Trustees Mohinder Singh Dosanjh, Harinder Kaur Pawar, and Gurdeep Singh Sarl of Camberley Sikh Association officially kicked off the fundraising campaign #gurdwaraforsurrey with the aim of raising enough money to build a gurdwara in Surrey.
On Sunday 2 October, dozens of special guests, including Lords and Ladies, mayors, councillors, faith leaders as well as residents in Surrey, came together to celebrate the launch of the #gurdwaraforsurrey campaign.
The launch event was held at Camberley Theatre and was attended by Lord and Lady Indarjit Singh, Mayor of Surrey Heath Helen Whitcroft, CEO of Surrey Heath Borough Council Damien Roberts and other distinguished guests.
Other attendees from the community included Reverend of High Cross Church Mike Thomason, Jewish Faith Leader Ray Wicksman, Imam of the first mosque in UK Imam Hashmi, Manjit Khalsi from the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum and Major Dal Virdee, representing the armed forces.
The campaign received special support from Surrey Heath MP Michael Gove, who said: “I back 100% Camberley Sikh Association’s gurdwara for Surrey campaign. It is absolutely vital that we do everything in order to ensure there is a permanent home in which we can take pride for all of the Sikh population in Surrey and beyond so I’m right behind you 100%.”
The presentation highlighted how Camberley Sikh Association was formed and explained why there is a vital need for a gurdwara in Surrey. Sevadars Sunny Singh, Bindi Kaur, Mandeep Kaur, Sandeep Kaur and Deepak Singh all shared their views on the importance of this campaign and directly called upon guests to fully support it.
The evening ended with a powerful speech by Lord Singh, who said: “This gurdwara is not only for Sikhs, it is for community cohesion.”
He explained: “I would like to see leaders of the gurdwara taking the initiative by inviting people of different faiths, of different origins, to come to the gurdwara, not only to share langar but to learn about the cohesive teachings of Sikhism. It is so important and so necessary.
“I hope this gurdwara does prosper and in every way, it is established soon but that it really acts as a hub where people from different communities can recognise that the commonalities between us all are far, far greater than the smaller area of difference.”
Guests were treated to tranquil background music by young pianists and musicians Manjit Singh Maan on Sitar and Dilawar Singh on tabla, before sharing Guru Ka Langar with each other after the presentation.
Trustee Gurdeep Singh Sarl said: "We are overwhelmed and overjoyed with the response to our launch. We have seen an increase in the population moving to this area and our Sangat numbers have increased as a result.
"The time is right to have a local Guru Ghar so we have a base from where, in line with our Sikh teachings and values, we can reach out to the community and also to embed our precious Sikh values to the next generation."
The goal of the #gurdwaraforsurrey campaign is to raise a £750,000 deposit over the next three years through a mixture of donations and events. Thanks to the kindness of the community already, we have currently raised £120,000 from monthly gatherings and monthly direct debits alone.
