The mission is still the same

2018 was definitely a great year for our work but there is no time for complacency! The mission is still the same, create a platform for compassion in action. Today there are 4 strong campaigns running but we really should be running 100. Our shape a future campaign has seen the development of 22 Libraries across India and Nepal. Improving basic access to education is one of the best ways we can help the poorest communities in our world. Deependra Bhadouria has traveled tirelessly this year developing libraries all over India. I hope this can soon also expand to more regions.

The good work started early this year with a wonderful group of year 9 students collecting books to take to India for underprivileged kids. Erin who led the book drive then flew out to India with her mother Devaki and developed a library in the foothills of the Himalayas. The vast majority of our work is delivered by volunteers. Volunteering on the ground helps us to personally develop a relationship with the people we are trying to help. Arti Patel in 2018 visited various countries in Africa, Nepal and India this year establishing Libraries and food distribution programs, spending months in the field trying to facilitate a better future for the underprivileged. All of this incredible service was done at her own expense to ensure the donations we receive all go to the people who need it the most.

Although now we are hiring people to help scale our work. We will continue to heavily rely on the kindness of volunteers to ensure minimise the administrative cost of the charity. We are also working to ensure that all public donations go 100% to the cause. This is how we can ensure that your kind gifts reach those for whom they are meant for. This model will only possible due to kindhearted partners who believe and invest in our work and are willing to support the administration of the charity. Our partnership with Futures First and their 500 employees has been an incredible boon and we will develop 10 new libraries and new campaigns with them in 2019, this is all due to the warmheartedness and vision of Anil Batra and Elad Hertshten.

Our food distribution programs are brilliant examples of how to prevent food waste, serve people on the streets and share some love with people going through a difficult time. They are also designed to be economically efficient. Our tables cost £20, Our staff are all volunteers, the majority of the food is kindly donated or redistributed. Special thanks to Ashish Vardhan who has been a superman for the London operation and Maa Catering in Luton which has so far provided hundreds of meals to the homeless and underprivileged free of cost this year.

I hope that in 2019 we can launch in more cities and work with individuals, families and businesses to stop the needless food waste. It is estimated that 35% of food produced in the UK goes in the bin. This is an incredible waste of energy and food, it should be a duty of all of us to prevent this. Over the Christmas period I could not believe how much food was going to waste while many people go hungry. I have seen with my own eyes van loads full of food destined for the bins if not for volunteers working late on Christmas eve trying desperately to redistribute it. We need more leaders and volunteers in more cities willing to take on the responsibility to set up a project and help redistribute food in their region.

Every year, I sit with Dr.Nicholas Sutton and we discuss the progress and direction of the work of Go Dharmic and this year we discussed that we should continue our focused efforts in education whilst also our emphasis on feeding people. He also mentioned that we should approach engage more temples and religious organisations to do more with their congregations to serve the needy. Although many of them do a lot already, I’m inspired by the incredible selfless service of the Gurudwaras across the world who do such wonderful work to 24/7 feed people and serve the needy. This is the real meaning of dharma and compassion in action.

So for 2019, we look forward to more hard work, more campaigns, more education, more food distribution, more volunteers and a global fundraising goal of £250,000. To get close to this, we need all of us to create a birthday Fundraisers on Facebook this year! don’t just settle for a happy birthday one liner… Within a few minutes you can design a birthday fundraiser which on average has raised approximately £300 per person.

We will be doing lots of fundraising events, our champion Barry Goudriaan will be running the Everest Marathon with the Go Dharmic flag and will also be leading our partnership with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. My wonderful auntie Kamine Tailor has also inspired us with her fundraising at Nationwide..

The list of people to thank is simply too big to write here but from the bottom of my heart thank you all. You have all given a lot and my sincere apologies for not naming everyone here..

Thanks to everyone who has kindly donated their time, talent and treasure either for the great causes or to keep me quiet.