According to Mahatma Gandhi “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Some institutes are applying this saying into the real world where everyone is not equal.

In this world of income inequality, discrimination, tension and pressure, it’s important to understand that there are people who need help and if it’s in your power and you must reach to help those in need with valuable money, time and efforts that one spends in his lifetime. Some of the Hindu organisations are making an impact in the community:

 

BAPS Charities

 

                                                              

‘BAPS charities’, the sister organisation of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is highly focused and dedicated to helping the people in need. The main aim is to address the main global issue that the world is facing currently related to education, the environment, and healthcare.

BAPS charities focus on five key areas, namely, Community Empowerment, Educational Services, Environmental Protection & Preservation, Health & Wellness, and Humanitarian Relief which they serve to individuals, families, and communities with the help of highly enthusiastic volunteers who are willing to offer their time and resources to form a better community, nation, and world.

Community empowerment is motivated and encouraged by arranging activities like Annual Challenge 10K Walk / 30K Cycle, Bike Ride, Children's Fun Day, Community Clean-up, Community Sporting Events, Food Drives, Mandela Day, Orphanage & School Support, Skydive, Walkathons, Winter Warmer, Clothes Recycling cycle in different regions and cities, namely, London, Nottingham, Leeds, Birmingham etcetera all around the year which brings together the people in the community at a place where they can connect and work together to build a better world. The funds raised from the activities are put into use to fight major challenges like education, health, and the environment.

BAPS charities organises ‘Earth day’ to increase the awareness of serious environmental issues between people and even organises activities like tree-plantings, water conservation campaigns and promotion of renewable energy sources to bring about a change.

BAPS Charities are trying to provide communities with high-quality health and wellness services. It aims to increase awareness by conducting health lectures and health fairs to encourage people to take initiatives to develop high-quality health care. BAPS Charities donated £15000 to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London to fund research in prostate cancer in 2016. Also, they partnered with Tottenham Hotspur Foundation (London, UK) in their ‘Wellbeing for You’ programme to promote physical activity and a healthy lifestyle for the local community.

Several conferences such as ‘Preventing Cardiovascular Disease’ and ‘Dementia Awareness’ was held in the UK this year to spread awareness about health-related issues like high cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity – contributors of cardiac disease and the risks of stroke and increase awareness about dementia services in Brent to people of all faiths and none.

Sai School of Harrow

 

 

The rich culture and heritage of India was the reason the Hindu parents in Harrow demanded a school for their children to know and learn about the culture and heritage of India. Therefore, in 1995 with the help of the Harrow council, 5 Asian women who were inspired by the well-known spiritual leader and founder of the Human Values Programme, Sai Baba set up the Saturday School from Stanburn School, Stanmore. As a result, Sai School was launched which has now turned into a well-equipped school that serves hundreds of students. Sai School includes 35 teachers, classroom assistants and parent volunteers of which training is provided to the volunteer teachers to become professional.

Parents witnessed increased attainment within students which improved their confidence and self-esteem. As a result, the school saw a high rise in membership, making the school soon mirror mainstream school.

Sai School is the first Asian led group to win the Queens Award for Voluntary Services 2005. It was for a program that served a purpose to help children feel a sense of pride in being British and contribute to local causes.

Every year Sai school youths volunteer their time and effort to help special needs children who are attending a free computer club at Kenton Learning Centre. They also help kids with learning disabilities by helping them progress through the means of development of their IT skills which is important as not many mainstream schools offer one to one support to kids with specials needs to improve their IT skills. Also, Sai school frequently donates to the food bank which provides food to the underprivileged. In 2017, Sai School volunteers provided refreshments to the participants at the Remembrance Day parade in Harrow.

 

Brahma Kumaris

 

 

Present in 110 countries across the world, the world-famous NGO Brahma Kumaris is a movement towards personal and world transformation and renovation through spiritual means. Changing individuals’ perspectives of the world from material to spiritual is the main aim of the NGO. To build a world with the deep collective consciousness of peace and of the individual dignity of each soul. Brahma kumaris headquarters is in Mount Abu, India and regional offices in London, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, and Sydney.

