SPA UK Sandesh 2013 | Page 32

Acknowledgments

“ We should move forward and accept diversity in our culture without losing our own identity. Our Mahilas have come forward and taken up a lot of challenging roles and that is a big achievement in itself. Our aim is to encourage and boost their confidence to achieve higher goals and be recognised for their achievement but we still have a long way to go.”
A message from the present Mahila Committee I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself Ranjanaben Mistry as the new SPA( UK) Mahila Secretary and Gitaben Mistry as Convenor and also add that it is a great privilege to be serving our Samaj. May I also say a big thank you to Kalpanaben and Bhanuben for all the effort and the hard work over the last two years, and hope that Gitaben and I, with our Mahila Committee, continue to serve SPA( UK) with the same commitment.
A message from the previous Mahila Committee“ Bhanuben and I have now come to the end of our 2 year appointment as Mahila Convenor and Secretary. I would just like to take this opportunity to say what an honour and privilege it has been to hold this role. Both myself and Bhanuben have performed our duties to the best of our abilities and trust that our successors will do an even better job. Many thanks to you all for your support and guidance over the last 2 years”- Kalpanaben Mistry.

Mahila Report

Namaste and Jai Shree Krishna,
Volume 38. Prajapati Sandesh 2013. www. prajapati. org. uk

Once again, this year has been eventful if not somewhat a challenging year for the Mahila Committee.

The 33rd Mahila Samelan held on 14th April 2013 was hosted by Rugby branch at the Welcome Banqueting Suites in Coventry. This year’ s chosen topic was Alzheimer’ s and Dementia. The format of the Samelan was changed to have the informative session in the morning and an interactive session in the afternoon.
After introductions from the President of Rugby branch, Jitubhai, Hansaben and myself, we started the day’ s events. The topic was introduced by showing a small video based on a real life scenario which set the scene for the morning session.
We were privileged to have 3 speakers who attended to inform the Mahilas; firstly about the difference between Dementia and Alzheimer’ s- what are the causes and symptoms we should
look for to identify these? We also had a Senior Nurse specialising in the care of older people who showed different ways in which sufferers can be helped with day to day care. The third speaker was from Guideposts trust, an organisation which provides support for carers and their families.
There were small intervals between presentations and we had a dance item from Coventry. Bradford branch provided a little humour to the event by performing a small play based around the topic. These were both enjoyed thoroughly by all present.
The Mahila election was then carried out and the new committee presented to the audience. This year we have 5 new members in the team and trust that they will support Gitaben in her role as Convenor. After reports from myself and Hansaben, Jitubhai
presented the audience with this year’ s chosen charity- WaterAid.
After lunch, Rugby branch started the afternoon session with a dance, this was followed by an afternoon of Raas and Garba with singers from Leicester Branch. This gave the committee time to hand out surveys for the day’ s event, mingle with the ladies attending and to get feedback. It also allowed those that had travelled from different parts of the country to meet with family and friends. The day ended with a raffle and all attendees were thanked and wished a safe journey home.
Our thanks as always to HQ and to the hard work by Rugby branch volunteers to ensure that we had another successful event.
Family Fun Day
The Family Fun Day this year was held on 30th June 2013 at Wicksteed Park, Kettering. The weather turned out to be very hot and we had a tremendous turnout. Approximately 400-500
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