We celebrated 10 years of Snehalaya UK in style during November. Joining our current Snehalaya UK board of 10 trustees at a series of events were: Dr Priti Bhombe, Secretary of our Snehalaya India, former trustees and volunteers from our UK arm and some new UK-based friends and supporters.
Snehalaya UK was formed by Miranda Hudson, a volunteer visiting Snehalaya from the UK inspired by the request of our founder, Dr Girish Kulkarni to do something more to help. Upon her return to London, she gathered friends and family around her kitchen table and reached out to previous UK visitors to India get involved with registering and operating a UK registered charity to promote and support the amazing work she had witnessed in Ahmednagar.
Today, Snehalaya UK remains volunteer led with two founding members resident in India and the remaining UK board scattered around the UK. Despite no physical office space or paid staff, Snehalaya UK has led on significant campaigns and fundraising events while expanding Snehalaya’s UK and international supporter base.
Our UK trustee Sarah is a super networker and introduced us to John Coster, Journalist and Founder of the Parallel Lives Network, a vibrant community dedicated to fostering collaboration among NGOs, charities, community groups, individuals and educational organisations across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and South-East Asia. As we discussed how we could collaborate best, it was decided to attend a series of events in partnership in Leicester and to invite members of the Indian team to join us.
Our UK CEO, Joyce, and Priti flew in from India for a packed few weeks of discussions, promotions and celebrations. Since COVID, our trustee meetings have been online so this was a fantastic opportunity for all to meet face-to-face to reflect on our achievements and make plans for the future. Our overall aim was to maximise our outreach and support for Snehalaya, fostering a stronger connection between the UK and India in our shared mission to aid underprivileged communities. The core team travelled between London, Leicester and Leeds, taking in a few tourist sites along the way. Highlights included:
Hosted by John Coster, our In-Conversation Evening at Orso Coffee Shop, Leicester, was an informal and interactive get together where our Indian team were able to give insights into the issues affecting India today and the impact Snehalaya is making local and nationally to address them.
We were honoured to join the Plan Ahead, Value Employability (PAVE) Conference at De Montfort University, Leicester. We joined many health and social work-related employers there to discuss career and volunteer options with thousands of students. It was a busy day with lots of visitors keen to hear more about our work and a great opportunity to connect with the university and Leicester and national-based organisations.
Following the one day exhibition, our CEO was also given the opportunity to present Snehalaya to students during a PAVE online event. Again there was a lot of interest with one of the organising staff describing it as: “One of the most inspirational talks that I've heard in a long while.”
We then snuck in a visit to Welland Park Academy, one of our partner schools in a four-year teacher exchange program with the British Council Connecting Classrooms project. Priti was able to see a UK school and also start discussions on future exchanges and partnerships with the staff there.
The main event was our 10 year birthday celebration where we invited past, present and future supporters to join us for a celebration lunch. After a short update on the Indian projects and highlights of the UK team’s 10 years from our CEO, there was a quick round of speed dating where those attending could share their connection with Snehalaya and learn more about us and each other. This was a huge success and was followed by thanks to all for making Snehalaya UK so successful. A delicious lunch of pav bhaji and sweet treats rounded the day off nicely.
Our final Leicester event was an informal meet with some of the East Midlands Marathi Mandal preparing to host the European Marathi Sammelan (EMS) 2025 in the city next July. It was great to be around Maharashtrians enjoying some of our favourite foods and introducing them to our work. They have previously supported Snehalaya through fundraising events but having our Secretary there to explain more in the Marathi language gave them and us a special taste of ‘home’. We are hoping to attend the EMS 2025 event to spread our word even further.
We then headed north to Leeds where we spent two full days on a stand during Global Engagement Week at Leeds Beckett University, Leeds. Our partnership with the university pre-dates Snehalaya UK’s founding (Miranda’s sister Chloe former volunteer manager at Beckett introduced her to Snehalaya, and our current Chair, CEO and two trustees are former staff and students of the university). We are one of only a handful of charities the university promotes to students and we had great chats with them and staff both on and off the stand about our unique range of volunteering options.
We were also able to join more Leeds supporters with a dinner and long overdue catch up.
All of these events expanded our reach and people’s understanding of our work. We plan to continue the conversations we have started to build on our initial 10 years and particularly reach out more to the Indian diaspora and students to make the next 10, and the 10 after that, even more rewarding. If you can connect us with relevant contacts, wish to volunteer, invite us to an event or simply be more involved yourself please get in touch at give@snehalaya.org.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thanks all of our supporters who have contributed in some way to the last 10 years in the UK, we couldn't have done it without you! And a final special thank you to all those who hosted our Indian volunteers and made them feel so welcome and warm on some cold winter nights!
Comments