Women are a very integral part of Brahma Kumaris which is the reason why it is the world’s largest spiritual organisation lead by women. Founded by Prajapita Brahma Baba, whose first priority was to put women in the front. Brahma Kumaris works on the principles of peace and unity. The spiritual journey is for all ages and is conducted through Yoga meditation. The aim is to relax the mind of participants so that a healthy balance is created between the inner and outer worlds.

With offices in London, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (UK) offers individuals to calm their mind and to look at life in a more positive way, which is done through the means of Raja Yoga. The practice of Raja yoga meditation is a step by step process to understand the inner strength of your body and mind by thinking less and but powerfully focusing on your inner self to revile your real potential and bring peace to one’s life.

The NGO welcomes people of all religious and cultural backgrounds to explore their own spirituality and follow the philosophy of Raja Yoga to learn skills of reflection and meditation.

Founded as a charity in 1975, Brahma Kumaris UK is fully funded and operated through voluntary contributions. Therefore, it does not charge the individuals any fees to be a part of any of their activities. In the UK, Brahma Kumaris works with many different types of institutes like national and local organisations and community groups in areas such as inter-religious dialogue, youth programmes and women’s and men’s groups to spread the potential of meditation and the positive effects of it. The activities provided by Brahma Kumaris are the study of spiritual knowledge, the practice of raja yoga meditation, the conscious assimilation of virtues and serving others spiritually which according to Brahma Kumaris is to answer one question of “who am I?”. It’s believed at Brahma Kumaris all these activities help to take control of your body and realise your true potential.

The Brahmin Society North London

 

The Brahmin Society North London (BSNL) was formed in 1973 by few Brahmin friends who wanted to build a society for their fellow Brahmin society members where all of them can come together to celebrate and voice out their concerns.

A resolution was passed to form an association of Brahmin members in London. Shree Jagdishbhai Acharya, the first elected president of Brahmin society formed and build the society by recruiting new members. This group and the group after them were responsible for successfully organise programmes such as Bhajans, Balev celebrations, Janmashtami, Navratri, Havan, Coach Trips, Cultural shows, and various other programmes.

The hard work paid off in 1985 when Federation of Brahmin Associations of Europe was formed. It consisted of 13 affiliated Brahmin societies across the UK. The society has formed different groups to target a specific audience in mind. Abhilasha- a group which is focused at energetic women who are either retired or taking care of their children at home but do not meet the criteria’s to join an elderly club yet, which makes it the perfect place to be where these women come together and take part in activities like dancercise, talks, demos, debates, health, well-being quiz and much more.

The other which BSNL has is the elderly group which aims to give the elderly a fun day out- A day of bhajan, bhojan and manoranjan. A day where all the friends come together and enjoy with their friends, be comfortable, share their experiences and achievements. The elderly club meets every Tuesday to enjoy entertainment like singing, poetry, film songs, Chintan, antakshri, games, jokes, special events, etc. The group also celebrates most of the Hindu festival and take the members of picnic and vacation abroad. This year they are planning to take the members to India and Nepal.

The same way they have a men’s social group where men in their prime can come together and enjoy the time with their friends to relax the tension of all the work done during the weekdays. It also has an active youth wing Young Brahmins who look after the interest of youngsters.

In 1998, BSNL achieved a key objective of buying a property for the society which in its current excellent state serves the purpose of being the place where all the yoga classes, Gujarati classes, nursery, meeting, and private functions take place. The upcoming event for BSNL is a movie night on the 7th December 2019 and a Christmas party on the 15th December 2019 where all their members can come together and enjoy the time with their family and friends.

