BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha presented a cheque for £20,000 to Carers UK during a special evening assembly recently at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London.
The funds were raised during the BAPS Annual 10K Challenge, which brought together more than 3,000 enthusiastic participants from towns and cities across the UK in April 2018 for a fun and healthy way to raise money.
This year’s national charity partner was Carers UK, the country’s only national membership charity for carers. It aims to make life better for the 6.5 million people in the UK who are supporting a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill.
The cheque was presented to Jeremy Gould, Head of Fundraising at Carers UK.
Following the presentation, Emily Holzhausen OBE, Director of Policy & Public Affairs at Carers UK, said, “we have enjoyed a fantastic year working in partnership with BAPS across the UK, collaborating on a range of different activities to help identify unpaid carers in local communities and connect them with information, support and advice. We are delighted that so many members of the BAPS community were able to take part in the Annual 10K Challenge and raise much-needed funds to support our work.
“As part of the partnership, we are developing a new Gujarati language version of our flagship ‘Looking After Someone’ guide. We look forward to further activities with BAPS this year. Thank you for your outstanding support.”
Dr Mayank Shah, a lead volunteer for BAPS, added, “his Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj encourages us all to help others and care for the elderly. We are delighted that our annual charity Challenge has provided an opportunity to help carers further their noble service and has provided a tool for the local community to learn more about looking after a carer. We are looking forward to continuing our work with Carers UK throughout the year.”
Bob Blackman MP speaks during the event