Sanjay Makan’s New Year’s resolution was to improve his health – but rather than simply heading to the gym or going for a run, he became a Deliveroo rider.
By day, Makan runs a Subway franchise in Bromley. By night, he rides the streets of London, delivering people’s takeaways – and instead of pocketing the cash, he donates all the money he makes to two charities: Crisis and Cancer Research UK.
The 44-year-old, who lives in south west London, said he weighed 17-stone before signing up to be a delivery rider in October 2017, and his BMI fell within the obese range. He’s lost 14kg since then, and hopes to lose another 16kg in the next few months.
“Rather than pay money for a gym membership in order to lose weight, why not be paid to lose weight?” he told HuffPost UK. “But instead of keeping those earnings, I wished to donate them.”
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Previously, Makan’s weight loss efforts grounded to a halt after a month or two, as he’s a self-titled “yo-yo dieter and exerciser”. But this time, things have been different and he’s managed to lose weight in a healthy manner. The fact he’s shared his story is also giving him more impetus to see it through.
“I have called my exploits the ‘DeliverLose’ plan,” he said. “Deliver, lose weight (and earn!)”
Makan has already earned close to £2,000. He estimates he’ll be able to donate £3,500-£4,000 of his wages by the time he reaches his target weight – reducing his obese BMI to a “normal” reading.
To try and raise as much as possible for charity, he’s also launched a fundraising page for people to support him, with a rather ambitious target of £50,000. At the time of writing, people have already donated more than £1,500 there.
“People can offer to match the earnings of one of my hours’ work (£12) or a full shift (2-4 hours, £25-£60),” he suggested on the site.
Trudy Stammer, Cancer Research UK’s head of volunteer fundraising, and Richard Lee, director of fundraising at Crisis, said they were grateful to Makan for his support.
“It’s amazing that he’s giving over 300 hours of his time, as well as the money he earns and sponsorship on top of this,” Lee said. “It is only because of amazing people like Sanjay that we are able to support thousands of vulnerable people.”
Stammer added: “Our ambition is to see three in four people survive their cancer by 2034 and that will only be possible with the imagination and efforts of people like Sanjay who raise money for our life-saving research.”
When asked why he chose to support Crisis and Cancer Research UK, Makan said they were causes close to his heart, especially as he lost an aunt and close friend to cancer. “And homelessness is never acceptable,” he added. “However, it is all the harder to survive during the winter months.”
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