Asif Rangoonwala founded UK-based Eurobuns Limited, a successful venture in the industrial baking sector, for which he received the Queens Award. He is also a key player in the South Street property business – a rapidly growing provider of student accommodation.

Passionate about sports, particularly powerboat racing, Asif Rangoonwala runs the World Championship for Powerboat P1, the top class of speedboat races.

He manages the Rangoonwala Foundation which provides vocational training, medical centres, libraries and other facilities for marginalised communities worldwide. A native of Pakistan, Asif Rangoonwala is a fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Trustee of the Whitefield Development Trust, Director of Indus Entrepreneurs UK and Chairman of the World Memon Foundation.

“My belief has always been ‘to supplement the efforts of others’, he says. “The British Asian Trust is a perfect example of how to achieve the balance between NGOs and Donor Trusts, those who do the work and those who help by funding the work,” says Asif Rangoonwala.

Manoj Badale, chairman of The British Asian Trust, hailed the latest appointment to the Board. “We greatly welcome the immense experience, enthusiasm and compassion that Asif Rangoonwala brings,” he said. “We very much look forward to his involvement with The British Asian Trust in our mission to meet the greatest needs in the crucial areas of education, enterprise and health in South Asia and the UK.

Asif Rangoonwala joins Salman Mahdi, Chris Mathias and Rajan Singh on The British Asian Trust Board. .

Shalini Khemka, Investment Director at LDC (Lloyds Development Capital) and CEO of The London Entrepreneurial Exchange, visited Mumbai Mobile Crèches (MMC) recently where she witnessed the inspiring work of our charity partner.

Over 50,000 children of migrant construction workers live on building sites in Mumbai. MMC runs day care centres providing health and education services on the sites themselves. Since 1972 MMC has reached out to more than 150,000 children who would otherwise be left to wander on the dangerous sites while their parents worked.

Mumbai Mobile Crèches also trains women from migrant communities to become teachers so that they can run centres themselves. MMC aims to be a demonstration model of quality childcare for construction sites across India. (more…)

Designed to encourage flamboyant cricketing moments, the Rubicon Target was on show for the first time as Sussex Sharks took on Somerset at the County Ground, Hove for the t20 launch on 1 June.

Rubicon, maker of exotic fruit juice drinks, has chosen The British Asian Trust as its nominated charity.

Manoj Badale, Chairman at The British Asian Trust, says, “Twenty20 cricket is a smashing format where batsmen really go for broke. We hope they take on the challenge during the competition and go for the Rubicon Target.”

Cricket fans can watch video clips of the most flamboyant moments at Friends Provident t20 televised matches and vote for their favourite Mango Moment each week at www.mangomoments.co.uk

You can savour the innovative cuisine of a celebrity chef and support The British Asian Trust by visiting Colony in London during the month of June 2010.

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HRH The Prince of Wales hosted a special dinner on 21 April for The British Asian Trust.  His Royal Highness used the occasion to thank celebrity ambassadors, patrons, corporate partners, friends and supporters of The Trust, which builds bridges between the diaspora community and high-impact charitable organisations in South Asia and the UK.

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Accenture staff are raising funds for our charity partner Saath and its Umeed programme which provides skills and job placements to young people in communities faced with poverty and unemployment.

www.accenture.com

As a Bronze Patron, LDC (Lloyds Development Capital) directly supports the work of charities in The British Asian Trust portfolio.  Shalini Khemka, LDC  Investment Director, recently visited our work with Mumbai Mobile Crèches in India.

www.ldc.co.uk

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The EdelGive Social Innovation Honours were started in 2009 to identify and honour organisations that are innovating to empower women and girls in India. The awards focus on innovation as EdelGive Foundation believe that there has been significant under-investment in innovations that benefit the poor. The awards highlight organisations that have worked to create an innovative model for delivery of essential services to women and girls. EdelGive considered innovations that were cost-effective, with the potential to deliver long term benefits.

Mann Deshi was selected from over 250 applicants across India. The selection involved a stringent evaluation process, supported by Ernst and Young as official tabulators and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) as field assessors. The final jury members were Amrita Patel, Chairperson, National Dairy Development Board, Deep Joshi, Founder, PRADAN, Surinder Jaswal, Dean, School of Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Venkat Ramaswamy, Co-Founder, Edelweiss, Vineet Rai, Founder, Aavishkaar and Zia Mody, Founding Partner, AZB & Partners.

Hosted by ‘EastEnders’ star Nitin Ganatra and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ star Laila Rouass, the awards show recognised the contributions and achievements of the best in British Asian Sporting talent. Both hosts also signed up as Ambassadors of the British Asian Trust recognising the sustainable difference the Trust makes to the lives of over 300,000 people in South Asia and the UK.

The charity auction, hosted by Rajan Singh included tickets to the Indian Premier League Finals in Mumbai, Concert tickets to The Black Eyed Peas at the LG Arena, British Grand Prix tickets from Force India courtesy of the UK India Business Council and golf with celebrity cricketer Mark Ramprakash at Wentworth. (more…)

HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall hosted a dinner for twelve of The Prince’s Charities and two of the Duchess of Cornwall’s charities at Buckingham Palace on the evening of Tuesday 2 February.

The Prince’s Charities is a group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is President: 18 of the 20 charities were founded personally by The Prince. The group is the largest multi-cause charitable enterprise in the United Kingdom, raising over £100 million annually. The organisations are active across a broad range of areas including opportunity and enterprise, the built environment, responsible business, education and health. The charities reflect The Prince of Wales’s long-term and innovative perspective, and seek to address areas of previously unmet need.

The British Asian Trust is the only one of The Prince of Wales’s Charities that focuses mainly on supporting charities in South Asia. This is done by bridging the gap between British Asians and communities in need in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UK. (more…)