SPA UK Sandesh 2015 | Page 75

B R ANCH REPORT SPM East London Sadar Namaskar It is my privilege and indeed my pleasure to send all Prajapatis living throughout UK our heartiest greetings for Deepavali and Nutan Varsh Abhinandan for Vikram Savant 2072 – May God bless you all with health, wealth and prosperity. Deepavali is a time to enjoy, be happy, forgive and forget events of the past year and united we should look forward to the coming year for the betterment of our community. Last year was the year for SPA (UK) ITF Charity and our Mandal organised two events for this very purpose - one was a sponsored walk and the other was an evening of Garba. Though the turnout was not as expected due to lack of support, we still managed to raise £954 with those who supported this event. I take this opportunity to thank all on behalf of our committee who took part and for their generous donation. As per every year, our Mahila and Senior members proved that they are the driving force for our branch by buying all the allocated tickets for the Mahila Samelan and Senior Samelan. Both Mahilas and Seniors enjoyed their day and as usual are looking forward to next year’s Samelans. Last year our Deepavali and New Year gathering was held in an Ilford restaurant which was a huge success as it was attended by the majority of our members who enjoyed the evening very much as the food and venue was excellent. After the fiasco at Monega School hall last year, I am pleased to say that this year an alternative hall in Ilford has been booked for Navratri and as normal Mandal will also be celebrating Deepavali and New Year in November. On 10th May this year we had an afternoon of bhajans with bhajan mandli from “Shree Shorathia Prajapati of East London”. It was an enjoyable afternoon for all those who attended. On 27th September we held an evening for ‘Nepal Earthquake Appeal’ at a restaurant. The highlight was the attendance of SPA (UK)’s President Mr Jitendrabhai and Secretary Mrs Hansaben with their respective partners. It was very kind of them to spare their valued time and make a long journey to support our Mandal. Though the turnout was not as expected we still managed to raise £800. I take this opportunity to thank all who attended and donated very generously. Finally our heartiest congratulations goes to all Prajapatis who have achieved excellence in their chosen professions and our condolences, thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have lost their loved ones. Jai Shri Krishna, Balvantrai M Mistry, SPA (UK) East London Branch vol. 40 | Prajapati Sandesh 2015 | www.prajapati.org.uk 73