A SPECIAL banquet is set to be held at an Indian restaurant in York to support refugees from all nations in the city.

Teba Diatta, who lives in York, has joined forces with Raj Indian Restaurant in Bootham in the city to organise the 'Banquet For All' event on September 10 this year.

The event, held at the restaurant, will cater for refugees from all nations in the city between 1 - 3pm, to offer meals to those who may be struggling.

Teba, who is half Senegalese, said she was inspired by her church, St Michael le Belfry, who informed her of an app called 'Bring Them A Meal' - which gives people the chance to support refugees families with meals.

Teba said: "I thought a banquet with a special VIP experience would be amazing to put on for these people who have been through so much.

"These families may be traumatised, so I thought doing something for them would make a difference and give them something to look forward too."

The meals will be free for both refugees and families hosting them in York - and they are expecting between 50 and 70 people to join them.

Teba is now looking for local businesses to offer their support to the event - and any sponsors will feature on the team's merchandise and t-shirts.

They are looking for local businesses to provide items such as funding, flags, food and musical equipment so they can organise the banquet for the refugees and make it the best possible event for them.

York Central MP, Rachael Maskell, who Teba describes as an "amazing woman," will be attending the event to meet with the refugees and families.

This is not the first time Teba has used fundraising to support others, as she ran from York Minster all the way to Westminster in 2003 - catching the eyes of stars including former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira, Victoria Beckham and The Black Eyed Peas.

This funding helped her to raise money to build a new library in Senegal - where she had been working for a year.

So, when she returned to the UK, Teba decided she wanted to make a difference and had a brainwave of running from York to London to help raise money to support the students in Senegal.

“I love my country, so I want to give back," she said.

Teba recently thanked everyone who has donated over the years to help build the library, which provides books for the students in Senegal - and is now also being used as a cinema screen for entertainment.

"I want people to see what’s been built and say 'wow – I’m glad that money has gone to something positive'," she added.