Members of Leicestershire and Rutland branch, and guests, at their
10th Diwali dinner, which raised £3,750 for Sight Savers International |
This year, the Leicestershire
and Rutland branch of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society held its 10th Diwali dinner. “Initially
the dinner was arranged because there was no social event for Hindu pharmacists
in Leicestershire. It had fantastic support so never stopped,” branch
secretary Ian Bell told The Journal. The dinner was the idea of former
committee member, Rajni Hindocha, to allow branch members to share cultures.
However, the event also presented an opportunity for the branch to raise
money for charity through a raffle.
The branch has a number of commercial sponsors, such Unichem and AAH, that
match the amount raised. During the past 10 years, the branch has made
impressive donations to many charities in this way, including Heart Search
(a local charity for coronary heart disease), the Leicestershire and Rutland
Hospice, and Diabetes UK. The charities supported are usually those chosen
by the Lord Mayor of Leicester but the branch also sent donations to victims
of the tsunami in 2004. “The branch has a history of doing charity
work. I know that back in the 1970s, we would make donations to Birdsgrove
House. Since then, we have continued to support people who are less fortunate,” Mr
Bell said.
The Society’s Barnet branch also has a history of raising money for
charity. It had a long tradition of sending £50 to a charity chosen
by the branch chairman but, for over 20 years, it has also organised an
annual dance to support the North London Hospice, raising between £2,000
and £3,000 each time. This was the idea of Naresh Maini, community
pharmacist and Barnet branch committee member. Mr Maini wanted to do something
to help the hospice, where he had taken a course on palliative care. “It
started off small-scale, in the local church hall with a couple of my Saturday
girls who played musical instruments, and it just grew bigger each year.
Soon, it turned into a ceilidh, with a tombola,” Mr Maini said. “I
think it is important for branches to do charitable work, but it is also
a good thing to do to raise the profile of pharmacy in the community,” he
added. Because organising such events requires a lot of work, Mr Maini
took a break this year, but he hopes to revive the event in 2007.
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal