Thousands raised for Bolton causes as Sharad Purnima event a hit again

Sharad Purnima is a Hindu religious celebration held on the day of the full moon every October.

And every year couple Pravin Arjan and Sital Raja-Arjan MBE host an event at Memory Lane in Bolton where 600 people come together and have fun and take part in traditional Garba dancing.

The event in Bolton (Image: Linda Mulvey Photography)

At this year’s event, known as the biggest of its kind in Bolton for the Hindu community, Pravin and Sital, who is a Pride of Britain finalist, raised £13,000 and at the end of the evening, three charities were each presented with a cheque for £4333.34.

Sahil Enterprises and House of Raja helped with the fundraising of the event.

Three causes were given a share of the money raised (Image: Linda Mulvey Photography)

One of the charities, Boot Out Breast Cancer, will use funds to buy specialist equipment at Bolton Breast Unit while Homeless Aid UK will use the sum of money handed to them to provide food and supplies to homeless and struggling borough families.

Meanwhile, Vinod Halai will be taking part in a "Rickshaw Run" in India, raising money for equipment needed to perform operations on children born with cleft palate in the remote villages of India.

Pravin and Sital said that they are really grateful to the team who helped set up, those who help throughout the year with the planning and most importantly those who attended the event and donated.

The event in Bolton was a success (Image: Linda Mulvey Photography)

Sital added: “It was great for the local businesses who benefited from people staying over in Bolton that weekend.

“It’s important that the event, part of the Hindu calendar is held every year, not just to celebrate the auspicious day but to bring everyone in town together as one community.

“The venue has already been booked for next year and we look forward to making it bigger and better and raise even more money."