Contact List\ Working towards a closer community

128 East Lane, North Wembley, HA0 3NLCharity Registration No. 287810

Dear MembersThis is BSNL’s third Newsletter which contains reports on the two functions thatwere held recently.

Due to planned improvements in the upstairs hall we are unable to arrange anyfunctions for July and August.We hope to resume normal service from September onwards.

I would like to thank the convenors and sub-committee members and volunteersfor each of the two functions for their hard work and in delivering excellent pro-gramme.

BSNL had appointed Ms Veena Subramaniam as the official BSNL photographer,however due to personal reasons she will not be able to continue to be the officialBSNL photographer. We thank her for her brief but useful services to BSNL.

It has been agreed that we will include in our newsletter any announcements forengagement, wedding, educational achievements, recipes, any useful articles, be-reavementetc.. Please send your details by e mail to Hon Secretary Harendra K Raval atsecretary@bsnl.org.uk.BSNL reserves the right to include these details in the Newsletters.

Harendra K Raval Hon Secretary and Trustee-BSNL

BSNL No. 3 July 2015

Message from the Membership Trustee

As we are heading towards the end of the current membership period, we have en-closed membership renewal forms for all.We are in the process of creating a new database for the Samaj and so would appreci-ate if all the fields can be filled in, including dates of birth, telephone number andemail address (if available). This will ensure that the Samaj’s database is populatedcorrectly.For all members who are either life members and on 5/10 year memberships, wewould appreciate if the forms are also filled in and sent to us, so that we can updatethe database.

Memberships

The information provided will be used solely for the purpose of the Samaj and will not be distributed nor sold to any third partyorganisations.Completed forms with the appropriate fee should be sent to the membership trustee directly and not to the BSNL address. Thiswill make sure that your membership in renewed promptly.There are a number of other payment options available this year.WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT PAYMENT OPTIONS, a form will still need to be filled in and posted to the Membership Trusteebefore any membership cards are issued.We need the forms so that the appropriate Gift aid claim can be made.Payment Options;* Cheques with the form. Cheques made payable to “BSNL”.* PayPal. Payment can be sent to paypal@bsnl.org.uk. Please include the following details so that the payment can beallocated correctly.* Names of members renewing.* Previous membership numbers (if available)

* Address (1st line of address and Postcode)* Credit card. We can take payments by card. Please include a note with the membership form that you would like to pay by

credit card. Someone from BSNL will ring you to get the card details.Please do not include card details with the forms.

Please note that there will be small admin fee of £ 1.50 associated with this payment method. This is per payment.

If you are paying by PayPal or card, you can email the completed membership renewal form to membership@bsnl.org.uk.

MembershipPlease be aware we will not be renewing memberships at Navratri. This is to avoid huge queues at the frontgate. We will, however, be on hand throughout the festival to answer any membership related queries.

In an effort to cut down the number of envelopes we send out, we are moving towards sending circulars by email. Thiswill both save the Samaj some money, but also, will benefit the environment. If you would prefer to receive circulars byemail only, please tick the box below the email address field (email circulars), in the attached membership renewal form.

Awards

PC Ms Purnima Raval

We are extremely proud to advise that one of our members PC Ms Purnima Raval was given a special award for her servic-es to Hindu Community at a recent award ceremony held by NCGO to celebrate 55th Anniversary of Gujarat State.Purnimaben has always assisted BSNL during our visits to Houses of Parliament and other functions. Our heartiest congrat-ulations to Ms Purnimaben Raval.

Introductions

Subh Milan Din by Brahmin Samaj USA

Brahmin Samaj Annual matrimonial and introduction event called Shubh Milan DIN event is to be held on:Saturday, September 19, 2015 (8:30am to 11:00pm)At Clarion Inn, 999 Route 1 South, North Brunswick, New Jersey 08902 USA.

All required information for registering at the event can be seen on www.bsnl.org.uk.

