#gareththomas

[asiangroups]

New appeals process launched for for eligible Post Office Horizon scandal victims

Post Office Minister Gareth Thomas on Tuesday (8) announced the launch of the new, independent, appeals process for eligible postmasters in

[psychicstatic]

The latest installment of our @nocoastfest #noiserock series continues with @u_s_a__n_a_i_l_s ‘s Gareth Thomas! Discussing his choice of #thesound ‘s debut #jeopardy and many other things! Get it wherever you get your pods! #gareththomas #usanailsband #uknoiserock #nocoastfest https://www.instagram.com/p/CiH7Q5pu6uZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[kapmarvin]

The Loving Cup

When government announced they were stopping free school meals before the October half term holidays, Harrow’s Red Cup Cafe teamed up with nearby New Vision Opticians to provide local families with free meals, and their work continues with London’s Community Kitchen.

(Reena and Henal Chotai in their beloved Red Cup Cafe; photo by Kap Marvin)

The Chotai’s are no fledglings in the world of charity. From St Luke’s Hospice to Hospitality Action and many betwixt, their patronage knows few bounds. When North Harrow Library across the road from the cafe came under threat from government closures, Reena and Henal were there. Their generosity extends even as far as Sri Lanka, where Henal volunteered for six months, teaching English to orphans. The owners of the Red Cup Cafe are good people who pride themselves on the intimacy they bring to their work. Indeed, after a long, hard day serving the public and providing free school meals for local families, they still welcome me into their establishment, mops and sprays in hand, give me free coffee, and sit down for over two hours to talk to me.

Reena and Henal opened The Red Cup Cafe five years ago, and have always strived to make it a home away from home for their customers, as it is for them. “When you eat somewhere, you leave with only a full stomach and memories; it’s the experience that counts,” says Henal. “People have chosen to spend their time and money with us,” adds Reena. “It’s important to us they get more than just their money’s worth.”

Now it is the town of Harrow that is getting more than just its money’s worth, as Reena and Henal venture to help those left in the lurch by government’s policy to rescind free school meals. “I think people were so outraged,” says Reena. “The cost was minimal compared to what had already been spent,” adds Henal. “It was a drop in the ocean. Just totally unnecessary.”

The cafe had already suffered heavily from government policies towards the hospitality sector. Functioning as a takeaway-only establishment at the start of lockdown, they made a tenth of their normal revenue, running at a loss simply by opening at all, and all with a stockroom full of fresh produce. But in true Red Cup style, Reena and Henal began distributing food to the locals, care homes and hospital.  

(The Red Cup Cafe logo; courtesy of Reena and Henal Chotai, used with permission)

One day, local Labour MP, Gareth Thomas, a friend of the cafe, walked in and told them his office had identified 4,000 children who would be in need, due to government’s cuts. “We knew we couldn’t help 4,000,” says Reena. “’But what could we do?’ we asked ourselves. So we put out a Facebook appeal, and it was shared 200 times!”

The cafe partnered up with New Vision Opticians, up the road in Rayners Lane, who acted as a drop-off and pick-up point. “After seeing that government were not going to help struggling families with food for the children, we knew we had to do something to help,” says Aarti Sawhney of New Vision. Her husband, Aman, who made the pick-ups from the Red Cup, adds that “Lockdown and COVID have not been easy for small businesses like New Vision Opticians, and everyone is struggling. With our practice being very quiet during this time, we decided to focus our efforts into helping families that may be struggling the most.” Aarti concludes, “It is a beautiful gesture to help support this campaign and we are truly honoured.”

(Aarti and Aman Sawhney of New Vision Opticians; photo courtesy of the Sawhney’s and used with permission)

Reena and Henal sought no means-testing of any kind when approached by those in need. “Of course you’re going to get people who take the Michael,” says Henal, “but you can’t let the few affect the many. We did it for the people who need it. Why should the children suffer?”

The Red Cup gang have since teamed up with London’s Community Kitchen, a collaboration that continues to this day and beyond. Watch Reena explain their work here: https://youtu.be/AuSzQsBWmh4

Henal and Reena very humbly attribute their actions to simply being in the right place at the right time: “Because we’re in hospitality we have everything at our fingertips”, says Reena. “We in the hospitality industry are experts at disaster management,” adds Henal. “Being ready for any eventuality is just the air we breathe. If you look at the pandemic, all the food that was going to nurses, doctors, hospitals, all came from hospitality, because we’re specialists in feeding the nation, we know how to, and we can do it safely, with five-star hygiene, and on a mass scale.”

