Curry with a cause is the aim of Pradumna Walimbe of the new restaurant Wa!

It all started with a very clear vision, one that would help children all over the world, one that would involve food.

Our aim was simply to help feed children in need. As a local entrepreneur this is what led me to create our Oxford food company – Wa! in August 2014.

It was welcomed with open arms by those who wanted to eat well but had little time to cook fresh meals for themselves and brought healthy, freshly cooked soups and meals to customers via social enterprises such as Cultivate and local shops and markets.

Of course the main purpose to the business was helping to feed children in need so we did this by creating the ‘Nourishing Happiness’ campaign which meant that for every meal enjoyed, a donation was given to our chosen charity, who then provided food for children who needed it.

Our first donation was given to Ehsaas, a residential school for mentally handicapped children, based in Satara, India that is run by local volunteers. We then went on to support Suubi for Uganda, an initiative set up to pay school fees for needy children, start up commercial projects for parents and provide some of the basic needs their children may need. We want to support children in many different countries so finding the right charities to work with is hugely important.

But even though the success of Wa! was very encouraging we didn’t want to stop there. We knew that our original vision needed to grow and opening a Wa! curry Indian restaurant seemed like the next step.

We opened our Wa! curry restaurant on the site of the former Aziz Express at the Kassam Stadium’s Ozone Leisure Park and having redecorated the 120-seater venue, in June.

As with Wa! cuisine the restaurant runs a campaign which is in line with the vision called ‘Curry with a Cause’, which means that for every meal you enjoy, you help to feed a child in need, somewhere in the world. Obviously creating wonderful food for our customers is equally important.

I was born and brought up in India, so it was important to introduce original dishes with unique flavours, inspired from all over India. We use organic, locally-sourced food wherever possible and create over 50 freshly-made dishes every day, served buffet style and catering for meat eaters, vegetarian, vegans and those choosing gluten-free.

We have recently introduced buffet boxes, so you can select from the buffet, box it up and take it away with you.

With the support of our customers so far we have given 25,000 meals to children in India and Africa and are often asked what’s next, which is why we are very excited about our latest project; still working with Suubi for Uganda, to develop a sustainable farming plan within their schools, where the school gardens are planted with crops, which in turn feed the children, and with up to an acre of land, provide about 27,000 meals – a wonderful achievement.

If you would like to support our cause you can simply visit the Wa! curry restaurant or pick up a pot of Wa! wacurry.com.