Ridley Road market mask hero helps Hackney people through the pandemic
Hemin Abdullah has been making sure everyone in Hackney has a mask by giving them away for free or selling them at very low prices. - Credit: Hemin Abdullah
A Ridley Road market trader has been selling masks at "rock bottom" prices since the pandemic began, as well as giving them out free singles to anyone short of cash.
Hemin Abdullah, also known as Mr Hamma, has been trading in Ridley Road market for 15 years selling spices.
But for more than a year now, he has been offering boxes of masks for very low prices, currently selling 50 masks for £1, to help local people social distance.
Hemin says he has been selling the high quality masks at "rock bottom" prices. They are available on Amazon for about seven times his price.
He told the Gazette: "During the pandemic lots of people lost there jobs and I have always traded throughout the pandemic without stop.
"I have seen lots of people struggling, also my seven-year-old daughter got blood cancer and the NHS was very helpful.
"So, I decided to give something back to the community and started ordering masks from China and selling them at cost price so they can be affordable to everyone."
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Hemin says he has so far sold 600,000 masks.