Big-hearted fundraiser still full of ideas after five years of walking, fundraising - and samosas

The initiative has taken place 20 times from a marquee opposite the Wolverhampton University Ambika Paul Building, overlooking Wolverhampton Wanderers' home Molineux, and has raised more than £250,000 for Dementia UK since the first event on November 3, 2018 when Wolves played Tottenham Hotspur.

It has proved a popular part of matchdays for supporters, with many stopping by to grab a bite and pitch in. It has also garnered support from Wolverhampton-born celebrities such as singer Beverley Knight and broadcasters Suzi Perry and Jacqui Oatley.

Mr Singh Kang, 50, said the idea for Samosa Saturday had come from looking at ways to raise funds for the charity without doing a simple bucket collection.

He said: "I'm a volunteer ambassador for Dementia UK and we thought about how we could involve as many fans from a 30,000-seater stadium and what we could do to engage with everyone.

"We didn't really fancy shaking buckets and asking for money, so we thought about whether we could give them something and the Samosa Saturday idea was born out of speaking to my parents and family and talking about giving out samosas - as everyone loves a samosa.

"We first started doing it at the Wolves vs Spurs game, which was a night game under the lights, and I borrowed someone's marquee and lights and we put up a stall, then raised around £3,000, which was unbelievable at the time, and it's just gone from there."

Mr Singh Kang said curiosity about the traditional Punjabi "humble little triangles" had drawn football fans to the cause.

"I think when you have someone standing there with a bucket, you tend to avoid them, whereas I think people were quite shocked that we were giving out food for any sort of donation that they could afford.

"I do think that charity fundraisers are wacky as they'll do extreme things which capture imagination.

"The club have always featured it as well, with me doing an exclusive one for the Wolves Foundation, as well as other events, and they always support it, sending up the media team and capturing it - so it's become a part of the matchday experience."

The charitable side of Mr Singh Kang has also manifested itself in other areas, running the London Marathon in 2021 and taking on a 125-mile walking challenge from Molineux to Chelsea's stadium Stamford Bridge in October 2022.

The walk saw him arrive just in time for kick off after two-and-a-half days and 125 miles and Mr Kang said it left him with sore knees, but wonderful memories, and was worth it for a charity close to his heart.

He said: "It was an epic walk and, again, something I thought of completely at random, coming up with the idea and off I went to do it, raising a lot of money and awareness.

"It was worth it for Dementia UK, which I just started reading up about one day and found out that a million people are affected by this condition and many more will be affected by it in the next few years and I just felt it wasn't being talked about and wasn't in the news.

"I just became passionate about trying to raise the awareness and fundraising for it, so I became a volunteer ambassador for Dementia UK and have been with them for five years now."

Having completed the first walk in October 2022, Mr Singh Kang said he had decided to take on a bigger challenge in 2024, announcing that he would be taking on, alongside his son, a five-day, 195 mile walk from Molineux to St James's Park in Newcastle.

He said: "I was like 'where do we go from here, after the Chelsea walk?' So I decided to do the walk to Newcastle with my son Jeevan, who works for the Wolves Foundation.

"Funny thing is that on social media after the last walk, someone said 'what next? Newcastle?' as a bit of a quip, so when I announced that I was doing it, people thought I was crazy, but I feel like we can do it and get a lot of support for doing it.

"We'll start out at the end of February and aim to be at the ground in time for the game against Wolves on March 2, which will take us about five days to do.

"I'm doing it as I love it and, as a Sikh, part of our faith is giving back to others and showing a bit of gratitude for what we have, so it's good to be able to give back by doing this and fundraising for a worthy charity."

Mr Singh Kang said the support of the Wolves fans had been great, as had the reception from Newcastle supporters, and offered thanks to all of them, as well as his "Wolves Angels" Beverley Knight, Suzi Perry and Jacqui Oatley.

He said: "They are brilliant and I call them my angels for their support as they do share and they have big platforms on an international scale.

"They are also so linked in with Wolverhampton, being born and bred here, and they are so passionate about their city, so they've been brilliant with the fundraising and I really love their support."

To find out more about Manny Singh Kang and the walking challenge to Newcastle, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/mkang.