Bolton: Sevadal group holds joint Christmas and Diwali party

Sevadal meets regularly at The Slaterfield Centre in Great Lever, providing a place for older Hindus to meet each other. 

They met in late November for their combined Christmas and Diwali party, with food provided, as well as dancing, entertainment and chitchat. 

Ila Shah, chairperson of Sevadal, said: “This was a Christmas and Diwali party mixing into one, as it was between both of them.

“We meet on every other Wednesday from 10am to 1pm and we have 90 members in total.

Dancers from Krishna Temple (Image: Public)

“Our main activity is to see that people don’t feel lonely in their own home. We are all over 60s, there are some widows and widowers.

“The group allows people to come, sit and meet others. We celebrate all religious occasions.

“If someone passed away we pray for them, we have a week where if someone's loved one or relations passed away, we pray for them and prepare good food afterwards.

“We have yoga classes and exercise classes, as some people can’t do much.

“A Seva Dal is a group of people doing something for the community."

People enjoying the party (Image: Public)

Besides a small grant they receive from the council, Sevadal is mainly self funded.

Ila said: “Some give donations, we are mainly self funded. We do bingos and raffles."

The yearly fee to join the group is £10, which goes towards covering its running costs. 

Sevadal runs from April to December, which Ila says is due to many of its members travelling abroad during the winter months. 

Ila is supported in her role by Muktabeu Patel, the Secretary, Bhikhubhi Mistry, the Treasurer, and Vijyabeu Mistry. 

This comes after a group was recently set up in Bromley Cross to tackle loneliness. 

Talkin' Tables arrived in Bromley Cross aimed at tackling loneliness and encouraging new friendships by bringing people together for coffee and a chat.