 

 

Other Hindu Charity organisations in London are:

• Lakshmi-Narayana Trust
• Brahmarishi Mission
• The Jain Network
• Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan
• A’nanda Ma’rga Pracaraka Samgha
• Sri Sri Radha Gopaljiu Temple Limited
• Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha
• Shree Swaminarayan Sidhant Sajivan Mandal Kum Kum(UK)
• Shri Vallabh Nidhi-UK
• Shreenathji Sanatan Trust
• Param Shakti Peeth of UK
• Sree Ayyappa Seva Sangam(London)
• Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Association Of London
• London Kalibari
• Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan
• Himgiri Spiritual Centre
• The Vishwa Hindu Kendra Southhall
• Brittania Hindu (Shiva) Temple Trust
• Shri Kanagathurkkai Amman (Hindu) Temple Trust
• Venkatakrushna Vrundavana UK Limited
• Bhakti Marga UK
• Devotional Associates Of Yogeshwar
• London Sevashram Sangha
• London Durga Puja Dusserah Association
• Hum Hospital Trust
• London Institute of Vedic Education
• The Bengali Cultural Association
• Saiva Munnetta Sangam (UK)
• UK Shri Puchtimargiya Vaishnav Mahila Samaj
• Sharda Devi Bhavan/ Help Drop in Centre
• Sri Venkateshwara (Balaji) Temple & Cultural Centre
• Kailash Narain Mehrotra Foundation
• Shri Vishwakarma Sabha (London)
• Shree Sorathia Prajapati Community UK
• Agrasen Sabha UK
• Hindu Christian Forum
• Sarbojanin Baba Lokenath Association UK
• Tuhi Ram Seva Trust
• Gaur Govinda Trust
• Gunatit Mission
• Shree Shree Loknath Bhakta Porishad (UK)
• Brahmin Samaj UK
• Hindu Centre
• Shiv Sai Seva Trust
• London Meikandar Aadheenam Trust
• London Sivan Kovil Trust
• Sri Vedmata Gayatri Pariwar UK
• Sindhi Association of United Kingdom
• Pappaji Foundation
• Sri Datta Yoga Centre(UK)
• Sat Kaival Circle
• Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple (Mandir) London
• Yagya Bhoomi
• Sanatan Cultural Society
• Cambridge Hindu Forum
• Bromley Temple Trust
• Aathi Agathiar Sanmarka Sangam
• Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Bhuj
• Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
• Nepali Temple Cum-Community Centre London UK
• Hindu Council (UK)
• Shree Swaminarayan Agyna Upasna Satsang Mandal UK
• Shri Swami Satyanand Dharmarth Trust
• Rajput Seva Samaj
• London Sri Murugan Temple
• Shri Shirdi Sai Sansthan (UK)
• The London Hindu Sungam
• Swaminarayan Gurukul Rajkot
• Agnishiksha Foundation
• Mooji Foundation Ltd
• Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur (UK)
• Shiv Shakti Maa Meldi Society
• Hindu Cultural Society
• World Shirdi Sai Baba Organisation (UK)
• Samanvaya Parivar London Limited
• Yeti London Welfare Foundation Limited
• Hindu Council (Brent)
• Shree Jalaram Seva Trust
• Wanza Samaj UK
• Karam Bhoomi Foundation
• Eelapatheeswarar Aalayam
• Jambange- Mind Body and Spirit Institute
• Hindu Society
• Hare Krishna Mission UK Limited
• Hindu Kush Conservation Association
• Hindu Temple And Cultural Trust Centre, Hounslow, Middlesex
• Sai Shanti Trust
• Knp Trust Limited
• Shri Shiv Shakti Seva Trust
• Divya Seva Foundation
• Hanuman Community centre Trust
• Hindu Tamil Cultural Association (Enfield)
• The Hindu Temple Trust
• Shakthivel Hindu Association
• South East Hindu Association
• Swaminarayan Mandir Vasna Sanstha

 

Please let us know if there are any other Hindu charity organisations in London.