Diners eat at Mowgli restaurant at Westgate to raise funds for patients

Mowgli Street Food, based at the Westgate Centre roof terrace, has raised the sum for Oxford Hospitals Charity, to support its work at the Churchill Hospital.

The Indian street food restaurant suggests customers add a discretionary £1 to their table’s bill, which is donated to support charitable projects at the Oxford Cancer Centre.

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And together all the £1 donations have now raised over £50,000 since the branch opened in May 2018 – despite having to close for much of 2020 and 2021.

Nisha Katona MBE, founder of Mowgli Street Food, said: “Each penny makes such a difference to the lives of those supported by the hospitals and gives hope when they most need it.

“Our partnership with Oxford Hospitals Charity is incredibly important to our team and guests at Westgate. Mowgli exists to enrich lives in the cities we go to and so there is no greater encouragement than to be recognised by the charity for reaching our £50,000 milestone."

Since the partnership began, the Mowgli Oxford team has shown a real interest in the work of the charity and has met staff at the Churchill to see first-hand how donations make a real difference at the hospital.

The money raised by Mowgli and its customers has helped to fund a state-of-the-art 3-D printer used with some radiotherapy treatment.

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The printer creates a tailor-made covering for patients, called a bolus, which is made to fit their exact body shape in the area being treated and helps them receive more targeted radiotherapy.

It is much quicker to produce and will help staff to shorten the pathway to starting treatment.

This technique is being used with some head and neck cancer patients, and staff are developing ways to use it for the benefit of other groups of radiotherapy patients at the Churchill going forward.

Oncology matron Hayley Smith said: “We are blown away by this wonderful support and love the fact that the Mowgli team take such an interest in the cause they are supporting – that means an awful lot to the staff here at the Oxford Cancer Centre. It’s fabulous that this support from Mowgli has been able to fund this very hi-tech piece of kit for some of our patients having radiotherapy – what an incredible achievement.”

Emily Payne, corporate engagement manager at Oxford Hospitals Charity, said: “We are thrilled that Mowgli have chosen to continue supporting our charity and helping so many cancer patients across Oxfordshire.

"After such a difficult year this continued support feels even more incredible than usual. We’d like to share our heartfelt thanks with the whole Mowgli team and every customer who has donated their £1 to help reach this £50,000 total.”