OAUK North West Area eNewsletter – Dec 2025

Pranam and Jai jinendra

Hope you and your family are well.  As we approach the end of 2025, we wish you and your families a happy and healthy festive season, and thank you for your continued support of North West Area activities and events.  A special thank you to all our volunteers – we cannot achieve anything without your time, dedication and positive energy.

December also brings the Oshwal Games, and we send our best wishes to the organisers and all participants. We are proudly cheering you on as you give your all to help keep Basanti at North West once again. Good luck to everyone!

The North West Area Committee, with sub-committees and volunteers, have worked hard to introduce new events, grow popular ones, and innovate mindfully to help our community connect and enjoy time together.   We’re delighted to see so many of you regularly attending and look forward to welcoming both familiar and new faces in 2026. Please visit North West Area Events and links below –  reach out if you’d like to join any of these great events.

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* NOTE : 2026 info will be updated on the website shortly

NEW FOR 2026 – Exciting News

A new weekly activity called Friday Family Club is starting at Ekta Centre from early January 2026 on Friday evenings and is geared for children and their families.  The new club will offer three hours of fun including a variety of activities including sports & fitness, music, board & card games and much more.

Specifically, aimed at families to come together, connect with others and enjoy activities in a warm friendly atmosphere.  Places are limited and we require participants to commit to weekly attendance for the whole term.

Use this link to learn more and register.  For any queries, please contact Rahul Haria

 

Ekta Pre-Navratri Celebrations – A Weekend to Remember!

This year’s pre-Navratri celebrations at the Ekta Centre were bigger and brighter than ever, featuring two evening events and a children’s Garba that brought the community together.

Saturday evening was unforgettable, with more teenagers than adults filling the hall. Their energy, enthusiasm, and pride in their culture created an electric atmosphere and made the night truly special.

The children’s Garba was equally heartwarming. Youth volunteers aged 14–18 guided the younger children, teaching Garba steps and encouraging them with confidence. Seeing our youth lead was a proud moment.

For the first time, we also hosted a Sunday evening Garba, which was a great success, especially for parents enjoying a relaxed night of dancing.

Thank you to our sponsors, organisers, volunteers, and community for making this weekend a true celebration of culture, connection, and joy.

A Wonderful Community Success! 

Our Health Fair held on 23 November was a vibrant and inspiring day, bringing together over 300 participants and supported by 64 fantastic volunteers. The event offered a rich mix of health and wellbeing talks with experts, health screening checks and community activities. Health screening helped attendees better understand their heart-health risks and a few members were advised to contact their GP from the screening results.

A Heartfelt thank you to our incredible volunteers including some new helpers.  Thank you to everyone who helped make Ekta Health Fair such a meaningful and memorable event!

Fifty Years of Learning and Belonging

Every Saturday morning, the Northwest Area Gujarati School comes alive with laughter, learning, and the cheerful sound of “Kem cho?” echoing through the halls of Glebe Primary School in Kenton (HA3 9LF). In 2025, we will proudly celebrate 50 years of our school – half a century of nurturing language, culture, and community spirit in North West London.

Led by a dedicated team of 18 teachers and volunteers, our school welcomes students from age 4 to adults, all eager to connect with their Gujarati heritage. Lessons go far beyond textbooks, students learn to read, write, and speak Gujarati with confidence, while also exploring Jainism and the cultural significance of festivals such Diwali.

As we mark the golden milestone, we honour everyone who has contributed to our journey and look forward to continuing our mission inspiring future generations to cherish the Gujarati language, culture, and values that unite us all.  If you were a student of the school during the last 50 years, we’d love to hear from you – we will draw 2 lucky names from those who contact us to join us for a special celebration to mark this milestone.  Please contact Jiten Shah

Social, Cultural & Heritage Portfolio

This is the busiest portfolio of Northwest – led by Rahul Haria – with lots of regular and one-off activities. Regular  monthly events include Ekta Monthly Meet (EMM) with Parent Toddler Meet, Whist Drive and Family Social Evening every 6 to 8 weeks,

We have had amazing one-off events such as the wonderful Diwali celebrations which over 800 people attended over the day and showcased Rangoli Art done by a diverse range of age groups as well as our first giant Rangoli.  

FACTS: Over the last 12 months an average of 300 people weekly attend an activity organised by this portfolio.   Did you know that the portfolio is supported by over 60 Volunteers and 7 cooking teams for its events?

You can celebrate important life events by sponsoring one of our events.  The Sponsorship Scheme allows you to also invite friends and family to join you to mark these occasions.

Service with love, care and a smile always

We now have 7 cooking teams with around 15 – 20 dedicated volunteers per team – all giving many hours of service at every event where food is served! We are still looking for younger catering volunteers. Please contact Vina Dhanani if you are interested in volunteering for Catering.

Together, the team have served more than 15,000 meals during 2025 and prepared international cuisines, including: Indian, Mexican, Italian, Lebanese, South Indian and African

Youth Sports

The NW Area Youth Club continues to be very active. The main Youth Club runs on a Friday at Harrow Leisure Centre, and we have a huge waiting list for children to join.

Alongside this, we also have Squash & Yoga. In addition, we run a Badminton Club on Sundays at Vale Farm, Table Tennis Club at Ekta on Wednesdays & Thursdays and Table Tennis Coaching on Sundays.  Hot News : Limited number of places are available for Badminton and should you be interested please email youth.northwest@oshwal.org 

Lastly, we also run a Darts Club on Thursday evenings at Ekta Centre. Preparations are well under way for the Annual Sports Day in December.

Religious Portfolio

NW Area’s religious portfolio is buzzing with energy  

Led by Vice Chair Prafula Shah and supported by our amazing team of dedicated volunteers, we’re proud to offer a rich range of activities for all ages, helping everyone experience our dharma in meaningful ways.

Paryushan 2025: Our Best Yet! Thank you to everyone who joined us at Avanti and Ekta Centre. Attendance was fantastic – and with the school holidays, it was inspiring to see so many young people take part.

Our monthly Samuha Samayik continues to draw a loyal and growing following. Special thanks to Pujya Jayeshbhai, who joins us once a month on Tuesdays, and to the 20+ volunteers who give outstanding service and sponsors for their continued support. Main sponsorship for 2026: £351 per month Smaller monthly donations: from £20. 

Upcoming Events : Ghauli Workshop: announcement coming soon; Monthly Children’s Choir and Jain sutras: Look out for 2026 dates; Siddhchakra Poojan — Sunday 19 April 2026, Ekta Centre: 2 sponsors of £501 each sought for poojan and bhojan labh

More details from: Prafula Shah.

Ekta Centre Closure for Christmas

Please note Ekta Centre will be closed from Wednesday 24 December to Sunday 28 December and on Thursday 1 January 2026.

For any emergency bookings, please email Ekta Centre or call 0208 206 1141.

Our normal opening hours are 9.30am to 12.30pm Monday – Saturday.

Competition Time

We have two sets of 4 tickets to give away to the next Family Social Evening at Ekta Centre

OAUK Member Competition1 : Win 4 Tickets ( 2 Adults and 2 Children 16 or under) to the next Family Social Evening

Approximately how many people a year attend an activity organised by the Social, Cultural & Heritage Portfolio?

Please put your answers on a postcard, including your name, address, telephone number and OAUK membership number and drop the entry into the competition box in the Ekta office.  If no correct entries are received, the nearest correct answer will be awarded the tickets. Competition closes on 5 January 2026. Multiple are not allowed and the judges’ decision will be final.  The winner will be contacted after 5 January 2026.