United Families Welfare Trust, London had their Annual Gathering on Sunday, 9th September 2018, at Saffron, a restaurant famous for its excellent cuisine prepared by award winning chefs. It was a gathering of around two hundred and thirty people, mainly from United families in the UK but it was also open to non members to make this a truly inclusive event.
There were raffle prizes and goody bags for the children. The feedback from the guests was very positive with everyone having a great time, enjoying the food, and enjoying the company.
In the presidential address Gorabhai Badat raised the concern that family and community life is facing great challenges not just in the UK but in all other countries. If the older generation born in India or Africa faced economic and political hardships in their home countries, then the ones faced by the new generation born here in the UK are also quite complex; diverse culture, identity politics, family expectations, religious integrity and a free fall in interaditional values.
Culturally and ethnically, london is
the most diverse city in the world with only about 44% white British population, so we as United Families have to embrace this reality and broaden our views on how we want to move forward so the new
generation and their outlook and prespectives can be accommodated. We have to learn to trust our young men and women, give them lots of love and pray for them and lighten their load and be there if they need us, on their terms. To help them find their own way in this cultural milieu, the committee has decided to take a bold step and volunteer a similar event, wholly financed by us but excively for the generation born here, so that they can decide forthemselves on how they want to go forward, setting their own agenda and forming their own committee if they wish. This gathering was characterized as ‘meet and greet’, so guest were encouraged to meet at least one person they had not met before and start coming bridges among and between the communities as per revelation in the Quran, we have formed you into different tribes and peoples so you may knowone another.(Quran,49:13) May Allah guide us and protect our young, Amen.
(Presented by : Ahmadbhai Vavda)
