Thai restaurant dishes up extra help for fun South Shields charity

Staff at Orangegrass, which serves Thai cuisine, in Mount Terrace, South Shields, raised £1,000 for the KAYAKS - kids and young adults club - a support group for people with special needs.

Customers were asked earlier this year which charity they’d like to see the business support and the independent, voluntary run group came out on top.

This means the group will get 12 months support from the eatery, starting with a fundraising event which took place last week.

The event saw guests treated to welcome drinks of alcoholic smoothies, as well as a delicious Thai buffet, authentic Thai dancing, a raffle and live music from local performer Danny Smith.

Orangegrass owner Titu Akhtar was particularly proud to support KAYAKS as his daughter Jasmine has autism.

Mr Akhtar said: “We’ve held at least one charity event every year for different organisations and it’s great fun.

“This year we left the choice of charity open to our Facebook followers and KAYAKS was chosen ahead of many other great causes.

“We’re thrilled with the amount that was raised on the night and we hope the support can continue over the next 10 months.”

KAYAKS supporter Tracy Johnson said: “A fantastic night was had by all. We’re so grateful to Titu and the Orangegrass team, JAM Marketing and not forgetting our lovely supporters who donated prizes and came along on the night.”

Mr Akhtar added: “Our loyal customers never let us down and this was no exception. They really came up trumps.”

The KAYAKS meet every Saturday at Mortimer Community College, in Reading Road, South Shields, from 1pm to 4pm.

The club’s aim is to provide a safe and friendly environment, supervised by parents/carers and overseen by committee members, where special needs young people, their siblings, parents or carers can enjoy activities.

For more details, visit www.thekayaks.co.uk.