King’s charity raises over £250,000 for mental health programmes in Pakistan, Bangladesh

LONDON: His Majesty King Charles’s charity, The British Asian Trust, raised over £250,000 through annual Ramadan Iftar appeal for mental health patients in Pakistan and Bangladesh. British Asian Trust Chief Execu tive Richard Hawkes announced that the funds will be spent on the much needed initiatives being run in Pak istan and Bangladesh, on instructions of His Majesty King Charles III. The British Asian Trust was founded in 2007 by His Majesty King Charles III (when he was His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales) and a group of British Asian entrepreneurs, to tackle poverty, inequality and in justice in South Asia. Richard Hawkes announced that Geo News will be working with the King’s char ity to highlight the issues of mental health as media partner. His Majesty King Charles III’s spe cial message was read out at the evening, congratulating Muslims on celebrating the Holy Month of Ra madan and showing solidarity with them. The King also vowed to con tinue working for the humanitarian causes in countries like Pakistan. Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, was one of many prominent British Muslims attending the British Asian Trust’s annual Iftar at the London Grosvenor Marriot Hotel. Other no table guests included government minister Lord Tariq Ahmad, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, High Commissioner of Pakistan to the UK Dr Mohammad Faisal, Pakistani actor Sanam Saeed and hundreds of prominent figures from the British Asian community. The Iftar event attracted a diverse gathering of 350 guests from the South Asian Muslim diaspora, includ ing celebrities, philanthropists, entre preneurs, business leaders, profes sionals, and the Trust’s Ambassadors. The event highlighted the often un spoken and invisible struggle of men tal health issues and raised funds for the Trust’s vital Mental Health pro grammes in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that Ramadan is a time for charity and giving and this year the British Asian Trust has put together

another wonderful Iftar event to support those in need with mental health services. Sadiq Khan told Geo and The News: “His Majesty King Charles III does a lot of work in India, Sri Lanka Pakistan and Bangladesh. Today’s fundraising event will help those suf fering from mental ill health. In this country, we have a Christian king, a Hindu Lord Jitesh Gadhia is chair man of the British Asian Trust and I am a Muslim mayor of London. Mus lims, Hindus and Christians are work ing together to raise funds for help those who suffer from mental health conditions in Pakistan and Bangladesh.” The London Mayor is saying he is visiting mosques and churches and other places of worship in Ramadan to show to people what Muslims stand for: charity, love, humanity and Islam’s inclusiveness.” The Tory govt minister Lord Tariq Ahmed said that the UK and Pakistan have close relations. He said: “Nearly 1.5 million Pakistani live in the UK. We have been raising funds for education and health in Pakistan. The King is re covering but he is very passionate about his work in South Asia and has sent a special message for tonight. The UK government is very keen to enhance relations with Pakistan.” British Asian Trust Chief Execu tive Richard Hawkes said: “The British Asian Trust has been working to improve the lives of people with mental health issues for over a decade. Our work aims to fundamen tally change the mental health land scape by destigmatising and raising awareness of mental health, promot ing accessible and affordable serv ices for all and building coalitions of support to drive change. I’m so pleased that over 300 of our friends and supporters joined us tonight to rally behind this.” He told Geo News: “We are thank ful to our supporters from the Pak istani and other communities who have made this event a success. We will be raising awareness in Pakistan on mental health issues in collabora tion with Geo’s multi-media channels over the years. There is a mental health crisis throughout the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates one in four people have mental health issues. The chal lenges in South Asia are huge be cause there are very few services and not much support. There are a lot of stigmas attached too, so what we are doing is to raise awareness about the issue. We are trying to get more doc tors and professionals to deal with it and more people to talk about it.” British Asian Trust’s Hitan Mehta told Geo News: “The British Asian Trust has been working in this area and invested in this since 2013. It’s an area that we have been very con cerned about. One in five Pakistanis will be affected by mental health is sues. There are only 400 government trained psychiatrists to deal with it. There is a huge problem to deal with.” Actor Sanam Saeed, who is the Trust’s Ambassador in Pakistan, said: “Pakistan has a growing mental health crisis with 50 million people estimated to experience mental health issues but unable to access support due to stigma, and lack of awareness and services. We need to encourage conversations to shine light on mental health issues, so peo ple can stop suffering silently and seek the help they need.” Former Minister and Tory Chair Sayeeda Warsi told Geo News that mental health is often ignored and brushed aside. “Often when we look at the health issue, we think only about heart diseases, diabetes, can cer and other serious issues. We ig nore mental health issues, there is a saying that if your mind is broken no body sees it but if your arm is broken everyone sees it. It’s really important that in this age and day we take seri ously issues of mental health, de pression, anxiety. These are wide spread in our diaspora community in the UK and in Pakistan.” The evening was hosted by BBC broadcaster and British Asian Trust Ambassador Asad Ahmad. Other no table guests at the event included Baroness Shaista Gohir OBE, Rusha nara Ali, Mahmood Shaikhani MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Shadow Minister (Investment and Small Busi ness) and Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham, Ladywood.