wigston, set himself the target five years ago and hopes to beat it by 2012.  The 39-year-old has been holding regular fund-raising nights on Mondays, with money from the evening going to various charities - including Leicester Animal Aid, Loros, Menphys and the Rainbows children's hospice.The latest, which took place last week, raised £570 for the Glenfield Project, a centre which provides residential breaks for children and young people with severe learning disabilities and complex health care needs. Mr Rahman's efforts have seen him collect £40,000 over the last two years and he is confident of reaching his goal. He said: "We've been holding more of these nights recently because I want to get to my target. If you have a goal, then you must try to reach it. "But I'm very proud we have got halfway now. I must say thank you to all the people who have been involved and helped out because it couldn't have been done without them. The day I reach £100,000 I will be the proudest man on the earth because I love helping people and doing things for the community I live in." Mr Rahman started running his charity nights after raising money for the victims of the 2005 South Asian tsunami while he was co-owner of the Little India restaurant, in Arnesby. He says he will continue fund-raising even if he passes the £100,000 mark. He said: "I could not stop. I really enjoy doing these so I will keep trying to raise money for charity. There are many nights where I actually lose money but that's not important to me." Loros fund-raiser Nancy Taylor praised the curry house's efforts and wished Mr Rahman luck on getting to his £100,000 target. She said: "It's just fantastic what he has done for the community and all the charities since he started, including Loros."We really hope he can continue and reach the target, which is a very large amount for one person to raise." Interested charities who would like to raise money at one of Mr Rahman's events can call 01162811926. |
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