Around £2,000 was raised from two special fundraising evenings at The Bengal Spice in Williton, together with donations from owner Iqbal Hussain and customers in Watchet.
Now Iqbal has returned from a regular trip to Bangladesh, making sure the money went directly to medical care for the refugees, who fled to the country from neighbouring Myanmar.
Iqbal, who started a medical training centre for disadvantaged students in his home town of Moulvibazar, was able to send student and qualified doctors and nurses from there to visit the refugees.
As a medical team, they were able go to Cox’s Bazaar – an eight-hour drive away – and dispense help and medicines.
The fundraising evenings came about after customers at both The Bengal Spice and The Spice Merchant, its sister restaurant in Watchet, asked Iqbal if he could take their donations to help the Rohingya refugees when he made one of his regular visits.
Iqbal decided to hold a charity night at the Williton restaurant, and there was such a good response, two nights were held, with all profits going to help the refugees.
“I feel very proud to be able to help, and very proud the village is helping,” said Iqbal.
A banner at the refugee centre where the medical team visited just recently, stated that this was a “Free Medicine Distribution Programme, financed by the community of Watchet and Williton, Somerset, UK”.