Hindu charity of Swaminarayan temple gets Queen's Award

LONDON: A Hindu charity organization linked to the Swaminarayan temple in the UK has been chosen for this year's Queen's Award, an honor equivalent to the Member of the British Empire

The Children's Forum of Neasden Temple, Britain's well known Hindu Temple, has been chosen for the Queen's Award for voluntary service

"The Children's Forum of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, UK, operating from the iconic BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, London, popularly known as the 'Neasden Temple' has been announced as one of 95 volunteering groups from across the country winning the award," a press release from the temple said

The award recognizes the outstanding contributions made to local communities by groups voluntarily devoting their time for the benefit of others

The national honor, equivalent to the Member of the British Empire (MBE), sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, and the activities of those awarded have been judged for their highest standard.

According to the citation, The Children's Forum, serving in the UK for over 30 years, has been chosen for "its exceptional community work of integrating value-based educational, social, environmental and recreational activities into one cohesive program and successfully implementing it through a team of hundreds of dedicated volunteers."
The program aims to help children of today mature into responsible British citizens of tomorrow

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, UK, will receive a certificate signed by the Queen and an exclusive commemorative crystal. These will be presented by The Queen's representative for Greater London, Sir David Brewer, at a special ceremony arranged by the Lieutenancy office

Devan Parekh from the BAPS Children's Forum said: "Children and young people are at the heart of our organization and it is a great honor and immensely humbling to receive this prestigious award for the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who are committed to nurturing leaders and better citizens of tomorrow."