Shishukunj London proudly re-opened the Shishukunj Bhavan on Edgware High Street in North London after a £1.25m renovation. More than 1000 people attended the 2-day celebration on 4 and 5 July.
Notable visitors over the weekend included CB Patel, Vinod Thakrar (President of Lohana Community), Sandeep Virdee (Artistic Director of Darbar), Rex Shah (President of Oshwal UK) and Jagdishbhai Dave MBE (a highly regarded advocate of Gujarati education). The diversity of the visitors clearly showed that the Shishukunj Bhavan is going to become a vital resource offering services that will benefit the whole community.
The new centre will predominantly provide activities for children to include music and dance classes, fitness and lifestyle activities, academic support and training opportunities as well as acting as a daytime hub for the elderly in the community. The facility will also be available for private hire with 2 halls that can accommodate 200 people each.
The families of the major donors opened the main facilities in the building on the first morning. These key contributors included Dhirubhai and Vanitaben Pankhania, Dhanjibhai and Hansaben Tanna and the Meghraj family.
Raj Mistry (Vice President of Shishukunj) said, “we are very proud of our newly renovated bhavan and it will act as an important tool in our mission to expand the reach of Shishukunj so that its work can touch many more children around the world”
The core activities of Shishukunj use Indian culture as a medium to instill decent morals and values within the children and adults that attend to create leaders of tomorrow’s society. In addition to its weekly activities, Shishukunj's international arm (Shishukunj International Projects) works to relieve poverty, distress and sickness amongst children all over the world focusing on the provision of food, education, healthcare and shelter.
Shishukunj is run entirely by teenage and young adult volunteers who act as role models to the children, promoting character building and good citizenship. Over 5000 children have passed through its centres in North London and Croydon during its 40-year history. For more information please visit www.shishukunj.org.uk.
