National Sewa Day

ABOUT US

National Sewa Day is a social action initiative.  The social action day recognises the need for local communities to take the responsibility for overcoming the challenges of disadvantage & deprivation by harnessing resources and talents that exist within them.

National Sewa Day takes place on 21^st November 2010, and has secured the participation of over 100 diverse organisations which results in approx 5,000 people engaged in addressing issues connected with deprivation and disadvantage. Within five years, we believe over 50,000 will participate in National Sewa Day.

Having studied existing initiatives like Habitat for Humanity, Make A Difference Day, Mitzvah Day etc, the organisers seek to leverage, primarily but not exclusively, the support & talents of the Black & Ethnic Minority community in contributing towards a more prosperous Britain.

In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, Sewa means selfless service. Sewa UK is a secular, non-political UK registered charity.

WHAT HAPPENS ON THE DAY – 21^st NOVEMBER 2010?

On 21st November 2010 the first National Sewa Day will be held. Events are being organised by participating organisations up and down the country to allow the community a chance to come together on one day and make a difference through volunteering.

The aim of National Sewa Day is to provide people a chance give back to the community through volunteering on a single day to make a difference. Each event that is being organised is based on at least one of the guiding principles below:

1. To relieve hardship and poverty
2. To bring a little joy where none exists
3. To help the environment

All the events organised will take place on the same day (21st November 2010) and will not have any fundraising as this is an opportunity to give back to the community by giving up something as valuable – our time. From Infants through to Pensioners anyone can get involved and make a difference.

National Sewa Day is an unprecedented collaboration between organisations and individuals in the community to come together on one day and make a difference in their local communities.

WHAT IS THE ANTICIPATED COMMUNITY IMPACT FROM ALL THIS EFFORT?

We believe the following impact will be created as a result of National Sewa Day:

• The impact of volunteering on volunteers: increased sense of making a useful contribution. Well documented research suggests the positive aspects of volunteering on physical & mental health.

• The impact of volunteering on employment prospects is also well documented, and through engaging BME communities in social action, we are seeking to provide opportunities where they’re improving their abilities to work in teams, improving their social & communication skills, increased leadership skills, ability to manage time more effectively etc. Volunteering and social action can be useful springboards into employment.

• The impact of volunteering on local beneficiaries like hospitals, nursing homes, disability centres, churches, youth groups can also be measured in terms of economic terms.

• The impact of volunteering on local communities: perhaps the biggest benefit to the local community is that of increased social cohesion and trust. Research suggests that volunteering builds up social capital that benefits a wide array of people in local communities. Volunteering improves networking and connectivity which are major contributory factors in encouraging a sense of being involved in what happens on their doorsteps.

In summary:

• We’ll harness ‘people power’ to make our local communities a better place to live.

• Through the act of public service and shared experiences to promote a greater networking & cohesion of communities.

• To celebrate social action & volunteering.

HOW WILL WE MEASURE SUCCESS?

1. By receiving recognition and feedback from the people we impact – post 21^st November, a major effort will be made to collate as many reports on the qualitative and quantitative aspects of National Sewa Day.
2. Using the Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit devised by the Institute for Volunteering Research, we will measure the impact of National Sewa Day on all stakeholders.
3. By listing the number of new organisations who have expressed an interest in participating in 2011.
4. By measuring the efforts of our PR campaign using established measures like Advertising Value Equivalent.
5. By keeping a track on number of new unique visitors to our website, Facebook page, and Twitter followers.

HOW WILL THE ORGANISATION MANAGE THE PROJECT, PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY & TRANSPARENCY, AND INSPIRE SOCIAL ACTION?

We have enlisted an Executive Committee with the requisite professional skills base required to deliver this initiative, for example:

• The finance sub-committee is headed by a Financial Controller who is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

• The PR sub-committee is headed by a professional PR consultant with 20 years experience in the private sector and has 10 years of experience in working with charities.

• The marketing sub-committee comprises three professionals with 30 years of delivering marketing campaigns for various organisations.

• The web team is headed by a web designer who runs his own agency.

• We have secured pro-bono legal services from a London law practice.

• We have secured office space on a pro-bono basis until we are able to pay.

In terms of controls, all expenditure is subject to consent by the full core committee and all expenditure is recorded to ensure an audit trail exists.

At the completion of the activity in 2010, the accounts are presented to all stakeholders and made available to the general public for inspection.

To ensure good governance, the Executive Committee provides a monthly progress report and management report to the Advisory Board, whose role it is to ensure good governance.

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The Advisory Board includes:

1. Mr. Dixit A. Joshi – Managing Director & Head of European Equities at Deutsche Bank - President of our Advisory Board

2. Mr. Arup Ganguly – Managing Partner at KNG Securities LLP - Chairman of National Sewa Day

3. Mr. Hitesh Nathwani – CEO of VB & Sons Ltd - Member

4. Mrs. Nandita Chaudhuri – artist - Member

5. Mr. Alpesh B Patel – Principal at Praefinium Partners LLP & Dealmaker for UK Government - Member

6. Sir Trevor Chinn, CVO – Chairman of the Mayor’s Fund for London - Member

7. Mr. Girish Sanger – Director of Mastcraft Ltd. - Member

8. Mrs. Pinky Lilani, OBE – Founder & Chair of Asian Women of Achievement Awards - Member

9. Mrs. Nina Amin – Partner at KPMG LLP - Member

10. Mrs. Rohini Lalvani - Member

11. Mr. Bikash Mathur – European CEO at Polaris Software - Member

12. Ms. Laura Marks – Founder & Chair of Mitzvah Day - Member

13. Mrs. Sangita Kanoria – Director at Aermid Healthcare Ltd - Member