Shashi and Pallu Patel with sons Deep and Meeten (Picture: Supplied)
‘If you can’t see family this Christmas, don’t spend it alone. We are family.’
Those are the words written on a board outside Meet & Deep News, a family-run newsagents in Twickenham, which will open its doors on December 25 – the one day of the year when newspapers don’t print and the owners could be enjoying a rare day off.
Shashi and Pallu Patel have welcomed lonely locals into their shop on Christmas day for the past 20 years, offering mince pies, masala tea, homemade samosas and company to anyone who may need it.
The couple, who now run the store with their two adult sons Deep and Meeten, who the newsagents is named after, say their Hindu faith guides them to spread ‘good karma’ in the community.
Though they don’t celebrate Christmas in the religious sense themselves, they recognise how difficult the day can feel for those who are isolated or have fallen on hard times, especially when most local businesses are closed.
‘My parents’ guru, from the Swaminarayan temple in Ealing, taught them that the most important thing in life is to be kind to others,’ Deep tells Metro.co.uk.
‘They’ve always said that the people that least deserve it sometimes are the ones who most need it most. We’re all on one Earth, with this one goal, and that’s to be kind and help others. If we can do that, we’ve had a successful life.’
Shashi, who was born in Uganda, met Pallu when their parents introduced them for an arranged marriage. He flew over to India for their first date, and they instantly hit it off. Unable to settle in his motherland due to the exile of Asians from Uganda in the 1970s, the young couple moved to London, later opening the shop in 1983.
‘When I opened the business, I had very little English at that time,’ says Shashi. ‘People didn’t like us.’
Pallu recalls the day her husband had a heart attack and the shop briefly closed. Though she explained the situation, a customer was angry and replied: “That’s your problem, not my problem. Go back to your country.”
‘It was very tough,’ she says. But thankfully, things changed as people got to know the parents and their two young boys.
‘We lived and breathed the shop – it became our front room,’ Deep recalls. ‘Because we were always there, they taught us how to do our homework behind the counter.
‘Literally everybody that came in became like family and the elderly people became like grandparents – we even called some grandma and grandpa. And other people became like sisters and brothers. It just became like a big community shelter that was more about people and less about profits.’
Shashi and Pallu Patel posts signs outside about their projects (Picture: Supplied)
Their Christmas tradition began almost 20 years ago, when a young man started banging on the shutters on Christmas morning. The family, who live in a flat above the shop, looked out of the window and saw that he was crying.
‘He was a young African student. This was the days before Whatsapp, and he just really wanted to buy an international call card to ring his mother,’ recalls Deep. ‘Mum mum opened the shop and let him in. He was so happy and mum was so happy.
‘We realised there’s probably others out there who are relying on somewhere to go on Christmas day, or need something but everywhere is shut.’
The first couple of years were quiet, with just a handful of visitors, but now the newsagents is a bustling hub come Christmas, with dozens of people dropping in to socialise with neighbours.
‘It’s a big community party!’ says Deep. ‘There’s only one rule, and that’s that you don’t have to buy anything, but you do have to have a hug.’
Just some of the visitors from a past year at Meet & Deep News (Picture: Supplied)
Actor Nick Frost has previously visited on Christmas for one of Palliu’s hugs (Picture: Supplied)
A couple of visitors have stood out the most. Pallu remembers comforting a woman, who said she felt suicidal after the breakdown of marriage. Meanwhile Deep recalls meeting a man who lives in the ‘massive mansion’ nearby.
‘He said: “I’ve got food, drinks, everything I need. The only thing I don’t have is anybody to talk to”,’ he says.
As well as their annual Christmas event, the family seek to help the community all year round.
When I start interviewing Deep, our chat gets off to a false start as he must rush to answer the phone. The shop is a local contact for the London Wildlife Protection service, and someone has reported a distressed dog stuck in a car. He’s connecting the caller with local police – an act far more important than talking to a journalist.
‘In between serving cans of Coke and crisps we’re dealing with animal emergencies!’ he jokes upon his return.
The shop is also signed up to the Ask for Angela campaign, which runs in partnership with the Metropolitan Police in London. The idea is that anyone who feels vulnerable can approach staff and ‘Ask for Angela’, seeking help and a safe haven with the code. It’s been used multiple times in the shop, including when a young schoolgirl came in distressed, because she was being followed by a man.
12 Days of Kindness
You’re reading 12 Days Of Kindness, Metro.co.uk’s series celebrating the people going above and beyond to help others. From grassroots projects to individual acts of selflessness, follow each day as we name our Christmas community heroes.
In the pandemic, the family launched a food hub, with spare items left freely available to anyone facing financial hardship.
And most recently, the shop has become a warm bank – a public space that advertises the fact they’re open for anyone who feels cold. The family invite locals to come in and spend time with them if they’re struggling to afford heating, again without any pressure to buy goods.
Clearly, they do a lot to give back to the community, but Deep says it’s not totally selfless: his parents get a huge sense of joy and fulfillment from it too.
‘I know they both feel so happy that after being here for so long in this country, people have accepted and welcomed them into their families,’ he says.
‘We have so many people from different backgrounds, cultures, age groups, and everything coming into the shop.
‘Without it, they wouldn’t have got to be a part of so many people’s lives.’
MORE : 4-year-old boy delivers rucksacks to the homeless because ‘no-one should be cold’ at Christmas
This is what London’s all about.
