Two fundraising meals at Annapurna on Upper Richmond Road West raised £2,750 for Nepal's flood relief, more than double the £1,300 the team expected.

Annapurna, the Nepalese restaurant in East Sheen, has raised £2,750 for relief work in Nepal after this summer’s floods. The team had hoped for about £1,300.

The money came from two fundraising meals at the restaurant, a lunch and a dinner on 20 and 21 September. The restaurant set out the total in a community news item published by Richmond Council on its behalf on 1 October.

What happened in Nepal

The floods began with a glacier collapse and landslide on Nepal’s border with China in late August. By 31 August the United Nations was reporting 903 deaths and more than 4,200 people missing, with Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts among the worst hit. The UN called it Nepal’s deadliest natural disaster since the 2015 earthquake.

How the restaurant did it

Raj Sharma owns Annapurna and is from Nepal. He said: “This disaster has affected us all, either directly or indirectly, and we wanted to do something positive to help.”

The restaurant served set menus to what it called a packed restaurant. Three more members of the Sharma family joined the regular team to help.

Two other local businesses backed the meals, according to the restaurant:

  • Ragu, the Italian deli in East Sheen, for the tiramisu
  • Wineservice, a wine merchant owned by local businessman Nick Hillman

“Whilst we expected to raise around £1,300, the wonderful generosity of our community brought the total up to £2,750,” Mr Sharma said.

The money has gone to Nepal’s official Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund, the restaurant says.

What it means for you

  • If you went, your money has already been sent. The restaurant says it went to the Government of Nepal’s own relief fund.
  • If you want to give now, the fund’s website takes card donations from abroad, in US dollars. It adds a convenience fee of 3.5% (minimum US$1) to card payments, and it says donations cannot be refunded.
  • Annapurna is on Upper Richmond Road West. Its address and food hygiene rating are in our East Sheen business listing.

It is the second East Sheen restaurant in our news this week, and the happier one. The first was Black Salt going into administration.

Sources