The Following Successful Events Took Place Since The Last Newsletter

1 On 21st May 2009 the Vegetarian Society organised, ‘Food Testing Competition’ at Tibits a vegetarian restaurant in Heddon St. off Regent St, London. I was invited to be a judge for the best Soya Sausage!

2 On 12th August 2009 I was interviewed by BBC Asian Network regarding the use of animals in circuses. No animals should be used in circuses and do not ever go to circuses which use animals!

3 On 16th August 2009 we kept a stall at the annual Janmastmi festival held at the Hare Krishna temple in Watford. 9 people took a pledge to go vegetarian.

4 On 26th September 2009 I kept a stall at the Croydon Food Festival on behalf of Croydon Vegans.

5 On 29th September 2009 I gave a talk at the Nescot College in Ewell. Six students agreed to consider going vegetarian after the talk.

6 On 1st October 2009 I gave a talk at St. Peters Church, Crawley. The talk was organised by Crawley interfaith group.

7 On 4th October we kept a stall at the mega Diwali event in Trafalgar Square. 9 people took a pledge to go vegetarian

8 On 27th October 2009 I was interviewed on BBC Asian Network about the impact of meat consumption on the environment.

9 On 1st November 2009 I gave a talk on, ‘Spiritualism and Vegetarianism at the Croydon Vegan Festival.

10 On 2nd November 2009 Vanessa Clarke and I were invited to speak on the benefits of a vegetarian and vegan diet at the Jain Vishwa Bharati Centre in Cricklewood. A group of ten people from Italy as well as Shri G.L.Gandhi from India were present at the event. Samani Prasana Pragya and Samani Rohit Pragya had conducted a week long Yoga and Meditation seminar.

11 On 7th November I spoke at the Diwali function organised by the Gujjar Hindu Union, Crawley. I said vegetarianism is our precious heritage which must be kept alive in the younger generation now and for generations to come.

12 On 12th November 2009 Jyoti Mehta gave a talk on vegetarianism at the official launch of Interfaith Week at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre. Representatives of all major faiths as well as cabinet members were present.

13 On 21st November 2009 we kept a stall at the National Hindu Students Forum convention held at City University. 8 people pledged to give up meat eating and go vegetarian.

14 On 6th December 2009 we held our annual Christmas lunch. Around 120 people attended. The deputy mayor of Croydon as well as MP for Croydon North Malcolm Wicks were amongst the guests present.

15 On 8th December CNN India interviewed me regarding the Copenhagen summit on climate change and the damage caused to the planet by meat consumption. I said India should not abandon its vegetarian heritage at any cost.

16 On 14th December Alistair from PETA and I took part in a debate on the merits of vegetarianism at University College London. The event was organised by the UCL debating society. We won the debate with an overwhelming majority!

17 On 1st January 2010 Sunrise Radio presented a, ‘thought of the day ‘prepared by us. Thousands of listeners were urged to practice Ahimsa and give up meat eating!

18 On 26th January I gave a talk at the Imperial College. The event was organised by the college vegetarian society.

19 On 30th January I gave a talk at an event organised by Horsham Interfaith group. The event was held at Horsham Methodist church hall.

20 On 27th February I travelled to Nottingham. I gave a talk at the Nottingham Hindu Temple. The event was part of ‘Chintan’ series of talks that is regularly organised there. Around 150 people were present and 3 people pledged to go vegetarian. A Mahaveer Award was presented to Pat Smith of the Veggies of Nottingham for his services to the vegetarian cause over many years. A special thanks to Kamleshbhai Lakhani and family for their kind hospitality.

21 On 28th March Vanessa Clarke and I travelled to Birmingham. The Jain centre was celebrating Lord Mahaveer’s birth anniversary. Some members of Birmingham Vegetarian and Vegans group were also present. I asked everyone to practice Ahimsa in their daily lives. Feed the pigeons, oppose blood sports, join animal rights groups, persuade people to give up meat - there is so much to do for Jains! Days are passing away and this human form of life will have gone without any gain. Wake up and act to save your Ahimsa heritage!

22 On 10th June I gave a talk at the Swaminarayan Hindu School, Neasden. The talk was a part of the schools morning assembly.

From The Press

Y.I.V is grateful to the following organisations

1 Oshwal Association of UK for their generous donation of £501 to the Jain Animal Sanctuary. A special thanks to all the committee members.

2 Navnat Vanik Association for the donation of £300 from their ’Jiv Daya’ fund. Our special thanks to president Bhupendrabhai Shah, Rameshbhai Shah and Jayeshbhai Doshi.

3 Jain Samaj Manchester for the donation of £1000 from their ‘Jiv Daya’ fund. Special thanks to president Piyushbhai Mehta, treasurer Chandrakantbhai Makim and all the committee members.

4 Jain Samaj Leicester for a donation of £1000. Our thanks to president Pankajbhai Shah, Dr. Rameshbhai Mehta and all the committee members for your support over many years.

5 Mahaveer Trust for the donation of £250. Special thanks to Jaysukhbai Mehta and all the trustees.

6 Oshwal Association of UK South, Satsang Mandal for the donation of £1625. Special thanks to Nemubhai and all the members.