A MOSQUE is set to launch a hot food and essential items bank later this month.

The Central Oxford Mosque in Manzil Way, Cowley has announced the bank will be up and running from Thursday, February 25.

From then, the bank will run every Thursday between the hours of 6pm to 7pm.

In a post on Facebook, the mosque said: “Since our free school meal initiative, the management committee has been working on a more regular way to assist our beloved city.”

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Items required for the bank include: toilet rolls, shampoo, soap, shower gel, sanitary towels, baby wipes, nappies, cereal, rice, oil, tinned foods, dried fruit and long-life juice.

The mosque was recently thanked by a nearby medical centre after providing car parking space for those getting the Covid-19 vaccine.

St Bartholomew’s Medical Centre, also in Manzil Way, thanked the mosque and its management committee for opening the mosque car park so that people could use it when going for vaccines at the medical centre.

Nargis Khan, practice manager at St Bartholomew’s, wrote to the mosque on behalf of all the primary care network practices.

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The letter read: “It is amazing how all the community is uniting to fight Covid-19 and is an example of this adversity has united all of us as humans.

“We are also aware that for the last three years, the management committee of Central Oxford Mosque has allowed NHS staff working in the Manzil Way Health Centre to park in the mosque free of charge.”

The letter was signed off by thanking the mosque for its continued support.

The mosque asks for donations of essential items to be new and sealed.

To donate or volunteer, please email: info@coms.org.uk, or call 07810791943, or 07701057251.