pin bowling . Four lanes were booked , and the children got into a very competitive mood very soon . Everyone had a brilliant time and it was great to see all the children having so much fun and making new friends , while the adults were able to catch up with each other , and also have a game or two of bowling .
We organised a “ Samaj Sewa Day ” on Saturday 25th March to carry out odd jobs in the Samaj building , and it was great to see so many members give up several hours of their time supporting this . As a team we managed to get the cupboards upstairs tidied up , radiators in the hall fixed , main hall painted , loose tiles in washrooms removed , garden behind tidied up , and electrics for the new heating system installed .
In April we organised a “ Bollywood 70s Night ” fundraising event to raise funds for Kidney Research UK and for the new heating installed in our hall … and what a success it was ! The event was a sell out and everyone had a blast ! It turned out to be fun filled night with lovely food ( prepared by our own Mahila team ), great dance performances , lots of music masti and opportunities to take photos with Amitabh , Ashwariya , Aamir Khan and Govinda ! We raised over £ 7,000 and were supported by members of Coventry branch too , to whom we are thankful .
Birmingham branch was privileged to have supported several HQ events in 2017 . We hosted an incredibly successful 5th Seniors Sneh Milan on Sunday 11th June . A record attendance of 1,050 people was present , celebrating 70 years of Indian Independence with some high-quality performances from Birmingham , Leicester and London ! It was excellent to see so many of our volunteers help with pre-event preparations such as the planning and cooking of the breakfast , dedicating time over the weekend in setting up the hall and supporting the event on Sunday with car parking , serving breakfast and lunch , first aid , collecting donations , manning the hall , welcome dance ( swagat geet ), preparation for the Aarti , to name but a few .
Birmingham also had the opportunity to help with the registration desk duties at the HQ Mahila Samelan held in Leicester , and we had the pleasure of hosting the HQ Golf Day at the West Midlands Golf Club followed by an evening BBQ . Many members together with the committee helped with the pre-event planning and volunteered on the day , and most importantly , all the golfers had an enjoyable day .
We celebrated Navratri this year with record attendances in a long time . The vibe and excitement created throughout the year , coupled with new ideas of introducing more professional music drew the crowds . The young and old members both enjoyed playing “ ramzaniyu ” and “ sanedo ” - introduced in Birmingham for the first time - in addition to the traditional garba and dandiya raas . We also thank Walsall branch for participating in our Navratri this year at the weekend .
We also held a very enjoyable and well attended Children ’ s Navratri workshop where the children had presentations on Navratri , watched a movie on the legend of Navratri , decorated Aarti plates followed by the children performing the first Aarti .
vol . 42 | Prajapati Sandesh 2017 57