Hundreds turn out for Sport Relief mile at Hindu Temple

10:40am Monday 22nd March 2010

By Kevin Bradford

A ROUSING festival of fundraising was held yesterday at a Hindu temple in Golders Green.

Hundreds of fun runners turned out for the Sports Relief mile which had been organised by the Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Temple, in Finchley Road.

Politicians, religious leaders, and people from across London joined in with the celebrations, which went on all throughout the afternoon.

Prem Patel, who helped publicise the event, said: “We had people joining up for the race on the day because it was just so much fun.

“We do a lot of work in the community and this is one of the values of our faith to align ourselves with external charities.

“We have created some harmony and unity, and it is always good to see how we can bring the community together. There has been a really tremendous buzz around the place.”

The Hindu Shree Muktajeevan Scottish pipe band accompanied the 350 runners as they started the course and were at the finish line for when people completed either the one mile, three mile or six mile routes.

Scores of supporters lined the streets to welcome the participants and enjoyed the food and entertainment provided by the Temple.

The race was started by members of the Grewal family, who starred in the Channel Four fly-on-the-wall documentary The Family last year, and Arbinder Grewal said: “We really enjoyed coming here and the atmosphere was great.

“This is the sort of thing that keeps communities together and makes people feel joined. It is not a question of different cultures it is about everyone being as one big family.”

Fun runners of varying ages and fitness levels, some in fancy dress, collected donations for their efforts, and organisers hoped to raise more than the £12,000 they did for the same cause in 2008.

Jason Reynolds, 23, ran the six mile course dressed as a chicken and raised more than £500. He said: “It was really good and the band outside to play everyone off was really motivating.

“I got chatting to lots of people and you don't get that normally in the streets where you can just have a laugh with people. There should be more things like this.”

Lance Corporal Dominic Miller, 22, of the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers, carried 20kg in a rucksack on his back around the six mile course.

He said: “It was fun. I always try to do charity things but this is the first one I have done in the UK.

“People have been wanting to have pictures with me and everyone seemed really happy. The band at the start got everybody psyched up.”

Elly Mousley, 15, raised £300 with her friends Queenie Yiu, 15, and Chanté Whiteman, 15, by running the six mile course dressed as ladybirds.

She said: “It has been a really good atmosphere. There have been a lot of different people involved but everyone has been working for each other.”