Oldham temple to host garden party fundraiser for domestic violence charity

Oldham’s iconic temple will host a garden party this weekend to raise money for a local domestic violence charity.

Shree Swaminarayan Mandir will be holding the annual event on May 11 from 12pm to 5pm, with money raised going to the Saheli Charity.

Saheli, which means ‘friend’ in Hindi, was founded in 1976 and has since provided a vital lifeline to women and children who are forced to leave their home because of abuse.

The temple has partnered with Saheli in the past, forming an alliance that saw 176kg in donated clothes, toys, household items and electrical appliances collected for the charity in December last year.

Geeta Patel, part of the community team and one of the people managing the event, said: “Saheli group are amazing, and we all think they are doing incredible work to support and provide refuge to BAME women and children impacted by domestic abuse.

“We have been able to help Saheli before, with emergency supplies, clothing and toys for the people who use the services.

"We have also been looking at finding accommodation for the group.

“We are hopeful that the funds raised at this event will go on to help them even further and we are excited to see how much we can donate to them.”

The garden party, which will be held on Copster Hill Road, aims to bring the community together in support of both Saheli and local businesses.

Some of the companies involved in this event include Mahaprasad, Arts and Craft by Kalpna Bhatt, Hollywood Gym, Forever Aloe, Ekantika personalized gifts, Cakes by Nirupa, Hair by Minz and JSS Ice Rolls.

There will also be several activities for children from facepainting, mehndi artists and a bouncy castle course.

Sanjay Kerai, who is the catering manager at the temple, said: “We will have Indian street food stalls run by the temple and the food will be prepared by volunteers, as well as dessert stalls from local businesses.

“We are looking forward to the event as it is always successful for the community no matter what faith.”

A few of the stalls have also decided to donate their earnings from the event to Saheli.

The temple successfully raised over £4,000 for Maggie’s Oldham in 2023, a charity providing free cancer support to anyone who may need it.

The committee’s president, Hitesh Bhudia, said: “This is going to be another great event put on by the community team.

“After the success of the street soiree in December 2022, we have been really looking forward to this event.

“Last time we had snow and the France vs England match, but this year we are hoping for sun.”

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