TRIBUTES were paid to the leadership of King Charles at an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the British Asian Trust, a charity which works with underprivileged groups across south Asia.
More than £1 million was raised for the trust's work in child protection, education, livelihoods, mental health and conservation as 300 guests attended a gala dinner at the Peninsula London on Tuesday (9) night.
Actor and broadcaster Sanjeev Bhaskar OBE hosted the event, and guests included Dame Meera Syal, Mahira Khan, Konnie Huq, Kunal Nayyar, Preeya Kalidas, Gurinder Chadha, Naughty Boy and Nihal Arthanayake.
King Charles, who founded the British Asian Trust in 2007 and remains its founding patron, watched a short film reflecting on the charity's origins.
He was then presented with a framed photograph from the 2007 India-Pakistan charity cricket match that inspired the trust's creation, featuring himself alongside the two team captains.
Hitan Mehta, Asif Rangoonwala, King Charles III, Shalini Arora and Lord Jitesh Gadhia on stage during the eventBritish Asian Trust
Trust chair Lord Jitesh Gadhia noted the 20th anniversary milestone and put in context the scale of the impact of the trust’s efforts.
He noted that every person in the room represented approximately 54,000 people - reflecting the more than 18.8 million lives the trust has touched across in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh over the past two decades.
"That is the scale of the impact that began with a simple but powerful idea: a cricket match," Gadhia said, raising a toast to the monarch.
"By joining us this evening, you have once again given us the opportunity to express our collective gratitude for that unwavering support," the Asian peer said.
To mark its 20th anniversary over the coming year, Gadhia spoke of the trust’s ambition to scale up its work.
Sanjeev Bhaskar, Dame Meera Syal, Jay Sean, Mahira Khan, Charlie Brooker, Konnie Huq, King Charles III, Kunal Nayyar, Preeya Kalidas, Pavan and Amardeep DhanjalBritish Asian Trust
Pakistani actress Mahira, who serves as the trust's mental health awareness ambassador, described visiting a rehabilitation centre in Karachi.
She recalled meeting a boy the same age as her son and who was a severe heroin addict, and a girl whose story she said was too dark to recount publicly.
"In Pakistan, one in four people face mental health challenges," she said. "Across south Asia, nearly 50 million people, 90 per cent of them, will never receive care. Not because help is not needed, but because the stigma is suffocating."
Mahira added, “I was given all the statistics and information. I had all the awareness. And then I went in, and I was not prepared for what I was about to see, who I was about to meet, and what I was about to feel.”
She added that privilege carried its own responsibility. "We are all here because we are privileged enough to be sitting in this room and not in that room. Anything we raise today, even simply spreading awareness, counts."
King Charles III meets Mahira Khan during the eventBritish Asian Trust
She spoke of hope after visiting the rehab centre. “I saw some of her drawings - and what I saw was hope. A glimmer of hope. And that is why we are all here."
Hitan Mehta OBE, who was the Trust's very first employee and was appointed BAT chief executive last year, said becoming a parent of two children changed the way he saw the world.
"Every child, regardless of where they are born, deserves the chance to be safe, to learn, to fulfil their potential, and to look to the future with hope," he said.
He described meeting people chained to trees because there was nowhere for them to receive mental health care, and recalled the instance of an 11-year-old boy trafficked into labour whose captors nailed his hand to the floor when he tried to escape.
"These are powerful experiences that stay with you for life," Mehta said.
"Yet what has always struck me most is not the hardship I encountered, but the resilience and the yearning for a better path."
He highlighted the trust's programmes in education, skill development, youth employment and child protection.
Mahira Khan, Dame Meera Syal, Jay Sean, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kunal Nayyar, Konnie Huq and Charlie Brooker at the eventBritish Asian Trust
"We are not defined by the programmes we run," Mehta said. "We are defined by the difference we make to the lives of the people we serve."
The dinner was sponsored by Westcombe Group, OakNorth Bank and Godwit Travel.
Since its founding in 2007, the British Asian Trust has worked with marginalised communities in south Asia.
Among its recent achievements, the trust secured a £2.8 million government guarantee for Pakistan's first outcomes-based financing programme for employment, launched a £3.1m nano entrepreneurship fund in India, and reduced human and elephant casualties from wildlife conflict by 98 per cent in its project areas.
"Tonight, we celebrate the extraordinary impact being delivered across south Asia, made possible by the commitment and generosity of the British Asian diaspora and our wider partners," Mehta added.
