The Trustees of the The Loomba Foundation

wish all our supporters, donors & sponsors 

A Very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year.

The Loomba Foundation Annual Fundraising

Gala Banquet held at the Guildhall
 

The UN accredited, the Loomba Foundation, hosted its annual fundraising banquet at the prestigious Guildhall in London, which was attended by over 400 guests, including senior politicians, diplomats and business leaders.

Acting High Commissioner for India, His Excellency Dr. Virandar Paul, Chief Guest and Deputy Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Nick Clegg MP, Guest of Honour were welcomed at the Guildhall by the Foundation’s President Mrs. Cherie Blair CBE QC, Trustee Lord Dholakia PC OBE DL and Lord Loomba CBE, Founder and Chairman Trustee of the Loomba Foundation.

Dr. Virandar Paul said, "the plight of widows and other women is a fact of life. We cannot and should not ignore it. They need our support. It is a global challenge and the whole society has to come together - Government, international institutions, business and social activists in tackling the issue."

He said “Government of India is extremely sensitive to the issue and trying to tackle it. A lot has been done and more needs to be done for erasing the stigma attached to them and help them economically," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Foundation has been doing a "superb work" in trying to provide solace to widows who have been facing "terrible discrimination".

Describing Lord Loomba's efforts as "heroic", Clegg said, "It is a wonderful effort and he has dedicated so much of his life for this cause".

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Blair, the President of the Foundation, said over 245 million widows and their 500 million children around the world suffers social injustice in silence.

Over £150,000 were raised at the event for the empowerment of 3000 impoverished widows in India, who will each receive a sewing machine and training to make garments. The Foundation raised sufficient funds for 7.000 widows in last year, who will now be able to complete its project for economic empowerment of 10,000 widows, which was launched by the charity in 2012.

Lord Loomba CBE said “"The impact of this project would be that not only 10,000 widows will be economically empowered, but they will also educate about 30,000 children assuming that they have three children on average. They will further support 60,000 of their family members assuming there are around six family members in each household. Therefore, 100,000 people stand to benefit from this project,"
 Lord Loomba said.

"The Foundation has already attracted partners to join us going forward. The Centre for Citizenship, Enterprise and Governance at the University of Northampton is assisting us over the next three years with their expertise in social metrics and measuring social value of Corporates," he said.

He said British business tycoon Sir Richard Branson, the Patron-in-Chief of the Foundation, has been supporting it since 2002 and has collected over £500,000 through three “Change for Children” appeals on Virgin Atlantic flights worldwide.

Click here to Donate £50 to empower a disadvantaged widow in India

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