In 2006 a Government-commissioned report called Connecting British Hindus suggested Hindus nationwide needed more support to engage in the communities around them.

With around 30,000 people, including Jain and Buddhist practitioners who share similar beliefs, Barnet boasts the fourth largest Hindu community in the country.

The borough is also home to the UK’s first state-funded Hindu school — Krishna-Avanti Primary School, in Camrose Avenue, Edgware — which opened earlier this month.

But uniquely to Barnet, until recently it had no dedicated organisation to represent its views.

“All the other faith groups in the borough have their own organisation that gives them a representative body,” said council leader Mike Freer.

“In other parts of the country Hindu communities have representative groups, but in Barnet there was nothing to give them a single voice. So I suggested that they come together to provide one.”

The Connecting British Hindus report particularly noted the need to engage with Hindu women.

At the launch last week, at Barnet Council’s offices, at North London Business Park, in Oakleigh Road South, chairman Dr Natubhai Shah suggested that although Hindus have integrated well in Barnet, there is still work to be done.

“Hindus are a comparatively new community that has settled in Barnet,” said the retired GP. “Many a time they are ignorant about the services available to them.

“The community requires care for elderly and disabled people, people with mental health problems, people caring for others, younger people, some mothers and toddlers and cases where they feel they are discriminated against.

“Women require training and empowerment so they become part of a wider society.”

The next step for the forum is to gather views from the community, then work with Barnet Council and other statutory bodies to help them reach people who they could help.

“I think on the whole we have integrated very well,” says Prem Modgil, a 69-year-old educational psychologist and vice chairman of the Barnet Hindu Forum.

“We have a lot in common with other English-speaking people in our belief in working hard, having your own house.

“I very much believe in integration, as long as it’s not assimilation. It’s vital for us to integrate and I believe we can do that successfully without losing our own cultural identity.”

But, according to Mr Modgil, the self-sufficient nature of Hindu culture means that, for many, reaching out for help goes against the grain.

“As a Hindu I feel that we feel the need to be self-sufficient and manage things ourselves,” he explained.

“Even getting to my age, I don’t want to ask for financial support. But we should be aware that it is there.”

But, he added, Hindus need to be aware that self-sufficiency can be complemented by public services, and that a reluctance to reach out can have serious consequences.

“There are some illnesses, such as diabetes, that are more prevalent among the Indian community but we don’t seem to be making full use of what can be done to prevent them.

“It’s possible some problems don’t come out because people don’t want others to know about them.

“So there may be many problems that we aren’t aware of.

“I live in Finchley, which is quite an affluent area, but in other areas there may be homeless Hindus — at the moment we just don’t know.”