Asian social action initiative 'National Sewa Day' a huge success
23 November 2010

The first ever National Sewa Day, a social action initiative from within the Asian community, was a huge success on 21st November 2010. The day saw thousands of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains taking part in a day of 'selfless service' (sewa) and social action to bring joy and alleviate hardship and poverty to tens of thousands of people. More than 5,000 people from over 100 cultural, community and faith organisations volunteered a variety of projects throughout the UK, including Bradford, Oldham, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, Northampton, Luton and across London. Last week, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, MP gave his backing to the event as a demonstration of communities putting the Big Society into practice.

National Sewa Day projects included:
• Plant a new forest – over 100,000 new trees will be planted in Heartwood Forest in Hertfordshire with 5,000 being planted in just one day on 21st November 2010.
• Care packages – parcels of essential personal hygiene and first aid items will be packed and sent to soldiers serving in Afghanistan. The parcels will contain presents and messages from children
• Feed the Hungry – soup kitchens and food distribution to shelters
• Bollywood dance classes that bought a lot of joy and reminiscences for older people
• Local environmental cleaning and improvement programmes – including the cleaning up of stained spit marks from pan (betel nut) eating in major urban areas like Ealing Road, Wembley .

Arup Ganguly, Chairman of National Sewa Day, said: “Firstly I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the first ever National Sewa Day. They did an amazing thing – by giving up their valuable time to serve others in their community. As a result of their actions they have given a little joy to other as well as made their local environment a better place to live. Importantly it has also generated considerable good will across all communities and brought us all a little bit close.

“National Sewa Day offered communities the chance to show they care; to give a little back and do something positive without thought of personal gain. In fact, the satisfaction gained by taking part is well beyond monetary value. The positive feedback we’ve already received bodes well for the future. Hopefully we can make next year’s Day bigger and better!”

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National Sewa Day - Camley Street	National Sewa Day - St Albans

The day was backed by celebrities, business leaders and politicians, including, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, Tony Blair. The Advisory Board constitutes leading people from the arts, business, financial services, and philanthropy.