As part of its ongoing 20th anniversary celebrations, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir welcomed BAPS Charities and various leading healthcare charities for an interactive community health fair on Saturday 11 July 2015. More than 475 people attended.

A key objective of the event was to consolidate the extensive health awareness activities that are provisioned to the local community by BAPS Charities throughout the year, and to convey important messages of safe and healthy living.

Some of the screenings, seminars, workshops, exhibitions and information stalls available throughout the day included the following:

• Blood Pressure Screening
• Cholesterol Screening
• Body Fat and Glucose Screening
• Cardiovascular Assessment
• Carotid Doppler
• Dietary Advice
• Diabetes Care
• Eye Checks
• Feet Checks
• CPR Demonstrations and Hands-On Training
• Dental Care and Hygiene
• Child Dental Checks
• Cancer Awareness, Prevention and Screening
• Organ, Bone Marrow and Blood Donation
• Health and Well-Being for the Elderly
• Children’s Health Awareness
• Allergies, Eczema and Asthma
• Safety in the Home
• Medicines Advice and Education
• Keeping an Active and Healthy Mind

Guests present at the opening of the Fair included Leader of Brent Council Cllr Muhammed Butt, Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of the British Heart Foundation, and Bridget Turner, Director of Policy and Care Improvement at Diabetes UK.

Simon Gillespie spoke of his positive experiences and the specific benefits for members of the community through the event. He said: “It has been a great pleasure to be here today with so many other charities involved with the wonderful work that BAPS Charities has been doing. It is really important that people can engage with healthcare professionals in settings and surroundings that they are familiar and comfortable in – so that they can ask questions and listen to the responses in a way that’s not stressful.”

A young member of the local community mentioned how she had benefitted from the “positive conversations I was able to have with professionals regarding a wide range of health issues that concern me as a South Asian mother.”

Michelle Laserna, a senior marketing coordinator for NHS Blood and Transplant, shared her appreciation of BAPS Charities volunteers. She said: “I’m in awe of the generosity, selfless acts of kindness and the general compassion you all have to just help people. It’s incredible!”

The programme was supported by a number of charity organisations, including Age UK, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Anthony Nolan, Breast Cancer Care, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Culture Dementia, Diabetes UK, London Ambulance Service, Mind, National Kidney Federation, NHS Blood and Transplant, and the Royal Free Hospital.