Interested?Yoga – 6 week ProgrammeYoga has long been established as a way of staying fit and healthy.BSNL are proud to offer a 6 week programme at the BSNL hall in association with a local Yoga in-structor.She comes with a wealth of knowledge and information.The course will not only cover the common Yoga poses and postures, but also health benefits ofparticular poses will be covered.

The course will begin on Tuesday 1st September 2015 at 8.00pm, at BSNL Community Centreand will continue for every Tuesdays until 6th October2015.Classes will be for approximately 1hr, though may extend slightly.The cost of this course is£ 25.00 per member£ 30.00 per non-member.Places are limited and so please book early to avoid disappointment.Contact Hitesh Purohit on 07882571234 for more details

Visit to Houses of Parliament

Abhilasha are planning to arrange a visit to Houses of Parliament in October. Further details to follow.Contact Harsha Bhatt on 07909050120 or Sandhyaben Pandya 07958616432 if you're interested in joiningthis visit.

Events So Far

Interested?

Report on Programmes

Antakshri Nite 16th May 2015

I am pleased to inform that a most successful Antakshari Night was organised on 16th May 2015 by Abhilasha. Thefeedback from the attendees was highly positive as we enjoyed a full house. A spectacular team effort from the volunteers, and kudos to Bijal and Anjali Trivedi for their programme delivery andcontent.

Also I would like to say thanks to all the members who attended the function, and also to the donors for their sup-port.

PICNIC in the Park and Aerial Extreme on Sunday 28th June

Those that came had a wonderful day at Willen Park in Milton Keynes! Members, young and old, enjoyed goodweather, plenty of good picnic food, and a wonderful environment to sit back and relax in!Those that were feeling energetic (and able to move after the feast) challenged themselves to the high ropes activity– Aerial Extreme, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Achievement, pride and relief , were all felt once feet werefirmly back on solid ground!Others that were after a more tranquil experience took to the waters of Lake Willen and relaxed in their boatsamongst the beautiful swans and ducks!Some preferred to stay firmly on land and enjoyed a refreshing walk whilst a few just sat back on the grass and tookit all in!What a wonderful way to spend the day! If you missed out this time, don’t worry, I’m sure we will do it again soon.Check out the photo’s on our website and Facebook pages.

Events to Come

Future Programmes

NavratriThis year’s Navratri will be held at JFS School in Kingsbury.The dates are 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 24th October 2015.Please note JFS School is not available on Thursday 15th October 2015Further details in the next Newsletter

HavanThis year Nav Chandi Havan will be held at SKLP Hall West End Lane Northolt on Saturday 31st October 2015 from 9am onwards.If you wish to donate items for Mahaprashad then please contact Parul Jani on 07940584321

Events to ComeDiwali

Diwali Programme will be held on Saturday 21st November 2015 at SANGAM Community Centre Colindale Londonfrom 6 pm onwards.Further details in the next Newsletter

Samuh Yagnopavit (Janoi) - Sunday 27 September 2015

UK Valam Brahmin Association are pleased to announce Samuh Yagnopavit (Janoi) to be celebrated on Sunday 27September 2015 at JSF School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, Middlesex HA3 9TE.

If you would like to participate in this auspicious occasion then you are requested to contact Darshanaben Pandya andregister your interest by 8th August 2015 Contact Details: Email at secretary@valam.co.uk or call 020 8907 4836. There will be contribution to be made depending on the number of Batuks mainly to cover the cost of the school hall,Catering (including snacks, soft drinks and dinner) and Maharaj / Pujapo.

BadmintonWe are planning to start Badminton in September in the evenings. If you are interested in playing (at any standard)please contact Hitesh Purohit on 07882 571234 or Trupti Joshi 07947 807147.

Diwali on Trafalgar Square (DIL)

Diwali on Square is on Sunday 11th October 2015

Audition for Dance:Get your dancing shoes on and exercise those vocal chords.We are pleased to confirm the audition details for DOTS 2015 as follows:

Date: Saturday, 8 AugustTime: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (exact time slot will be confirmed)Venue: Global Co-operation House, 65 – 69 Pound Lane, London NW10 2HHHow to Apply: E-mail Shivali Nathwani (misshiv@hotmail.com)

Onwards and upwards is our motto. We are excited to bring you news about some improvements we are making onour hall. The building committee has undertaken a project to slowly renovate the main hall. The downstairs toiletswere recently renovated to make them more usable by people of all ages. Feedback we have received is that they areposh, comfortable and a welcome renovation.