“We wouldn’t have been able to do this without donations and people helping,” Reena continues, “because we’ve been hit so hard, we wouldn’t have been able to do as much. We would have done our own little thing, but it would have been very low key by comparison. New Vision have been incredible, and The Case Is Altered in Old Redding also. We’ll all continue working together in the future.”

After feeding a town, anyone would be forgiven for imagining that Reena, Henal and their friends are now looking forward to a well-earned break. But they would be very much mistaken: “We need to get back to planning how we get more revenue, how we can grow the business, because that’s the only way we can continue to do this kind of work,” Reena tells me. “We paused it because this needed our immediate focus and energy. We didn’t have a few weeks to plan this, it was an immediate need.”

“People have been massively generous,” says Henal. “And all that money is being carried forward for Christmas, because Christmas is going to be really hard for a lot of families. So we’ll team up with London’s Community Kitchen to do Christmas food hampers to tide people over for the Christmas period – it’s the least we can do!”

“We just feel we’re on the right path now,” says Reena. “This is just our little way of saying, ‘Thank you!’”

“You do what is good and right in this world, and you follow that path,” she continues in closing. “As long as you’re living a decent, good, righteous life, within your own means, that to me is happiness.”

(The Chotai family; courtesy of the Chotai’s, used with permission)

And now for a word from our CEO...

[waynedidit]

This is going to be unpopular but it’s also really fucking important... Ex rugby player and gay media appointed “hero” #GarethThomas was assaulted in an ‘alleged’ homophobic attack by a 16 year old boy, there is currently an outpouring of support and love for his ‘bravery’ all over social media as everyone rallies around him with endless tweets and posts.... Which leads me to question where all the love and support was for the LGBT community and his targets when HE was the one dishing out the homophobic banter? If you really want to show your support and love don’t turn a blind eye to the kid getting called faggot on the bus... Call out that colleague giving it all the ‘backs against the wall’ bullshit in the office... Don’t take part in the homophobic chants at the game or match... Some of us have suffered this abuse our entire lives and don’t get a fraction of support, we also can’t utilise these incidents to further our waning careers and propel ourselves forward as the voice of a community we have only just dipped our toe in... Gareth freely admitted taking part in homophobic banter and abuse when he was married, closeted, cashing his pay cheques and having secret affairs with guys. Of course nobody deserves abuse, but Karma is a bitch and if you dish it out it’s coming back... Yes, we can forgive past behaviours but we shouldn’t forget them. So whilst the internet is full of indignation for Gareth and how nobody should have to tolerate what has happened to him they seem only to keen to forget he was once the problem. #noh8 #doublestandard #falseidol #hollow #noheroofmine #homophobia #gay #celebrity #lgbt https://www.instagram.com/p/BqV-MXtBAdg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rjcx1nvvg22m

[stingmedia]

Great to see the new #guinness ad on the telly. #stingmedia shot the unit stills. Incredible story of #gareththomas #rugby #rugbyworldcup (at Cardiff Arms Park)

[lets-think-sport-and-homoph-blog]

Gareth Thomas expressing his experiences about coming out as gay. He talks about societies stereotypes, what it means to be masculine and the slow changes in sport that allowed him to do this. 

[moviemaniacsde]

Tom Hardy als schwuler Rugbyspieler?

Dark Horizons berichtet, dass Tom Hardy an der Rolle des walisischen Rugbyspielers Gareth Thomas interessiert ist. Thomas outete sich 2009 als schwul und ist bis heute der einzige Spieler im professionellen Rugby, der offen zu seiner Homosexualität steht. 

Ursprünglich war der zwanzig Jahre ältere Mickey Rourke im Gespräch für die Rolle, sagte dann jedoch mit der Begründung, seine körperliche Verfassung sei nicht gut genug, ab. Gareth Thomas selbst hat nun Tom Hardy in einem Interview mit dem britischen Massenblatt The Sun ins Gespräch gebracht. Rourke ist weiterhin als Produzent mit an Bord.