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SEWA INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHES VOLUNTEERING SCHEME

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SEWA INTERNATIONAL LAUNCHES VOLUNTEERING SCHEME

Written by Sanjay M Jagatia
Monday, 05 May 2008
The UKs first structured volunteering scheme to target the Indian diaspora was launched today in North West London with the support of Cricketing hero Monty Panesar. The 1.3 million Indian community in Britain is recognised to be charitable and supportive of causes internationally and in Britain, often repatriating huge sums of money to causes in India and elsewhere. However, this new initiative seeks to take advantage of their interest in volunteering by making it easier for them to find local groups and charities, which can make good use of their time, skills, and experiences. *SEWAVOLUNTEERS* is a flagship initiative of leading British charity – Sewa International. Whilst it is aimed at promoting volunteering to the Indian diaspora, it is not restricted to the community and interest from people of all backgrounds is welcome. In the first phase, the scheme is to be implemented in North West London, which is home to a large Indian population. It is envisaged that this scheme will be rolled out in other cities and towns with significant Indian populations. The first set of partner charities are: · Harrow Mencap – works with people with learning difficulties· Middlesex Association for the Blind – help the visually impaired· Age Concern Harrow – lend a hand to the elderly · Sansaar – teach Gujarati through pantomime and music· The Fryent Country Park (Barn Hill) Conservation Project – protect the natural environment This is the *FIRST* scheme targeted at the Indian Diaspora which: · Provides volunteers for a number of local causes.· Actively monitors & manages the ‘volunteer experience’.· Transcends all affiliations to temples, faith groups, youth groups, regional groups, caste associations, companies and businesses etc. By promoting volunteering, Sewa International aims to: · Engage people from all backgrounds with local projects that deliver services to disadvantaged communities. By doing so, providing our partner charities with much needed skills and experiences that enable their success in dealing with tough social issues. · Build awareness of social & cultural issues challenging local communities in Britain. · Raise the profile and virtue of public service. The Indian diaspora is renowned for its philanthropy and financial support for causes. This initiative aims to promote the need to provide ‘time’. How to register as a SewaVolunteer: · On-line – www.sewavolunteers.org· Paper registration forms can be provided by calling: 020 7193 7108· A team of volunteers will be attending key events & festivals to recruit volunteers Arup Ganguly, President of Sewa International (North London), said: “The most valuable commodity that people can donate to charity, in this relentless world, is their time. I find the willingness of our community to give up their leisure time to help the needy, quite frankly, humbling.” Due diligence: “We’ve conducted interviews and assessments of the charities in order to satisfy ourselves that those who register with this scheme will be managed properly and will receive guidance and support throughout their association with a particular charity.” On volunteers: “We value the time that people want to give. To ensure that they receive appropriate advice, we will brief each volunteer individually with the aim of understanding their background and motivation in coming forward so that we are able to pair them with a local group where we believe a ‘fit’ exists.” Future plan: “We envisage this scheme expanding to include other towns, cities, and we will also focus on developing relationships with companies who encourage volunteering as part of their training & development programmes. Eventually, we’d like to promote volunteering as a tool to encourage development internationally by providing opportunities overseas.” Monty Panesar, the face of the scheme, said: “I support SewaVolunteers, please give some time”. He added: “Your time – every minute, every hour, you give makes a difference” VOLUNTEERING - KEY FACTS:Source: ‘Helping Out: A national survey of volunteering and charitable giving’ – Cabinet Office, 5^th Sept 2007:2,705 people in England were interviewed for ‘Helping Out: A national survey of volunteering and charitable giving’. More than half (58 per cent) had both volunteered and donated to charity in the last 12 months, and most (81 per cent) had given to a charity within the last four weeks. The most common reasons for volunteering were ‘to improve things or help people’ (53 per cent), ‘because the cause was important’ (41 per cent) or ‘because they had spare time’ (41 per cent). 59 per cent had volunteered in the last year (39 per cent had done so at least monthly), and 69 per cent in the last five years, with an estimated economic value of £38.9 billion; on average, volunteers had given 11 hours over the last four weeks; positive feelings were expressed on the experience of volunteering – nearly all (95 per cent) of regular volunteers said their efforts were appreciated and nine in 10 had the chance to do activities they liked; cited benefits of volunteering included satisfaction from seeing the results, a sense of personal achievement, and the opportunity to meet people and make new friends; those in the 34-44 and 55-64 age brackets, women, the employed and people of religious faith were more likely to volunteer than other social groups; there is room for improvement in organisation (31 per cent said their volunteering could be better organised) and in reducing bureaucracy (mentioned by 28 per cent). For further details about Sewa International UK contact:Sanjay Jagatia, Public Relations Coordinator Sewa International UK, 46-48 Loughborough Road, Leicester, LE4 5LD ENDS. NOTES: Media enquiries to: Vikas Pota – 07956 959637 1. SEWA INTERNATIONAL – www.sewainternational.com In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, Sewa means Service. In line with this definition, Sewa International is committed to working with local causes and charities by motivating a volunteer network to provide their selfless service and providing their know-how, expertise, money and most importantly – by giving their time. Sewa International is a charity of Indian origin that came into prominence in the 90s when huge natural disasters affected India. Working in partnership with business leaders, politicians, civic society and local communities, Sewa International has raised substantial funds for various calamities internationally. We are proud to have the support of people of all backgrounds for our campaigns, appeals and volunteering projects. We are a non-sectarian and non-governmental voluntary organisation regulated & supervised by the Charity Commission for England & Wales. Sewa International is a service project of HSS (UK) which is a registered charity (no: 267309). 2. HARROW MENCAPDoreen Luff, 020 8423 7382, www.harrowmencap.org.uk 3. SANSAARShandip Shah, 07780 690432, www.sansaar.org 4. MIDDX ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLINDDavid Pearce, 020 8423 5141, www.aftb.org.uk 5. AGE CONCERN HARROWJackie Butler, 020 8861 7997, www.acharrow.org.uk 6. BARN HILL CONSERVATION GROUPCathy Northcroft, 020 8206 0589, www.bhcg.ik.com Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these?

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