Iftar gathering #1: fundraising with human rights charity Restless Beings
Friday 27th February 2026 , 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Join us for our first community Iftar gathering with local charity Restless Beings. Beginning with an exhibition tour of Laisul Hoque’s show, The Ground Beneath Me, in the Nunnery Gallery, snacks will be provided for those breaking the Ramadan fast. We invite you to the nearby cafe, root/25, for Restless Beings’ fundraising event and dinner, to raise awareness and urgent funds for children from Bangladesh and Gaza. A three-course meal will be provided by OITIJ-JO Kitchen.
Image credit: Restless Beings
This evening’s event will begin with an exhibition tour of East London Art Prize winner Laisul Hoque’s solo exhibition in the Nunnery Gallery, with drinks and snacks on offer for those breaking the Ramadan fast. We then invite you to a communal dinner with food designed and prepared by OITIJ-JO Kitchen at root/25, as a response to Hoque’s participatory practice, hosted by human rights charity Restless Beings.
Restless Beings will be fundraising to raise awareness and urgent funds for children in Bangladesh and Gaza. These children have witnessed horrific violence and having been displaced, they are seeking refuge in often harsh refugee camp conditions. This event will help raise much needed funds to bring some healing and hope for these children, through education, clothing, food, and counselling. Restless Beings run two schools in the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh for the displaced Rohingya and they are also in the process of creating a children’s safe space and learning centre in Gaza for orphans.
Education is a vital for refugee children because it provides essential protection, stability, and hope, acting as a shield against exploitation. It offers skills, routine, socialisation, and pathways to self-reliance, leading to empowered future leaders and contributing citizens. Education is a fundamental right that rebuilds lives disrupted by conflict, offering normality and skills for independence.
Food and drink menu:
- Drinks and snacks: Lemon Sharbat, Dates
- Starter: Vegetable Samosa
- Main: Vegetable or Chicken Biryani with Daal and Mixed Salad
- Dessert: Seasonal Fruits Platter and Mint Tea
Please contact nunnery@bowarts.com if you have any dietary requirements.
The exhibition tour will start at 5pm in the Nunnery Gallery, with drinks and snacks offered to the participants to break the Ramadan fast. The communal dinner with a three-course meal will start at 6pm at root/25 (116B Bow Rd, Bow, London, E3 3AA) alongside the fundraising event organised by Restless Beings.
We keep our ticket prices low to make our Iftar gatherings affordable, and we encourage donations directly to Restless Beings on the night.
More about Restless Beings
Restless Beings is an international human rights organization and UK charity dedicated to supporting the world’s most marginalized communities through advocacy, activism and humanitarian response. They put communities at the heart of everything we do. Through deep consultation, grassroots engagement, and research, they ensure those they support lead the decision-making process — shaping solutions that truly meet their needs.
More about OITIJ-JO Kitchen
OITIJ-JO Kitchen is a woman-led project of the OITIJ-JO Collective, an arts and training charity dedicated to promoting awareness of Bengali culture.
It aims to bring traditional, handmade Bangladeshi cuisine to the public and to disrupt the gender norms of hospitality and catering sector by providing training and employment opportunities to people who are generally underrepresented in kitchen and front of house roles.
Their specialty is slow cooked, home style food that gives time to health and wellbeing. They love to serve a wide range of customers of all ages and from all walks of life, especially people who might not have tried home cooked Bangladeshi food before. They started out of grassroots action in Tower Hamlets, and have a strong belief supporting home grown talent and celebrating our borough and the diverse community of London.
Access Information
The Nunnery Gallery and Café have step-free access throughout from street level, including to the accessible toilet, and is service animal friendly. This venue does not have a hearing loop system. Accessible parking is not available on-site.
If you have any questions regarding accessibility at this venue or event, would like to make us aware of any access requirements that you have in advance of visiting, or would like this information in an alternate format including Easy Read, please email nunnery@bowarts.com or call 020 8980 7774 (Ext. 3)
Access requirements could include things like providing equipment, services or support (e.g. information in Easy Read, speech to text software, additional 1:1 support), adjusting workshop timings (e.g. more break times), adjustments to the event space (e.g. making sure you have a seat near the entrance) or anything else you can think of!
Transport Information
Opening hours: Wed-Sun, 10am to 4pm
Address: Nunnery Gallery, 181 Bow Road, London, E3 2SJ
Nearest station(s): Bow Road (District and Hammersmith and City lines) is a 6-minute walk away, and Bow Church (DLR) is a 3-minute walk away.
Bus: 205, 25, 425, A8, D8, 108, 276, 488 and 8 all service the surrounding area.
Bike: Bicycle parking is located at Bow Church Station. The nearest Santander Cycles docking station is at Bow Church Station.