In the same theme we have started upgrading the upstairs hall. Changes being made include introducing a toilet up-stairs, having a separate entrance into the main hall to allow us to use the main hall without disturbing any bookingsor the nursery school downstairs. The hall is being made bigger to allow us to increase our capacity from 100 – 150.This was an ask from our members and people who regularly book with us. If anyone wants to donate towards thecost of the hall renovation please contact Parul Jani on 07940 584321.

The building committee is working hard to improve OUR hall. If you would like to help in anyway please contact thebuilding chair Parul Jani. If you a DIY guru – plumbing, electrics, renovation or good in the garden please volunteer tohelp with the improvements- again contact Paul Jani.

For all your Hall hire Enquiries please ring Pramath Pandya on020 8385 1900 / 07483904979

Hall Updates

Jai Shree Krishna

Our BSNL eGroup (Elders Group) is running smoothly with a house full situation every week. Members can do eYo-ga (from 10.00 to 11.30) and then attend our main session from 12.00 to 4.00 pm every Tuesday to enjoy a fullcourse vegetarian lunch and participate in various entertainments and discussions. Our popularity remainsvery high and hence there is a waiting list of people wishing to join because we cannot accommodate everyone inthe limited space we have in our porta-cabin. Plans are in hand to move our eGroup upstairs in the main buildingafter the planned renovation work this summer - when hopefully we will be able to take on a few more members. Our recent highlights include: * A 7 day all-inclusive holiday in Crete, Greece which everyone enjoyed thoroughly. * Fund raising within our eGroup and donating over £2,100 to the Nepal Disaster Relief Fund via BSNL andBEHT. * Having special talks from the Police, Silver Line, and also our own in-house professionals on Medicals Con-ditions, Health & Beauty Therapy and on Emotional Intelligence. * Performing a Musical Show for the Harrow Elders Shakti Day Centre group at Harrow Leisure Centre. * Participating and forging links with other elders groups including BAOPA, Southall Asians Elders Group,East African Elders Group, etc. by sharing special topic presentations with them. * We had a fantastic celebration programme for Father’s Day with a full variety show on "Fathers" themewith almost all members participating. * We have planned a Darshan Picnic Day Out on Tuesday 21st July 2015 to the Hare Krishna Temple.

My special thanks to our eGroup subcommittee members comprising Mrs Nirmalaben Rawal (eYoga), Mr Harshad-rai Shukla (Membership and Health & Safety), Mr Kailashbhai Thaker (Dining and Catering), Mrs Prafulaben Puro-hit (Membership Administration), Mr Shashikantbhai Mehta (Manoranjan) and Dr Mukundbhai Mehta (SpecialEvents Celebrations) - all of them doing a wonderful job in keeping our members happy. My special thanks also toall our volunteers and our BSNL Board of Trustees for their support.

Please contact Mr Vinod Mehta if you need more information or would like to donate lunch  - by phone on07770730202 or by email on mr.vinod.mehta@gmail.com

Elder’s Group

Culture Club (CC) is a fun club for all BSNL children aged between 5 and 18.We meet every Saturday (10 sessions per school term), between 2 and4:30 pm at BSNL house.

During our sessions, our children learn about Hindu and Gujarati culture, history, religion, language, music(singing bhajans, garbas, aartis, etc.) and dance (traditional and folk styles) in a relaxed, friendly environment.As well as learning, children gain friends within their own community and have fun.Do encourage your children to join us!

For more information on the club, to enrol your child or to offer your services, please contact Trupti (07947807147) or Nutan (07963 796748)…we look forward to hearing from you! Trupti, Nutan, Neha at the Culture Club.

Culture Club