OWNERS of an Indian restaurant have raised money for a charity helping a five-year-old boy who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia.

Emma Meacham, from IK Kitchen, hosted an event in a bid to boost funds for the charity Anthony Nolan, which runs a blood stem cell register to help people with blood cancer or disorders find stem cell donors.

The charity supported the Pitmaston Primary School student, Oscar Saxelby-Lee, after he was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia last Christmas.

Thousands of people signed up to become stem cell donors as part of a campaign called Hand in Hand for Oscar, which went viral around the world.

Live music and an array of small dishes, known as Thaali, were on offer at the restaurant, in Canada Way, Worcester on July 25.

There were 24 bookings on the night, which raised £68.25.

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Twenty per cent of the total takings of the evening were donated to charity.

Mrs Meacham, aged 36, said: “With Oscar, it’s a bit close to home as we have children who attend Pitmaston. We wanted to do something to help the family and raise money to benefit the charity.

“We served traditional Indian food, in what looked like school dinner trays. The idea of Thaali is to separate food in each compartment so you get a bit of everything. From a starter, main, side dish, and selection of naan breads.

“It’s a way of getting people to try something different that they wouldn’t usually. It’s for those who want to get a small portion of everything and have something they haven’t tasted before.

“It was really good for our first event. The restaurant was busy. We want to host monthly events for local causes. We are always looking for different charities to support.”

Mrs Meacham and her husband, Alan, took over the restaurant at the end of April which was formerly known as Arishana.

Mrs Meacham added: “Obviously we are not Indian and we’re not trying to be. We offer a relaxed atmosphere and tell our customers to come in and have a drink and chill. We’re not one of those places where you have to come and go.

“We are tucked away in a corner so it’s nice to get our restaurant out there. The previous owners had a bit of bad press, so we want to highlight the fact it’s got new ownership and get our name out there.”

Mr Meacham, aged 51, added: “Everyone is doing their bit to help, and we wanted to contribute too.

“We hope to see a grow in momentum and be able to do this every month.

“We have already been approached by a few other people. During the week when we are quite quiet, we are hoping to do a few charity events for different causes.”

The next charity event at the restaurant will take place on August 2.