CAMPAIGNERS have launched a £20,000 fundraising drive to take hot vegan meals to the homeless in Burnley this winter.

Supporters of the Shiva Trust have already held three vegan cafes locally, and want to buy a catering van to take the cuisine to the town centre early next year.

The trust has already raised more than £1,600 via a ‘crowd-sourcing’ website, and will go ahead with the venture if they collect £22,000 before November 28.

Trials of their vegan cafe, at the Chai Centre, in Hurtley Street, where the likes of vegetarian sausage casserole, jelly, chick pea curry, ice cream, lentil soup, and vegan cakes were served to guests, have been hailed a success.

So the Prasad Project, which already runs in Manchester city centre, is being extended to East Lancashire.

Trust spokesman Nev Mather said: “The plan is to purchase an all-singing, all-dancing vegan catering van, providing hot meals two nights a week for the homeless in Manchester and Burnley.

“We also want to provide much-needed support and sign-posting to other organisations that can help in other practical ways, and eventually expand on this in other areas in the North West.”

Meals are cooked at the trust’s ashram, in the Rossendale village of Water, and delivered by Land Rover to catering vans.

Mr Mather added: “We would be open to loaning out the Prasad catering van, with a supervised driver, to any charity, or community group, wanting to do a vegan, or healthy lifestyle event, or even a further soup kitchen in another area.”

Work to convert the Luton food van before it hits the streets would be carried out by Blackburn-based Wilkinson’s Mobile Catering Services.

The trust’s crowd-sourcing website can be found at www. crowdfunder.co.uk/Prasad-project

A vegan will not eat meat, fish, or other products that come directly from killing an animal, such as animal fats and gelatine, no dairy products such as cows milk, cheese and yoghurt, no goats milk, or eggs.